> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.neuralcleave.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Get NeuralCleave running and answering messages in under five minutes.

## Prerequisites

* Python 3.11 or later
* Node.js 20+ (for the dashboard UI)
* An API key for at least one LLM provider, **or** [Ollama](https://ollama.ai) installed locally

## 1. Clone and install

```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/TheAmitChandra/NeuralCleave.git
cd NeuralCleave
pip install -e .
pip install -e ".[voice]"   # optional — STT/TTS/wake-word dependencies
```

For the dashboard:

```bash theme={null}
cd frontend
npm install
```

## 2. Create your config

```bash theme={null}
neuralcleave config init
```

Writes a starter `~/.neuralcleave/config.toml`. Edit it to set your provider and key under `[models]`:

```toml theme={null}
[models]
primary = "gpt-4o-mini"
openai_api_key = "ENV:OPENAI_API_KEY"
```

Set your key in the environment:

```bash theme={null}
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
```

See [Configuration](/configuration) for the full reference, and [LLM Providers](/llm-providers) for every supported model ID prefix.

## 3. Start the gateway

```bash theme={null}
neuralcleave start
```

Or, to also open the dashboard in one step:

```bash theme={null}
neuralcleave tray
```

## 4. Open the dashboard

```bash theme={null}
neuralcleave open
```

Or manually run the frontend dev server:

```bash theme={null}
cd frontend
npm run dev
```

Navigate to [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000). The chat page is live.

## 5. Send your first message

From the terminal, without any channel or dashboard:

```bash theme={null}
neuralcleave chat
```

Or check gateway status first:

```bash theme={null}
neuralcleave status
```

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Connect a channel" icon="plug" href="/channels">
    Route messages from Telegram, Discord, or Slack.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Enable voice" icon="microphone" href="/voice/overview">
    Add wake word detection and local STT/TTS.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Add a skill" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/skills">
    Teach the agent a new capability.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Switch providers" icon="arrows-rotate" href="/llm-providers">
    Use Ollama for a fully local setup.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>