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New to Python or the terminal?

You do not need to be a programmer to build with UNaIVERSE. But the paths that use code assume you can do a few small, mechanical things: make a file, open a terminal, and run a command. This page teaches exactly those, slowly, once. Come back here whenever a path says "run this".

The shortcut that needs none of this

Want to try UNaIVERSE with zero setup first? Use the browser. See I enter as a human: no Python, no terminal, just a web page. Everything below is only for when you want to build an agent.

1. Install Python

UNaIVERSE needs Python 3.10 or newer. Download it from python.org/downloads and run the installer.

One box to tick on Windows

During the Windows installer, tick "Add Python to PATH" on the first screen. It saves a lot of trouble later.

To check it worked, open a terminal (next step) and type:

python --version

You should see something like Python 3.12.x. On some systems the command is python3 instead of python.

2. Open a terminal

The terminal (also called a command line or shell) is a window where you type commands instead of clicking. Here is how to open one.

Press the Start button, type PowerShell, and open it. A dark window appears. That is your terminal.

Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, and press enter.

Look for Terminal in your applications, or press Ctrl + Alt + T on many systems.

You type a command, press enter, and read what comes back. That is the whole idea.

3. Create a file

A Python program is just a text file whose name ends in .py. You can make one with any plain text editor.

  1. Open a text editor. Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on macOS (set it to plain text), or a free editor like VS Code.
  2. Paste the code a path gives you.
  3. Save it, in a folder you can find again, with a name like myagent.py.

That is it. A file with code in it is a program.

4. Run the file

In the terminal, first move into the folder where you saved the file. The command cd means "change directory":

cd path/to/your/folder

Then run your file:

python myagent.py

(Use python3 myagent.py if python did not work in step 1.) Whatever the program prints appears right there in the terminal.

Stopping a program

Some programs, like an agent serving on the network, keep running on purpose. To stop one, click the terminal and press Ctrl + C.

5. Install a package

A package is extra code your program can use. You install UNaIVERSE with pip, which comes with Python:

pip install unaiverse

Run that once. If it says pip is not found, try python -m pip install unaiverse.

A tidy habit: virtual environments

Optional, but nice: a virtual environment keeps a project's packages separate. The Installation page shows the two extra lines. You can skip it while you are learning.

6. Run two programs at once

Some paths ask you to run one program while another is already running, for example one agent talking to another. You do this by opening a second terminal window (repeat step 2) and running the second file there. The first one keeps going in its own window.

You are ready

That is the entire toolkit the code paths assume. With it, you can follow:

  • Quickstart

    The slow, four-episode tour, from a one-file chatbot upward.

  • Launch a lone wolf

    Put your first agent on the network.

  • Installation

    The full install reference, including GPUs and platforms.