DesignSafe Agnostic App on DesignSafe#
The Agnostic App: A Unified Execution Model
To address scalability, sustainability, and flexibility, DesignSafe introduced the agnostic Tapis app.
Instead of being tied to a single application, the agnostic app provides a general execution framework capable of running:
OpenSees (serial, MP, SP)
OpenSeesPy
Pure Python workflows
Parametric sweeps
Multi-step pipelines
Custom executables
All of the legacy OpenSees apps are conceptually special cases of this model.
A Trade-Off Worth Making#
The agnostic app does require a bit more understanding from the user, because it exposes:
execution modes
resource choices
command structure
file-staging behavior
But in return, it provides:
far more functionality
one consistent interface
faster feature development
long-term maintainability
the ability to support non-OpenSees workflows
This is a deliberate shift:
from “one app per use case” to “one execution model that scales”