How to Compose Nested Labs

Nested labs let you treat a composed subgraph as a reusable child with explicit external ports.

Step 1: expose child lab I/O

schema_version: "2.0"
title: "E/I Microcircuit"
 
models:
  - path: ../../models/excitatory
    alias: exc
  - path: ../../models/inhibitory
    alias: inh
 
wiring:
  - from: exc.spikes
    to:
      - inh.input_spikes
 
runtime:
  duration: 1.0
  communication_step: 0.001
 
io:
  inputs:
    - name: external_current
      maps_to: exc.current
  outputs:
    - name: exc_spikes
      maps_to: exc.spikes

Without io, the child lab has no external ports for parent wiring.

Step 2: reference the child from a parent

children:
  - path: ../ei-microcircuit
    alias: circuit_a
    parameters: {}
 
wiring:
  - from: stim.current
    to:
      - circuit_a.external_current

Child references

Supported child locators:

path
package + version

The old lab_id form is not part of the current manifest schema.

Notes

Parent wiring addresses child ports as child_alias.external_port_name.
Child labs can themselves contain children, so composition can be recursive.

For self-contained packaged labs, prefer path-based children so the full graph can be bundled into one archive.

Next steps

Test a BioModule Run Parameter Sweeps