# Quick Start

By the end of this page you will have created a local database, defined one template, stored one resource, and read it back with a query.

Everything here runs against a local SQLite file. No server required.


# 1. Create a client and a namespace


``` python
from recap import RecapClient

client = RecapClient.from_sqlite("quickstart.db")

client.create_namespace("beamline")
client.create_namespace("beamline/amx", metadata={"beamline": "amx"})

namespace = client.namespace("beamline/amx")
print(namespace.namespace_path)
```


    beamline/amx


[from_sqlite()](../../reference/RecapClient.md#recap.RecapClient.from_sqlite) creates the database file and applies any pending migrations.

Namespaces are hierarchical, so `beamline` must exist before `beamline/amx`. `client.namespace(path)` returns a view of the client scoped to that path; every template, resource, and query made through [namespace](../../reference/RecapClient.md#recap.RecapClient.namespace) now belongs to `beamline/amx` without your having to repeat the path.


# 2. Define a resource template


``` python
with namespace.build_resource_template(
    name="Sample Plate",
    type_names=["container", "plate"],
) as template:
    template.add_properties({
        "dimensions": [
            {"name": "rows", "type": "int", "default": 8},
            {"name": "columns", "type": "int", "default": 12},
        ]
    })
```


This declares the shape every sample plate will have: a property group called `dimensions` holding two integers with defaults.

The `with` block is doing real work. Builders collect your changes and validate them as a single unit, then save once when the block exits cleanly. If the block raises, nothing is written.


# 3. Create a resource


``` python
with namespace.build_resource(
    name="Sample Plate 001",
    template_name="Sample Plate",
) as builder:
    builder.resource.properties["dimensions"].values["rows"] = 16
    builder.finalize()
```


This plate takes the template's default of 12 columns but overrides rows to 16.

[finalize()](../../reference/ProcessRunBuilder.md#recap.ProcessRunBuilder.finalize) is required if you want to find this resource later. It marks the resource **active**. Until then it stays in a mutable draft state, and queries skip it by design, so half-built records never show up in results.


# 4. Query it back


``` python
plate = (
    namespace.query_maker()
    .resources()
    .filter(name="Sample Plate 001")
    .first()
)

print(plate.name)
print(plate.properties.dimensions.rows.value)
print(plate.properties.dimensions.columns.value)
```


    Sample Plate 001
    16
    12


The overridden value and the inherited default both come back.

Note the trailing `.value`. Each stored attribute is a small wrapper that also carries the unit, so `plate.properties.dimensions.rows` is the wrapper and `.value` is the number inside it:


``` python
rows = plate.properties.dimensions.rows

print("printed:       ", rows)
print("rows == 16:    ", rows == 16)
print("rows.value:    ", rows.value)
print("rows.value==16:", rows.value == 16)
```


    printed:        16
    rows == 16:     False
    rows.value:     16
    rows.value==16: True


The wrapper prints like its value, so a bare `print()` can look correct while a comparison silently fails. Reach for `.value` whenever you want the number or string itself.

Step parameters work exactly the same way. For every supported read and write form, see [Property and Parameter Access](../../docs/reference/property-and-parameter-access.md).


``` python
client.close()
```


# What you just built

A namespace, a template, one resource, and a query that found it. That is the whole create-and-read loop.

Missing so far is the part RECAP exists for: recording a *process* that consumes and produces resources, which is what turns isolated records into a provenance chain.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next: [record your first provenance chain](../../docs/getting-started/your-first-provenance-record.md).

Related how-to guides: [Query Resources](../../docs/how-to/query-resources.md), [Create a Resource Template](../../docs/how-to/resource-template.md), [Edit Resource Properties](../../docs/how-to/edit-resource-properties.md).