Awesome Fly

A curated collection of fruit fly connectome projects, from Doom and desktop pets to brain models, biomechanical bodies, and research tools.

Explore what people are building with MaleCNS, FlyWire, and the Drosophila melanogaster connectome. Each entry links to its creators' repository and explains what it actually offers.

Start with a game, explore a desktop fly, or build your own using the research foundations.

Built something with a fly connectome? Add your own repository with a pull request. Read the contribution guide, open a pull request, or suggest a project.

• Start here
• Games and control experiments
• Desktop flies and interactive worlds
• Language, art, and other experiments
• Brain models and embodied simulation
• Datasets and official resources
• Analysis libraries and viewers
• Tutorials and papers
• Related lists
• Contributing

A connectome records neurons and their connections. A simulation adds assumptions about neuron dynamics, sensory input, and motor output. A moving fly, changing weights, or a game demo does not by itself demonstrate biological fidelity or learned behavior.

• MaleCNS covers the adult male central nervous system, including brain and ventral nerve cord. The official project dates v1.0 to June 8, 2026 and the Cell paper to September 3, 2026. Project and release history.
• FlyWire / FAFB is an adult female brain connectome, a different dataset from MaleCNS. FlyWire.
• Flybody and NeuroMechFly supply simulated bodies and environments. Using either does not automatically connect a brain model to the body.

Reading the list: community entries summarize their authors' documentation, reviewed on September 12, 2026. These are source reviews, not independent reproductions. Prototype, circuit subset, and release pending identify useful limitations. Neuron counts depend on the release and filtering; synaptic contacts and directed neuron-pair connections are different quantities.

• Doomfly by nftechie - MaleCNS simulation connected to ViZDoom through modeled visual inputs and a fixed button readout. Includes plasticity experiments and negative validation results; learned survival has not been demonstrated.
• FlyDoom by eganeganegan - Research framework comparing a MaleCNS-constrained sparse recurrent controller with rewired graphs, conventional neural networks, and other controls on simple VizDoom tasks.
• Fly64 by ornata - Hooks a MaleCNS model up to Super Mario 64, with a local dashboard and macOS setup. A playful experimental controller; requires your own game ROM.
• Fly Brain Minecraft by blendi-remade - Fabric mod that runs a filtered MaleCNS graph for each fly mob, with modeled sensory inputs, motor readouts, and live neural HUDs.
• Flyhard by MarkUnthank - Trains a MaleCNS-based model to operate a steering wheel through simulated fly limbs and connect it to CARLA. Documents a bounded steering result; visual driving remains a future milestone.
• Help the Fly Escape by dzhng - Arrange household objects and observe flies navigating a 3D browser game. Rust/WASM simulation using a selected MaleCNS circuit. Play.
• Swat by hrook1 - Browser arcade game with a visible escape circuit: 6,000 MaleCNS neurons influence evasive movement alongside authored game mechanics. Circuit subset. Play.
• FlyBrain by Jhongdlp - MaleCNS-based game-boss experiment with a Rust neural engine, Python training environment, and Three.js viewer.
• FlyPong by jonatasperaza - Pong controller built from a MaleCNS subgraph, with documented controls and negative results for its dopamine-inspired plasticity experiments. Circuit subset.
• Connectome Fighter by Unjuno - MaleCNS controller connected to FightingICE through explicit sensory and action mappings, with a research ledger separating connectome structure from project-defined learning rules.
• Fly Chess Lab by tolatolatop - FlyWire chess experiment with a Rust/WASM LIF simulation, spike traces, and disconnection controls. Uses an engineered, currently untrained move readout. Demo.
• fly-craftax by liuzihe02 - Connectome simulation connected to Craftax, with PPO training of a descending-neuron readout, baseline comparisons, and a replay viewer. Research prototype.
• Fly Dino by cobanov - Original Chromium Dino controlled by a fixed 80-neuron MaleCNS circuit with simplified leaky tanh dynamics and a 243-parameter readout trained with the cross-entropy method (CEM). Includes live computed activity, reproducible training, held-out benchmarks, and circuit-silencing controls. Circuit subset: only the artificial readout is trained. Play · Methods and results.
• NeuroCraft Fly by evnsnclr - Minecraft project with a recorded MaleCNS-based interactive demo and a release roadmap. Release pending: the public repository currently contains project materials, not runnable mod or companion source.
• FLYFEAR by furkancak1r - Godot horror prototype where a MaleCNS-derived simulation influences a fly and an external adaptive event policy. Includes training and validation reports. Play.

