---
title: First steps
slug: /getting-started
description: New to Modelverse? Start here. What the model library is, how to install it, and your first model from catalog to served endpoint.
---

New to Modelverse? This section is where to start. It gives enough orientation to hold the product in your head, an install you can verify in minutes, and a first model that goes from the catalog to a served endpoint. Read it in order:

1. **[Modelverse at a glance](overview.mdx)**: what the model library is and is not, and the five-minute mental model.
2. **[Get Modelverse](get-modelverse.md)**: pick your platform, get the download and verify commands.
3. **[Quick install](installation.md)**: extract the archive and prove it works in two commands.
4. **Tutorial series**: four parts, each a complete step. [Pick a model](first-model/01-pick-a-model.md) (the catalog, identity, what a download would cost), [fetch and prompt](first-model/02-fetch-and-prompt.md) (weights on disk, first generated text), [serve and chat](first-model/03-chat-and-serve.md) (an OpenAI-compatible endpoint with a built-in chat page), and [use it from your code](first-model/04-use-it-from-code.mdx) (the same model inside your own program).
5. **Adding your own model**: the author-side series, three parts on the smallest real model (an embedding model: text in, vector out). [A model from scratch](own-model/01-a-model-from-scratch.md) (a checkpoint is a directory you can write by hand), [join the catalog](own-model/02-join-the-catalog.md) (register a family of your own), and [make it embed](own-model/03-make-it-embed.md) (the smallest real backend, the standard commands in two lines). Read it when you bring your own architecture; the first series does not depend on it.
6. **[What to read next](next-steps.md)**: where to go once it runs.

## How the Modelverse docs are layered

- **This section** orients: condensed, in reading order, concepts explained where they first appear.
- **[How-to guides](../how-to/index.md)**: problem-oriented recipes, one per "how do I X", with [additional examples](../examples.md) as the end-to-end reading inside it.
- **[ClikaRT](/clikart)** documents the runtime underneath, including the API reference the C++ surface builds on and the [system requirements](/clikart/system-requirements) Modelverse inherits.