Installation

Get Chalie running in minutes — install, pick a model, and go. Works with Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini.

Install

One command installs Chalie:

curl -fsSL https://chalie.ai/install | bash

It checks your dependencies, downloads the latest release, and installs the chalie command. The whole thing takes about two minutes.

Requirements

  • Python 3.11 or newer
  • macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon) or Linux (amd64 or arm64)
  • No root access required

On Windows, run from source or use the Docker image instead.

Everything Chalie creates — your account, data, models, and configuration — lives in ~/.chalie/. Nothing is written outside that directory.

CLI

Once installed, manage Chalie with the chalie command:

chalie               # Start → http://localhost:31025
chalie --port=9000   # Start on a custom port
chalie --host=127.0.0.1   # Bind to a specific address
chalie stop          # Stop
chalie restart       # Restart
chalie status        # Show whether Chalie is running
chalie update        # Update to the latest release
chalie logs          # Follow the log

Chalie runs in the background and listens on port 31025 by default.

First run

  1. Start Chalie with chalie.
  2. Open http://localhost:31025/on-boarding/ and create your account. Pick a strong password here — it protects your data and conversations.
  3. Log in. You land straight in the chat interface.
  4. Give Chalie a brain: open Brain → Settings → Providers → Add Provider and connect a model (see below).

That’s the whole setup. Chalie generates its own secrets and stores all configuration through the web UI — there’s nothing to edit by hand.

Choose your model

Chalie is model-agnostic. Add your provider in Brain → Settings → Providers → Add Provider — a short wizard that only asks for what each provider needs.

Free, private, and runs entirely on your machine. Nothing leaves your computer. Assumes you already have Ollama running with a model pulled.

In Add Provider, pick Ollama. Host: http://localhost:11434 — no API key needed. Choose any model you’ve already pulled; larger models reason better.

OpenAI

Cloud provider. Requires an API key; usage charges apply.

  1. Get a key at platform.openai.com.
  2. In Add Provider, pick OpenAI and paste your key.

Anthropic

Cloud provider. Requires an API key; usage charges apply.

  1. Get a key at console.anthropic.com.
  2. In Add Provider, pick Anthropic and paste your key.

Google Gemini

Cloud provider. Requires an API key; a free tier is available.

  1. Get a key at aistudio.google.com.
  2. In Add Provider, pick Gemini and paste your key.
Provider Where to get it Notes
Ollama ollama.ai Local, free, private. Recommended. No key.
OpenAI platform.openai.com Cloud. Key required.
Anthropic console.anthropic.com Cloud. Key required.
Gemini aistudio.google.com Cloud. Key required. Free tier available.

Configuration

There’s almost nothing to configure. The only runtime option is the port:

chalie --port=9000   # default: 31025

Voice is off by default and isn’t bundled by the installer. Turn it on in Brain → Settings; Chalie installs the voice dependencies and models in the background, and the controls appear automatically once they’re ready.

Before going public

Chalie is built to run on your own machine. If you want to reach it from outside your network, secure it first:

  • Enable HTTPS. Put a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, or Traefik) in front of Chalie to terminate TLS.
  • Use a strong password. Set during onboarding — this is what guards your data and conversations.
  • Restrict CORS. Lock the allowed origin down before exposing Chalie to any network.

Docker

Prefer containers? Pull the published image:

docker run -d -p 31025:31025 -v ~/.chalie/data:/root/.chalie/app/data chalieai/chalie

The image is published to Docker Hub as chalieai/chalie for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 with every release.

Run from source

git clone https://github.com/chalie-ai/chalie.git && cd chalie
./run.sh             # → http://localhost:31025

run.sh resolves a Python interpreter and syncs the core dependencies for you before launching. Pass --port or --host just like the CLI.

Update & uninstall

Update to the latest release at any time:

chalie update

This stops Chalie, pulls the newest release, and reinstalls its dependencies. Your data in ~/.chalie/ is never touched.

To remove Chalie completely:

chalie stop
rm -rf ~/.chalie ~/.local/bin/chalie

If the installer added a PATH line to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc, remove that too.