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Install Anda

Anda Bot can be installed from a release or run directly from the repository source. Releases are best for daily use; source builds are best for contribution, debugging, and experimenting with new features.

Install the Latest Release​

Anda Desktop​

Most people should start with Anda Desktop: the chat window, workbench and tray. Download it from the latest release:

  • macOS Apple Silicon: Anda-mac-arm64.dmg
  • Windows x64: Anda-win-x64.exe
  • Homebrew: brew install --cask ldclabs/tap/anda-desktop (also installs the anda formula)

New macOS CLI and desktop releases are available for Apple Silicon only. Intel Mac users can build from source.

Anda Desktop keeps an existing anda install, or installs its bundled anda and curated skills where the install scripts put them (~/.local/bin on macOS, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\AndaBot on Windows). The desktop, your terminal and the Chrome extension then share one runtime and one daemon. The model connection guide includes a launch-at-login option. The desktop tray replaces the retired Anda Bot menu bar launcher, which the desktop removes.

If no model is configured, Connect a model opens automatically. Sign in with ChatGPT and confirm a model, or choose a preset from the bundled config.yaml and enter its API key. The guide waits for the selected model to load. Set up later keeps your draft and a connection reminder; reopen the guide from Settings → General → Connect a model. Existing configurations are reused.

Command line only​

With Homebrew:

brew install ldclabs/tap/anda

macOS and Linux with the install script:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ldclabs/anda-bot/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

If you also have a Homebrew install, open a new terminal and verify command -v anda points at ~/.local/bin/anda or your ANDA_INSTALL_DIR; otherwise an older Homebrew binary may shadow the updated install-script binary.

Windows with PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ldclabs/anda-bot/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

The install scripts install anda and the curated skills, add it to PATH, register the daemon to start at login with anda autostart install and restart it; rerunning them also removes the retired launcher. On Windows the login entry runs anda start and briefly shows a console window. For PowerShell, add -NoAutostart or -NoStart to opt out; for the shell installer, set ANDA_NO_AUTOSTART=1 or ANDA_NO_START=1.

After installation, open a new terminal and run:

anda

Prepare a Model API Key​

You need at least one model provider API key. Anda Desktop users can enter it under Settings → Agent configuration. CLI users can start with an environment variable:

DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY anda

Windows PowerShell：

$env:DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"; anda

You can also write the key to ~/.anda/config.yaml for reuse. The api_key in config.yaml takes priority over environment variables.

First Launch​

On first run, Anda creates the local runtime directory and ~/.anda/config.yaml. If the configuration is incomplete, the terminal UI lists the missing fields.

  1. Open ~/.anda/config.yaml.
  2. Fill in the model provider family, model, api_base, and either api_key or an environment variable.
  3. Save the file.
  4. Refresh models from Anda Desktop or the browser side panel, or run anda models reload.

Minimal model configuration:

model:
  active: "deepseek-v4-pro"
  providers:
    - family: anthropic
      model: "deepseek-v4-pro"
      api_base: "https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic"
      api_key: "YOUR_API_KEY" # Can be empty when DEEPSEEK_API_KEY is set
      labels: ["pro", "brain"]
      disabled: false

The brain label makes the memory brain prefer that provider. If no provider has the label, memory tasks use the active model.

The image, audio and video labels pick the providers that inspect those attachments. When the active model also has the image label, it receives PNG, JPEG, GIF and WebP attachments of up to 5 MiB directly with your message, for the task that message starts; remove the label from a model that cannot read images.

Run from Source​

To run directly from the repository:

git clone https://github.com/ldclabs/anda-bot.git
cd anda-bot
cargo run -p anda_bot --

Use a separate home directory to isolate identities, projects, or test data:

anda --home /path/to/.anda

Equivalent source command:

cargo run -p anda_bot -- --home /path/to/.anda

Update​

If installed through the install script, update with:

anda update

Homebrew installs update with brew upgrade anda. Check for updates in Anda Desktop's tray or Settings checks both anda and the desktop app. A desktop release carries the same release's anda, so when the desktop installed anda it is the whole update: one download, one confirmation, then the service drains and the app restarts it on the new anda. With a Homebrew or Settings-chosen anda, runtime installation waits for active tasks to finish and the desktop update restarts only the app. A found or downloaded release also appears at the bottom of the sidebar as Download update or Restart to update. Windows releases update this way even before they are signed: the app checks each download against the release's checksums. Unsigned macOS builds require manually installing the new desktop package.

Manage the background daemon with:

anda status
anda start
anda stop
anda restart
anda autostart status