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Installing Griptape Nodes

An important bit of overview before we begin: Griptape Nodes is actually two things that work together - an Engine and an Editor. The Engine will install and run on your computer, while the Editor is served from the web, and you'll interact with your Engine through a web browser.

  • If you'd rather not install the Engine locally, it is also easy to run it in a hosted environment. The instructions that follow will work the same for either approach.

  • There is no locally-hosted Editor option

There are just 4 easy steps:

  1. Sign up or Log in
  2. Install Your Engine
  3. Configuration
  4. Start Your Engine

1. Sign up or Log in

To get started, visit https://griptapenodes.com and click the sign-in button.

Landing Page

You'll be presented with a Griptape account authorization form.

If you've already signed up for Griptape Cloud, your existing credentials will work here!

Login

Once you've logged in, you'll be presented with a setup screen which walks you through installing the Engine.

2. Install Your Engine

  1. On the New Installation tab, copy the installation command from the first step: Iinstall Griptape nodes Engine (it's the bit that starts with curl).

  2. Open a Terminal on your machine

  3. Paste and run the command.

    Info

    You can install this on your local machine or a cloud-based workstation.

Installation Page

You'll see this message when installation has completed:

**************************************
*      Installation complete!        *
*  Run 'griptape-nodes' (or 'gtn')   *
*      to start the engine.          *
**************************************

Info

You'll notice this message gives you two options for commands to run. As previously mentioned, there is no difference between running griptape-nodes or gtn. They both do the exact same thing.

After typing and running griptape-nodes or gtn in the terminal for the first time, you will be asked a series of configuration questions.

3. Configuration

First, you'll be prompted to set your workspace directory. Your workspace directory is where the Griptape Nodes engine will save project files, and generated assets. It will also contain a .env for your Griptape Nodes secret keys.

╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ Workspace Directory                                               │
│     Select the workspace directory. This is the root for your     │
│     projects, saved workflows, and potentially project-specific   │
│     settings. By default, this will be set to                     │
│     "<current_working_directory>/GriptapeNodes", which is the     │
│     directory from which you run the 'gtn' command.               │
│     You may enter a custom directory or press Return to accept    │
│     the default workspace directory.                              │
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Workspace Directory (/Users/user/Documents/local-dev/nodes-test-eng/GriptapeNodes)

Pressing Enter will use the default: <current_working_directory>/GriptapeNodes, where <current_working_directory> is the directory from which you're running the gtn command. Alternatively, you can specify any location you prefer.

You can always return to this dialog using the gtn init command if you need to make changes in the future.

Second, you'll be prompted for your Griptape Cloud API Key.

  1. Return to the web browser and open Step 3: Generate an API Key.

  2. Click the Generate API Key button.

  3. Copy that key and enter it in the next step.

Installation Page wKey hint

Workspace directory set to: /Users/user/Documents/local-dev/nodes-test-eng/GriptapeNodes
╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ Griptape API Key                                                                                                        │
│         A Griptape API Key is needed to proceed.                                                                        │
│         This key allows the Griptape Nodes Engine to communicate with the Griptape Nodes Editor.                        │
│         In order to get your key, return to the https://nodes.griptape.ai tab in your browser and click the button      │
│         "Generate API Key".                                                                                             │
│         Once the key is generated, copy and paste its value here to proceed.                                            │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Griptape API Key (YOUR-KEY-HERE):

Info

If you've previously run gtn init your key might be presented to you in this dialog. You can accept it by pressing Enter or use a different value as required.

4. Start Your Engine

You're ready to proceed. Run griptape-nodes or gtn and return to your browser. Your browser tab at https://nodes.griptape.ai will be updated to an untitled workflow in Griptape Nodes!

A Blank Griptape_nodes_ editor

Next, on to learning how to actually work inside Griptape Nodes! Begin