# Installation

URL: https://cogitator.app/docs/getting-started

> Install Cogitator and set up your development environment.

## Prerequisites

* **Node.js 22.12+** — [Download](https://nodejs.org/)
* **pnpm** (recommended) — `npm install -g pnpm`; npm, yarn and bun work too
* **Docker** (optional) — for Redis, Postgres and sandboxed execution
* **Ollama** (for local LLMs) — [Download](https://ollama.com/), or use a hosted provider such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google

```bash
node --version    # v22.12.0 or higher
```

## Scaffolding a Project

The fastest way to start is the project scaffolder. It generates the project and installs its dependencies:

```bash
npx create-cogitator-app my-agent
cd my-agent
npm run dev
```

`create-cogitator-app` supports 6 templates:

| Template     | Description                                   |
| ------------ | --------------------------------------------- |
| `basic`      | Single agent with tools                       |
| `memory`     | Agent with persistent memory in Redis         |
| `swarm`      | Team of agents with hierarchical coordination |
| `workflow`   | Multi-step DAG pipeline of agents             |
| `api-server` | Express server exposing agents over HTTP      |
| `nextjs`     | Next.js chat app with streaming               |

Pass flags to skip the prompts:

```bash
npx create-cogitator-app my-agent \
  --template swarm \
  --provider openai \
  --pm pnpm
```

See [Project Scaffolding](/docs/getting-started/scaffolding) for every flag. For a config-driven personal assistant with Telegram, Discord or Slack, use the [CLI](/docs/cli) (`cogitator wizard` or `cogitator init`) instead.

## Manual Installation

Add Cogitator to an existing project:

```bash
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/core zod
```

Optional packages depending on your needs:

```bash
# Memory adapters (Redis, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, Qdrant)
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/memory

# RAG pipeline
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/rag

# Multi-agent swarms
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/swarms

# Workflow orchestration
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/workflows

# Server adapters
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/express    # or fastify, hono, koa, tetsu, next

# cogitator.yml and environment loading
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/config

# MCP protocol
pnpm add @cogitator-ai/mcp
```

Some providers and adapters load optional peer dependencies on demand: `@aws-sdk/client-bedrock-runtime` for Bedrock, `pg` for Postgres, `better-sqlite3` for SQLite, `@cogitator-ai/sandbox` for sandboxed tools, `langfuse` for the Langfuse exporter.

## Docker Services

Projects scaffolded with Docker Compose (the default answer, or `--docker`) get a `docker-compose.yml` with:

* **Redis** (port 6379) — short-term memory, pub/sub, job queues
* **Postgres** (port 5432) — long-term memory (user, password and database `cogitator` unless `POSTGRES_*` variables are set)
* **Ollama** (port 11434) — local LLM inference, only when Ollama is the chosen provider

```bash
docker compose up -d
```

The `postgres:16-alpine` image has no pgvector extension. For semantic search in Postgres, switch the image to `pgvector/pgvector:pg16`.

Pull a model when you use Ollama:

```bash
ollama pull llama3.2
```