Installation¶

You need 3 things: Python, Docker, and ABI-Core. That’s it.

What you need¶

Tool	Why	How to get it
Python 3.11+	ABI-Core is written in Python	python.org/downloads
Docker	Agents run inside containers	docker.com/get-started
ABI-Core	The framework itself	`pip install abi-core-ai`

Open a terminal and check if you already have it:

python3 --version

If it says Python 3.11 or higher, you’re good. Skip to step 2.

If not, download it from python.org and install it. On Windows, make sure to check “Add Python to PATH” during installation.

Download Docker Desktop and install it. Works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Once installed, check it works:

docker --version

If you see a version number, you’re good.

pip install abi-core-ai

Done. Check it worked:

abi-core --help

You should see a list of commands like create, add, run.

“command not found: abi-core” — Python installed it somewhere your terminal can’t find. Run this:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Then try abi-core --help again. If it works, make it permanent:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

“Permission denied” with Docker — On Linux, add yourself to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Then log out and back in.

Python version too old — You need 3.11 or newer. Download the latest from python.org.