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00 · Installation

Cognithor runs on your own machine — no cloud account, no API key required.

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.12 or newer (python --version)
  • Ollama ≥ 0.4.0 (local LLM runtime) — ollama.com
  • ~2 GB of free disk space (for the qwen3:8b model)
  • Internet connection for the one-time pip install + model download

Time: 3 minutes End state: cognithor --version prints 0.93.0, and ollama list shows at least qwen3:8b.

Option A — Windows One-Click Installer (recommended on Windows)

  1. Download CognithorSetup-0.93.0-x64.exe from github.com/Alex8791-cyber/cognithor/releases.
  2. Double-click, "Next", "Install". The installer bundles a portable Python runtime + ffmpeg + an Ollama-setup link.
  3. Launch via the Cognithor Start-menu entry or cognithor at the command prompt.

No separate Python install required.

Option B — pip install (Linux, macOS, DIY Windows)

# 1. Install Ollama (one-time)
#    Linux:  curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh
#    macOS:  brew install ollama
#    Win:    installer from https://ollama.com

# 2. Pull the Ollama model
ollama pull qwen3:8b

# 3. Install Cognithor
pip install "cognithor[all]"

# 4. Verify
cognithor --version
# → Cognithor 0.93.0

Virtual environment recommended:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate    # Linux/macOS
# or
.venv\Scripts\activate       # Windows
pip install "cognithor[all]"

Option C — Docker Compose (headless / server)

git clone https://github.com/Alex8791-cyber/cognithor.git
cd cognithor
docker compose up -d
# → Ollama + Cognithor API on http://localhost:8741

Health check:

curl http://localhost:8741/health
# → {"status":"ok","version":"0.93.0"}

Verification

All three options should eventually answer these commands:

cognithor --version
# → Cognithor 0.93.0

ollama list
# → NAME        ID           SIZE    MODIFIED
# → qwen3:8b    abc123def    4.7 GB  ...

cognithor tools list | head -5
# → Lists the first five available MCP tools

Errors? → See 07 · Troubleshooting.

Next: 01 · First Crew