Deployment Module¶

The deployment module handles Stage 5 of the pipeline: generating jsPsych 8.x experiments for JATOS deployment.

Batch Mode Architecture¶

Bead uses batch mode exclusively: all lists are packaged in a single experiment. The system distributes participants to lists via server-side logic using JATOS batch sessions.

Benefits:

Single experiment URL for all participants
Server tracks list usage and assignment
No manual list rotation needed
Real-time balancing across participants

Distribution Strategies¶

Eight strategies control how participants are assigned to lists.

Random Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Read and respond to each item." \
    --distribution-strategy random

Participants receive lists uniformly at random.

Sequential Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy sequential

Round-robin assignment: participant 1 gets list 0, participant 2 gets list 1, ..., participant N+1 gets list 0.

Balanced Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy balanced

Assigns participants to the least-used list, ensuring even distribution.

Latin Square Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy latin_square \
    --distribution-config '{"balanced": true}'

Counterbalancing using Bradley's balanced Latin square algorithm.

Stratified Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy stratified \
    --distribution-config '{"factors": ["condition", "verb_type"]}'

Balances assignment across factors in list metadata.

Weighted Random Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy weighted_random \
    --distribution-config '{"weight_expression": "list_metadata.priority || 1.0", "normalize_weights": true}'

Non-uniform random assignment based on list metadata expressions.

Quota-Based Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy quota_based \
    --distribution-config '{"participants_per_list": 25, "allow_overflow": false}'

Fixed quota per list. Raises error when quotas filled if allow_overflow is false.

Metadata-Based Distribution¶

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy metadata_based \
    --distribution-config '{"filter_expression": "list_metadata.difficulty === \"hard\"", "rank_expression": "list_metadata.priority || 0", "rank_ascending": false}'

Filter and rank lists by metadata expressions.

Debug Mode¶

For development, force assignment to a specific list:

uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Experiment Title" \
    --instructions "Instructions here." \
    --distribution-strategy balanced \
    --debug-mode \
    --debug-list-index 0

All participants receive list 0. Use only during development.

Trial Configuration¶

Customize trial presentation with specialized configuration commands.

Rating Scale Trials¶

uv run bead deployment trials configure-rating trial_config_rating.json \
    --min-value 1 \
    --max-value 7 \
    --step 1 \
    --min-label "Strongly disagree" \
    --max-label "Strongly agree" \
    --show-numeric-labels \
    --required

Choice Trials¶

uv run bead deployment trials configure-choice trial_config_choice.json \
    --button-html "<button>%choice%</button>" \
    --enable-keyboard \
    --randomize-position

The %choice% placeholder is replaced with choice text.

UI Customization¶

Apply Material Design themes and custom styling.

Generate CSS¶

uv run bead deployment ui generate-css experiment/css/material.css \
    --theme dark \
    --primary-color "#1976D2" \
    --secondary-color "#FF4081"

Themes: light, dark, auto (respects system preference).

Customize Experiment¶

Apply theme to existing experiment:

uv run bead deployment ui customize experiment/ \
    --theme dark \
    --primary-color "#1976D2" \
    --secondary-color "#FF4081"

JATOS Integration¶

Export and upload experiments to JATOS servers.

Export to JATOS¶

Package experiment as .jzip:

uv run bead deployment export-jatos experiment/ argument_structure.jzip \
    --title "Argument Structure Study" \
    --description "Forced choice acceptability judgment task"

Validation¶

Verify experiment structure before deployment.

Basic Validation¶

uv run bead deployment validate experiment/

With Distribution Check¶

uv run bead deployment validate experiment/ \
    --check-distribution

With Trial Config Check¶

uv run bead deployment validate experiment/ \
    --check-trials

With Data Structure Check¶

uv run bead deployment validate experiment/ \
    --check-data-structure

Strict Mode (All Checks)¶

uv run bead deployment validate experiment/ \
    --strict

Enables all validation checks.

Generated File Structure¶

Batch mode experiments have this structure:

experiment/
├── index.html              # Entry point
├── js/
│   ├── experiment.js       # jsPsych 8.x trial logic
│   └── list_distributor.js # Server-side assignment
├── css/
│   └── experiment.css      # Material Design styles
└── data/
    ├── config.json         # Experiment configuration
    ├── lists.jsonl         # All lists (JSONL format)
    ├── items.jsonl         # All items (JSONL format)
    └── distribution.json   # Strategy configuration

The list_distributor.js file uses JATOS batch sessions for server-side state management, avoiding race conditions when multiple participants join simultaneously.

Workflow Example¶

Complete deployment workflow:

# 1. Generate experiment with balanced strategy
uv run bead deployment generate lists/experiment_lists.jsonl items/2afc_pairs.jsonl experiment/ \
    --experiment-type forced_choice \
    --title "Verb Argument Structure" \
    --instructions "Choose the more natural sentence." \
    --distribution-strategy balanced

# 2. Configure rating scale trials
uv run bead deployment trials configure-rating experiment/trial_config.json \
    --min-value 1 \
    --max-value 7

# 3. Apply dark theme
uv run bead deployment ui customize experiment/ \
    --theme dark \
    --primary-color "#1976D2"

# 4. Validate
uv run bead deployment validate experiment/ \
    --strict

# 5. Export to JATOS
uv run bead deployment export-jatos experiment/ verb_study.jzip \
    --title "Verb Argument Structure Study" \
    --description "Forced choice acceptability judgment"

Next Steps¶

After deployment:

Collect responses via JATOS
Train models on collected data
Evaluate convergence to human agreement

For complete API documentation, see bead.deployment API reference.

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