• DesktopFly by DenisSergeevitch - A macOS desktop fly combining FlyWire spiking circuits with a MaleCNS brain-to-leg extract, modeled senses, and articulated behavior. Includes an Electron port.
• gnat by lubabs770 - Linux/Hyprland desktop port of DesktopFly with a brain window and stimulation controls. Uses a 668-neuron circuit subset.
• DesktopFly for Linux by somsom10 - Python/GTK port of DesktopFly for GNOME on X11 and Wayland, retaining the upstream FlyWire circuit and documenting platform limitations.
• FlyBrain by snedea - Browser-based FlyWire FAFB v783 LIF simulation with food, touch, light, and temperature inputs and a live neural activity display.
• FlyWire Neuro by pusulamkendim - Local FlyWire LIF simulation linked to a persistent 3D body, sensory controls, and recorded runs. Descending-neuron activity selects measured or cached motor behavior. Research prototype.
• Closed-Loop Fly by ZeroXClem - Browser sensorimotor loop joining a modeled compound eye and optic lobe to MaleCNS descending-neuron readouts and a simulated flying body.
• flyverse by tel-0s - MaleCNS simulation with modeled color vision, smell, taste, wind, locomotion, and an inspectable room environment. Sensory and motor physiology remain project assumptions.
• NeuroTerrarium by 5p00kyy - Inspectable 3D lab with a synthetic terrarium and a separate 51-body MaleCNS giant-fiber microcircuit. Reports a negative topology-control result. Circuit subset.
• FLYBOARD by NullLabTests - CPU arcade interface for injecting current into named MaleCNS populations while viewing the modeled voltage and spike field.
• Infinite Sugar by cnqso - Browser artwork placing a FlyWire-based fly in a terrarium with continuous sweet-sensing input. Neural activity drives some movements while wings and small foot motions use supplied patterns. Experience.

• FLM by nftechie - Frozen language model coupled to the retained MaleCNS graph through a trained readout adapter. Language ability comes from the pretrained language model.
• fly-brain by lixiang1076 - FlyWire LIF simulation with a natural-language interface and project-defined dopamine-learning experiments.
• Fly / Wirehead by mattyhempstead - A MaleCNS simulation receives frames from insect videos on a virtual phone. Local Python/C++ simulation, browser observation chamber, and neural telemetry.
• FlyScroll by ranagwho - MaleCNS-based video-feed experiment where modeled visual and mushroom-body activity influences when the viewer advances to the next clip.
• Stonkfly by nftechie - Experimental MaleCNS controller with market-chart inputs, paper trading, and optional Coinbase integration. Includes modeled reinforcement and memory; profitable learning has not been demonstrated.
• OpenFly by marketcalls - MaleCNS-based controller for a paper-traded NIFTY options strategy through OpenAlgo. Live trading is opt-in and no profitable edge has been demonstrated.
• Fly Lab by Apolotary - Ableton Live music experiments driven by simulated fly motor circuits and a small trainable musical readout. The measured wiring remains fixed.
• Faiku by xyzzyapps - Haiku and glyph-tracing experiment using MaleCNS simulation and mushroom-body-inspired reinforcement, with a separate reduced fallback model.
• Fruitless by nicodunks - MaleCNS intervention study and Three.js visualization testing how blocking modeled mAL output changes activity in courtship-related candidate neurons.
• Fruit Fly Fashion by jtc268 - Reproducible art experiment using MaleCNS spike vectors to control the placement, rotation, and scale of print designs.
• mindmeld-with-fly by Decentricity - Sparse MaleCNS reservoir experiments with terminal rendering and recording/replay. Prototype: the README places the EEG interface in a future phase.

