.. _mesa-file-format:

MESA File Format
================

Files in MESA format store ASCII text data describing a `MESA
<mesa_>`__ stellar model (note that MESA itself refers to these files
as 'GYRE-format' files). To create one of these files in MESA, set the
:nml:literal:`pulse_data_format` option of the
:nml:literal:`&controls` namelist group to the value
:nml:value:`'GYRE'`.

There are a number of versions of the MESA format, distinguished by
the initial header line:

.. toctree::

   mesa-file-format-v0.01
   mesa-file-format-v0.19
   mesa-file-format-v1.00
   mesa-file-format-v1.01
   mesa-file-format-v1.20