---
title: Quick install
description: Extract the release archive and prove Modelverse works in two commands, no toolchain required.
---

The fast path from nothing to a running `clikart-cli` executable. It needs no compiler and no runtime dependencies; everything below runs the extracted directory in place.

## 0. Prerequisites

A terminal and `tar` with xz support (Linux, macOS and Windows 10+ have it out of the box); the archive carries the ClikaRT runtime and Modelverse together, so there is no toolchain to install. Running a model needs a credential your platform issued for the project; [License the runtime](/clikart/how-to/license-the-runtime) says where `clikart-cli` reads it. (A C++17 toolchain becomes relevant only in [part 4 of the tutorial](first-model/04-use-it-from-code.mdx), when you embed Modelverse in your own program.)

Running a model needs memory and disk that grow with the model's file size; the [ClikaRT system requirements](/clikart/system-requirements#memory) give the minimum memory per backend, measured at the platform's benchmark settings.

## 1. Extract the archive

One archive per platform ([Get Modelverse](get-modelverse.md) has the download and checksum commands), one directory out of it, and that directory is the whole install:

```bash
tar -xf ClikaRT_linux_x86_64-<version>.tar.xz
export MODELVERSE_INSTALL_DIR="$PWD/ClikaRT_linux_x86_64-<version>"
ls "$MODELVERSE_INSTALL_DIR"
```

The `ls` is the success check: `bin/`, `cmake/`, `include/`, `lib/`, `dist.json` and `VERSION` are there, and `README-Modelverse.md` sits beside the runtime's own `README.md`. The runtime's libraries and the Modelverse library share `lib/`, which is exactly where `bin/clikart-cli` looks for them. A new terminal loses the `export`; re-run it there.

## 2. Place the license credential

Modelverse runs on the ClikaRT runtime, and the runtime runs compute under a license. Put the `CLIKA1-...` credential your project's license shows in the environment, or store it once under your user account:

```bash
export CLIKA_RT_LICENSE=CLIKA1-...                         # this shell, and the programs it starts
"$MODELVERSE_INSTALL_DIR"/bin/clikart-license-init CLIKA1-...   # or once, for this user account
```

[License the runtime](/clikart/how-to/license-the-runtime) has the whole contract.

## 3. Ask it about this machine

The fastest proof the install works: it loads the runtime, probes the compute backends, and prints what it found. Nothing gets installed and no network is touched.

```bash
"$MODELVERSE_INSTALL_DIR"/bin/clikart-cli devices
```

```text
== compute devices on this machine ==
CPU      available
CUDA     available
Vulkan   available
device    name                     driver     runtime  memory_gb   sm_count  compute_capability  warp  max_threads_per_block  shared_mem_kb  tensor_cores  fp16  bf16  fp8_e4m3  status
CPU:0     AMD                      -          -        61.95013    6         -                   1     0                      0              no            yes   yes   no        ok
CUDA:0    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080  13.2       13.3     15.569031   76        8.9                 32    1024                   48             yes           yes   yes   yes       ok
Vulkan:0  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080  595.71.05  1.3.0    15.9921875  0         -                   32    1024                   0              yes           yes   yes   no        ok
```

Your table shows your hardware; `CPU available` alone is a pass. A backend listed as `compiled, not loaded` was built into this dist but found no usable device or driver on this machine. The `status` column reads `ok` for a device this build can run work on; a device that is present but unusable under this build names the reason there instead of failing at first use.

## 4. Print the catalog

The second command proves the model registry is intact, still with no network:

```bash
"$MODELVERSE_INSTALL_DIR"/bin/clikart-cli list
```

```text
registered model families (52 runnable; 10 hidden, --all shows all)

chatterbox  runnable
  *  Input Modalities: text
  * Output Modalities: audio
  *      Valid Combos: text -> audio
  *          Commands: speak, serve, bench
  *            Web UI: generic page
  *            Vendor: Resemble AI
  *      License page: https://github.com/resemble-ai/chatterbox/blob/master/LICENSE
-----------------------------------------
...
```

The list is long; `--full` adds each family's description. For convenience, put `bin/` on your `PATH`; the commands in the rest of the documentation assume `clikart-cli` resolves.

```bash
export PATH="$MODELVERSE_INSTALL_DIR/bin:$PATH"
```

## If something failed

- `tar: xz: Cannot exec` or `xz: command not found`: install `xz-utils` (Debian/Ubuntu) or `xz`.
- `No such file or directory` on the binary: the archive does not match this machine; `cat "$MODELVERSE_INSTALL_DIR/dist.json"` names the platform it was built for.
- A shared-library error on start: the binary finds its libraries in `lib/` relative to itself, so run it inside the extracted directory; copying `bin/clikart-cli` out alone breaks that lookup.
- A runtime-mismatch error on start: the model library is built against the runtime of its own release and refuses another, naming both versions; a directory hand-mixed from two releases is refused. Extract one archive, unmodified, and it clears.

The install works. [Pick a model](first-model/01-pick-a-model.md).