• Drosophila brain model by philshiu and collaborators - Research code for the Shiu et al. connectome-based leaky integrate-and-fire model, including activation/silencing experiments, notebooks, and FlyWire data configuration.
• fly-brain by Eon Systems - FlyWire whole-brain LIF implementation based on Shiu et al., with multiple simulation backends and benchmarking tools. This repository supplies the neural model; it is not a complete embodied demo package.
• flybody by TuragaLab / Google DeepMind / HHMI Janelia - Anatomically detailed MuJoCo fruit-fly body, walking and flight environments, and reinforcement-learning examples. A body and control platform.
• FlyGym / NeuroMechFly by NeLy-EPFL - Python framework for embodied sensorimotor experiments with a biomechanical fly, sensory interfaces, and physical environments. Check version-specific documentation when following older tutorials.
• flyvis by TuragaLab - PyTorch implementation of connectome-constrained models of the fly visual system, with pretrained models and analysis tutorials.
• webgpu-fly by abgnydn - Browser-based WebGPU/WASM experiment joining FlyWire brain activity, MANC nerve-cord data, and a Flybody body through explicit approximate motor mappings. Demo.
• NeuroFly by seven-monarchs - Closed-loop personal research project coupling FlyWire-based neural activity to a NeuroMechFly body, with recorded simulations and documented assumptions.
• Fruit Fly Lab by vaibhavkedarisetti - Interactive FlyWire v783 whole-brain LIF simulation with stimulus controls and activity visualization. Research prototype.
• CHIMERA by caparison1234 - Drosophila larval connectome experiment linking a 1,373-neuron circuit to a MuJoCo body and a language-to-stimulus interface. Larval circuit subset.
• Connectome OS by ruvnet - Rust LIF runtime and debugging interface for stimulating, cutting, and measuring FlyWire-derived graph activity. Alpha research preview.
• FastFly by eonfathom - CUDA and CuPy simulator targeting real-time or faster execution of the FlyWire v783 graph on a consumer NVIDIA GPU.
• MaleCNS on Apple MPS by seohyunjun - Experimental PyTorch MPS simulator for Apple Silicon with verified data preparation, named-cell stimulation, and 3D activity reports.
• AxonWeave by dhakalnirajan - Python library exposing MaleCNS as a sparse, trainable substrate for NumPy, PyTorch, and TensorFlow while keeping source topology and modeling policies explicit.
• Embodied fly-brain by erojasoficial-byte - Community research repository combining a FlyWire spiking model with NeuroMechFly/MuJoCo, sensory experiments, and an accompanying preprint.

• MaleCNS - Official male CNS project, cell-type exploration, release history, and downloads. Collaboration between FlyEM/HHMI Janelia, Cambridge, MRC LMB, and Google Research.
• MaleCNS project source - Source for the project website and Dimorphism Explorer.
• MaleCNS Cell Type Explorer - Source and generated documentation for browsing MaleCNS v1.0 cell types, connectivity, regions, and morphology.
• MaleCNS supplemental data - Derived data and analysis notebooks accompanying Berg et al., including sensorimotor flow and cell-type information.
• Male optic lobe connectome code - Analysis and reproduction code accompanying the complete male visual-system connectome study.
• BANC project - Data, figures, notebooks, and documentation for the adult female Brain-And-Nerve-Cord connectome and its accompanying publication.
• FlyWire - Adult female brain reconstruction, research resources, and links to exploration tools.
• FlyWire annotations - Neuron annotations and other data products for the FlyWire v783 release.
• Drosophila neurotransmitters - Versioned literature-derived neurotransmitter ground truth linked across major fly connectome datasets.
• Optic lobe annotations - Cross-dataset cell-type matches between FAFB/FlyWire and the MaleCNS optic lobe.

Follow each upstream dataset's citation and licensing requirements. The license of this list does not relicense linked code, datasets, or artwork.

