# Quick start

!!! tip "Installation Options"

    === "pip"

        Use pip to install `mini` in your current environment:

        ```bash
        pip install --pre mini-swe-agent
        ```

        And try our command line interface

        ```bash
        mini  # CLI
        mini-extra  # extra utilities
        ```

    === "uv (isolated)"

        Use `uv`/`uvx` ([installation](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/)) to directly run the `mini` CLI.
        Use this if you're only interested in the CLI but don't need python bindings (`mini` will be installed in an anonymous virtual environment).

        Quickly install + run:

        ```bash
        uvx --prerelease=allow mini-swe-agent  # CLI
        uvx --prerelease=allow --from mini-swe-agent mini-extra  # extra utilities
        ```

        Permanently install

        ```bash
        uv tool install --prerelease=allow mini-swe-agent
        # then
        mini  # CLI
        mini-extra  # extra utilities
        ```

    === "pipx (isolated)"

        Use pipx ([installation](https://pipx.pypa.io/stable/installation/)) to directly run the `mini` CLI.
        Use this if you're only interested in the CLI but don't need python bindings (`mini` will be installed in an anonymous virtual environment).

        Quick install + run:

        ```bash
        # CLI
        pipx run --pip-args='--pre' mini-swe-agent
        # Extra utilities
        pipx run --pip-args='--pre' --spec mini-swe-agent mini-extra
        ```

        or for a persistent installation (recommended):

        ```bash
        pipx install --pip-args='--pre' mini-swe-agent
        # then
        mini  # CLI
        mini-extra  # extra utilities
        ```

        If the invocation doesn't immediately work, you might need to run `pipx ensurepath`.

    === "From source/dev"

        For development or if you want to customize the agent:

        ```bash
        git clone https://github.com/SWE-agent/mini-swe-agent.git
        cd mini-swe-agent
        pip install -e .
        ```

        Then run:

        ```bash
        mini  # CLI
        mini-extra  # extra utilities
        ```

        Or pick a [run script](https://github.com/SWE-agent/mini-swe-agent/tree/main/src/minisweagent/run):

        ```bash
        python src/minisweagent/run/hello_world.py
        ```

        If you are planning to contribute, please also install the dev dependencies
        and `pre-commit` hooks:

        ```bash
        pip install -e '.[dev]'
        pip install pre-commit && pre-commit install
        ```

        To check your installation, you can run `pytest -n auto` in the root folder.
        This should run all tests in parallel (should take ~3min to run).

        Note that there are still some extra dependencies that are not installed by default
        (basically anything that is in an `.../extra/...` folder).
        If you truly want to get the maximal package, you can run `pip install -e '.[full]'`

!!! note "Changelog"

    Please see the [github release notes](https://github.com/SWE-agent/mini-swe-agent/releases) for recent changes.

!!! info "Upgrading to v2?"

    Check out our [v2 migration guide](advanced/v2_migration.md) for all the changes and how to update your code.

!!! example "Example Prompts"

    Try mini-SWE-agent with these example prompts:

    - Implement a Sudoku solver in python in the `sudoku` folder. Make sure the codebase is modular and well tested with pytest.
    - Please run pytest on the current project, discover failing unittests and help me fix them. Always make sure to test the final solution.
    - Help me document & type my codebase by adding short docstrings and type hints.

## Models

!!! note "Models should be set up the first time you run `mini`"

    * If you missed the setup wizard, just run `mini-extra config setup`
    * For more information, please check the [model setup quickstart](models/quickstart.md).
    * If you want to use local models, please check this [guide](models/local_models.md).

    Tip: Please always include the provider in the model name, e.g., `anthropic/claude-...`.

!!! success "Which model to use?"

    We recommend using `anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929` for most tasks.
    For openai models, we recommend using `openai/gpt-5` or `openai/gpt-5-mini`.
    You can check scores of different models at our [SWE-bench (bash-only)](https://swebench.com) leaderboard.