---
title: Quickstart
description: Install Klex and get your first Klex bot up and running.
---

## Installation

Klex bots are self-hosted. This means that you must download the Klex application on a machine that should later act as the memory store and the execution environment for the bot.

<Panel title="Good to know">
The bot does **not** have automatic access to any files on your system. Instead, the host only acts as a place where the bot's thinking and memory storage and retrieval happens.

Any interactions with the outside world, including sandboxes or full machines for **Computer Use** or development, explicitly require connecting a computer via MCP.
</Panel>

To install Klex, run the following script in your system's shell:

**macOS**

`curl -fsSL https://klex.bot/install.sh | sh`

**Linux**

`curl -fsSL https://klex.bot/install.sh | sh`

**Windows**

`irm https://klex.bot/install.ps1 | iex`

**WSL**

`curl -fsSL https://klex.bot/install.sh | sh`

## Creating your bot

**Cloud-assisted (recommended)**

1. **Sign up to the Klex Cloud**

    Go to the [Klex Cloud](https://cloud.klex.bot) and sign up. In the left sidebar, select the Bots panel and click on `Set up a Klex Bot`.

2. **Start Klex**

    Follow the guide in the wizard to install and start the Klex app.

3. **Create a new bot**

    In the Klex app, select `Create a new Bot` in the option list and press Enter.

4. **Name your bot**

    Enter the name this bot should use. The bot will know that this is its own name.

5. **Enroll the bot into the cloud**

    Follow the instructions in the cloud wizard to connect this bot to your Klex Cloud organization.

6. **Configure model providers & model selection**

    The cloud wizard will now prompt you to configure the model providers and models you want the bot to use.
    <Panel title="Good to know">
      Provider credentials are securely transmitted to and stored in the bot's own config on the machine that hosts the bot, **not** in the cloud.
    </Panel>
    <Panel title="Good to know">
    Klex supports a variety of subscriptions, first-party providers, local LLM providers, and generic API providers.

    Learn more about [model providers](/concepts/model-providers) and [model selection](/concepts/model-selection).
    </Panel>

7. **Give the bot its soul**

    In the next step, the wizard will ask you to design the bot's soul. You have two options: [Creator mode](/concepts/soul#creator-mode) (*recommended!*) and [God message mode](/concepts/soul#god-message-mode).

    [Learn more about the soul](/concepts/soul).

8. **Connect MCPs**

    Give the bot access to MCPs. The **Klex Cloud** helps you easily create dedicated accounts for the bot in each integrated app, but you can of course also connect any other MCP.

**Standalone**

<Panel title="Important">
If you want to use Klex bots without the Klex Cloud, you need to ensure that at least one MCP is connected that can proactively trigger the bot.
This means the MCP **must** implement **either** of these:

- Conversations as individual MCP resources with change notifications
- Push notifications as per our [MCP Extension](https://github.com/stagewise-io/klex/tree/main/packages/mcp-extension-push-notifications)
</Panel>

1. **Start Klex**

    Start the CLI with the following command: `klex --no-cloud`

2. **Create a new bot**

    Select `Create a new Bot` in the option list and press Enter.

3. **Name your bot**

    Enter the name this bot should use. The bot will know that this is its own name.

4. **Configure model providers**

    Go into `Settings -> Model Providers` and create a provider instance for every model provider you want to use.
    <Panel title="Good to know">
    Klex supports a variety of subscriptions, first-party providers, local LLM providers, and generic API providers.

    [Learn more about model providers](/concepts/model-providers).
    </Panel>

5. **Configure model selection**

    Go into `Settings -> Model Selection` and configure the model for every use case of the bot.
    <Panel title="Good to know">
    You must configure a valid model for "Chat", but we strongly recommend configuring all capabilities to ensure cheap usage and full functionality.

    [Learn more about model selection](/concepts/model-selection).
    </Panel>

6. **Give the bot its soul**

    Go into `Settings -> God messages` to send a `God message`. The content of the god message should describe what the soul of the bot should look like (its job, its character, etc.).

    [Learn more about the soul](/concepts/soul).

7. **Connect MCPs**

    Go into `Settings -> MCPs` and connect MCPs to give the bot access to the outside world.