• Codex by Murthy Lab - Source for the FlyWire Connectome Data Explorer. Explore neurons.
• FlyBrainLab - Interactive platform for exploring fly brain data, constructing executable circuits, and studying their modeled function.
• EOScircuits by FlyBrainLab - Executable models of the Drosophila antenna, antennal lobe, and mushroom body for early olfactory-system experiments.
• NAVis by navis-org - Python tools for neuron morphology analysis, visualization, transformations, and data access.
• fafbseg by navis-org - FlyWire/FAFB segmentation tools for meshes, skeletons, annotations, and connectivity queries, interoperable with NAVis.
• navis-flybrains by navis-org - Template brains and transforms for mapping neurons between Drosophila datasets and coordinate spaces.
• connectome-interpreter by YijieYin - Python library for effective connectivity, path finding, circuit manipulation, and differentiable models at whole-brain scale.
• connectome data prep by YijieYin - Prepared connectivity matrices and reproducible preprocessing for MaleCNS, BANC, FlyWire, hemibrain, and other datasets.
• cocoa by flyconnectome - Python library for comparative connectomics, co-clustering, cell typing, and matching across FlyWire, hemibrain, MANC, and MaleCNS.
• Connecto by schlegelp - Unified Python interface that normalizes connectivity, metadata, and morphology queries across CAVE and neuPrint datasets.
• DROCAT by Swida-Alba - Python and web toolkit for path finding, network visualization, morphology, and cross-dataset analysis across neuPrint, FAFB, and BANC.
• BigClust 2 by flyconnectome - Interactive application for exploring high-dimensional connectomic clusterings with linked 2D, 3D, connectivity, and annotation views.
• neuVid by connectome-neuprint - Generates anatomical Drosophila videos from high-level descriptions using neuPrint data and Blender or VVDViewer.
• malecns by natverse - R access to MaleCNS data with metadata and morphology conveniences.
• coconatfly by natverse - Comparative connectomics across fly datasets, including FlyWire, hemibrain, MANC, FANC, and MaleCNS.
• fafbseg for R by natverse - R tools for FlyWire/FAFB segmentation, meshes, annotations, and connectivity analysis.
• neuprintr by natverse - R client for neuPrint, designed to work with the wider natverse neuroanatomy ecosystem.
• bancr by natverse - R package for querying BANC metadata, connectivity, skeletons, and meshes.
• neuprint-python by connectome-neuprint - Python client for querying connectivity and metadata through neuPrint.
• CAVEclient by CAVEconnectome - Python client for the Connectome Annotation Versioning Engine, used to access versioned connectomic data and annotations.
• FlyWire network analysis by Murthy Lab - Research scripts and notebooks for network statistics, motifs, connectivity, and graph structure.

• Fly connectome data tutorial - Workshop materials for loading, analyzing, and visualizing major fly connectome datasets using Python and R.
• FlyWire data access - Seung Lab tutorials for programmatic access to FlyWire data, meshes, and annotations.
• Hemibrain examples - Code examples accompanying Schlegel and Bates et al. for exploring cell types and circuits in the hemibrain dataset.
• Neuronal wiring diagram of an adult brain - Dorkenwald et al., Nature (2024), the adult female brain connectome.
• Whole-brain annotation and multi-connectome cell typing of Drosophila - Schlegel et al., Nature (2024), cell annotations and comparisons across connectomes.
• Connectome-constrained networks predict neural activity across the fly visual system - Lappalainen et al., Nature (2024), the research behind flyvis.
• Whole-body simulation of realistic fruit fly locomotion with deep reinforcement learning - The research accompanying flybody.

• Awesome Fruit Fly Connectome - An earlier community list of datasets, tools, papers, and fly-connectome experiments.
• Fly Connectomics tools - Overview of R and Python neuroscience tools maintained by the Cambridge Fly Connectomics Group and Jefferis Lab.

Small projects are welcome. We prioritize a clear connection to fly connectomics, useful documentation, original creators, and accurate descriptions over star counts. Substantial ports belong here when their upstream origin is credited. Announcement-only projects must say that runnable code is pending.

Built a project that belongs here? Read CONTRIBUTING.md, add your repository to the relevant section, and open a pull request. You can also use the project suggestion form if you do not want to edit the list yourself. The list is maintained by cobanov, who also maintains Fly Dino.

CC0 1.0 Universal. Linked projects retain their own licenses.