rblimp_getting_started: Getting Started with rblimp

In rblimp: Integration of 'Blimp' Software into R

Getting Started with rblimp

Description

A guide to installing and configuring Blimp software for use with rblimp.

Installing Blimp Software

rblimp requires the Blimp engine. The simplest way to install it is from R:

install_blimp()

This downloads the latest Blimp engine into a user-writable directory:

• macOS: ⁠~/.blimp/⁠

• Windows: ⁠%LOCALAPPDATA%/Blimp/⁠

• Linux: ⁠~/.blimp/⁠

Override the location with the R_BLIMP_HOME environment variable. Use uninstall_blimp to remove it.

If you'd rather use Blimp's standalone system installer (downloaded from https://www.appliedmissingdata.com/blimp), rblimp will auto-detect it and use it instead.

If autodetection fails, set the path manually with set_blimp or the R_BLIMP environment variable.

Privacy: Downloads are recorded for usage statistics.

See privacy policy: https://www.blimpstats.com/privacy.

Automatic Update Checks

By default, rblimp automatically checks for Blimp updates when you run models. This ensures you're using the latest version with bug fixes and improvements.

To disable automatic update checks:

# Disable for current session
options(check_blimp_update = FALSE)

# Or add to .Rprofile for permanent setting:
# options(check_blimp_update = FALSE)

# Or set environment variable (useful for CI / sysadmin contexts):
# R_BLIMP_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=true

You can manually update Blimp at any time:

update_blimp()

For managed installs, this re-downloads the latest Blimp engine. For system installs, this launches the Blimp Updater application.

Function Reference

Model Fitting:

• rblimp - Fit Bayesian models

• rblimp_fcs - Fully Conditional Specification imputation

• rblimp_syntax - Generate Blimp syntax

• rblimp_source - Run existing Blimp syntax files

Simulation:

• rblimp_sim - Generate simulated datasets

• SIMULATE - Create simulation specifications

Output & Analysis:

• summary - Model summary

• estimates - Extract parameter estimates

• describe - Descriptive statistics

• psr - Potential Scale Reduction values

• output - Raw Blimp output

• standardized - Extract standardized parameters only

• compare - Compare models

Visualization:

• trace_plot - MCMC trace plots

• posterior_plot - Posterior density plots

• residual_plot - Residual diagnostics

• jn_plot - Johnson-Neyman plots

• simple_plot - Simple slopes plots

• model_table - Publication tables

Utilities:

• by_group - Grouped analysis

• as.mitml - Convert to mitml format

• names - Obtain imputation variable names

• with - Evaluate across imputations

• write.blimp - Write results to files

Setup & Configuration:

• install_blimp - Install Blimp into a managed directory

• uninstall_blimp - Remove the managed install

• detect_blimp - Detect Blimp installation

• set_blimp - Set path to Blimp executable

• has_blimp - Check if Blimp is available

• update_blimp - Update Blimp installation

Additional Resources

• GitHub repository: https://github.com/blimp-stats/rblimp

• Example files: https://github.com/blimp-stats/rblimp-examples

• Blimp User Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D3MS79CakuX9mVVvGH13B5nRd9XLttp69oGsvrIRK64

• Report issues: https://github.com/blimp-stats/rblimp/issues

rblimp documentation built on May 18, 2026, 9:07 a.m.