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Run a MATLAB file

Use a MATLAB file’s Results pane to inspect its output and figures, and save useful results beside the rest of the project. Scient can always open and edit a .m file. Running it additionally requires a user-installed and licensed MATLAB in the selected project environment.

Live session

The code/results controls above a .m file run it in a live MATLAB session. Choose Connect MATLAB on that file when MATLAB is not connected yet. This opens the correct server’s Scientific Computing settings, where the same action starts setup. The Engine connection requires a compatible Python host. Scient can set up a small private MATLAB connection helper, or choose an existing compatible host from Settings → Scientific Computing → Runtime. That helper is independent of Scientific Python. Opening a .m file does not provision the scientific Toolkit. If the file needs the failed helper, its setup failure is a one-line header status with copy and details, not a wrapped stack across Run. The compact MATLAB status opens Scientific Computing directly; it does not expand into an executable-path menu. Scient does not install MATLAB or its license. The file header names the detected release before startup and uses the shorter MATLAB label while a live session is idle. Use the refresh control in Scientific Computing to rediscover installations, and Test beside the enable switch when you explicitly want to start and close a temporary connection.

The executable preference is shared with native batch runs. Scientific Computing is the single place to choose it; there is no separate batch setup form. See Connect your MATLAB installation for setup, repair, removal, and the distinction between the helper and MATLAB itself.

On macOS, MATLAB may check its usual Documents folder during startup. If macOS asks whether Scient can access Documents, answer that permission prompt before retrying the session. Scient does not grant operating-system permissions for you.

Use Run file, Run selection, or Run cell for %% sections. Variables remain available between runs until the session stops or restarts. Open Variables next to Results; it is always a sibling tab on that pane. Running code is not sandboxed.

Choose Run fresh from the Run menu to execute the buffer in a new Engine-backed session without clearing your existing session’s variables. Scient keeps the results and closes that temporary session automatically. It uses the same packages and filesystem, not a sandbox.

For saved-file batch execution and portable run artifacts, choose Run MATLAB batch from that same Run menu. Batch does not require the Engine connection helper:

Native batch file run

  1. Open an initialized Scient project and select a text .m file.
  2. Wait for any pending save to finish. Scient runs the exact saved version, not an unsaved editor buffer.
  3. If MATLAB was not found, open Scientific Computing, enable MATLAB, then expand Runtime and choose a detected installation or a Custom path. The page refresh control scans again.
  4. Choose Run MATLAB batch. Standard output, errors, status, figures, and the file’s recent run history appear in Results. Discovery is not proof of a working license; sign-in, licensing, dependency, and startup failures are reported by the run.
  5. If another MATLAB batch run is active, the new run waits in the queue and shows its position. Stop cancels a waiting run or stops the active run.
  6. Select a captured figure to inspect it as a static view or floating card. You can drag a thumbnail into the conversation, resize the floating card, or download its FIG representation for continued work in MATLAB.
  7. Choose Save to project when a useful run should become an ordinary project result. Scient creates a folder under results/<source>/<run>/ containing readable output, figures, continuation files, notes, and a machine-readable manifest. Repeating the action reopens the same result without overwriting your edits.

Use Remove this run to remove one saved run, or Clean up project to review and remove saved run files that are no longer needed. Scient confirms the measured size before cleanup and keeps a lightweight history of what ran.

On macOS, a typical executable is /Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/matlab. Windows and Linux paths depend on the installed release. Scient does not bundle MATLAB or provide a license.

Understand results and failures

Viewing and editing a .m file never starts MATLAB. A missing or invalid runtime is a setup state, not a file-viewer failure. A folder opened without Scient project setup remains editable, but Run file stays disabled until the folder is set up.

When MATLAB reports an MException, Scient separates the structured error from raw output. Select a project-local file and line to open it, or choose Ask agent to place a focused repair request in the composer for review before sending.

If another program or an agent changes the open file, Scient refreshes it. When you have unsaved edits, it asks whether to reload the disk version or overwrite it instead of silently discarding either version. Figure-capture failure is reported separately from calculation failure, and long output shows an explicit truncation notice.

The native batch workflow runs a complete .m file in noninteractive batch mode, independently of a live Compute session. Neither workflow adds debugging, MATLAB notebooks, or viewers for .mlx and .mat files. An Engine connection test is not a prerequisite or a substitute for proving native batch execution on that environment.

The results selector changes only what you view. Navigation does not stop work; closing the owning tab stops all of its runs and waits for cleanup. A cleanup failure stays visible instead of silently closing the tab. Both execution methods count toward the host’s capacity.