Setup

Get Started

The simplest way to use Minds Cowork is the pre-built app — available on web and desktop.

Desktop or Web App

Pre-built, packaged and ready — no setup required.

Web
Try it at mindshub.ai — ready in one click.
↗
macOS
Download the .pkg installer for macOS.
Windows
Download the .exe installer for Windows.

Build From Source

Or build from source if you want to hack the code ;)

01 Prerequisites

Make sure the following are installed on your machine before starting.

Node.js
v20 or later
Python
3.12 or later
uv
Python package manager
make
pre-installed on macOS / Linux

Install uv if you don't have it:

bash
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

02 Clone & install

Clone with --recurse-submodules to pull frontend, backend/core_api, and backend/core_agent in one shot.

bash
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/mindsdb/minds-platform.git
cd minds-platform
make setup

make setup runs npm ci for the frontend and uv sync for both Python backends. It is automatically skipped on subsequent runs if nothing changed in the lock files.

Desktop app

Starts the FastAPI backend (with hot reload) and the Electron renderer (TypeScript watch + Vite HMR) in parallel.

bash
make dev

Press Ctrl-C once to shut down all processes cleanly.

To open DevTools, set ANTON_OPEN_DEVTOOLS=1 before running:

bash
ANTON_OPEN_DEVTOOLS=1 make dev

Web app

Starts the FastAPI backend and the Vite dev server with BUILD_TARGET=web. Opens the browser automatically.

bash
make dev-web

The app is served at http://localhost:5173. The API runs on http://localhost:26866.

API key required. Set ANTON_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-... in a .env file inside backend/core_api/ before running.

Docker

Run the full stack in containers — the web SPA served by nginx on port 3000, the API on port 26866.

bash
make docker-build   # build both images
make docker-up      # start everything

Or pass your API key inline:

bash
ANTON_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-... docker compose up --build

Open http://localhost:3000 when the health check turns green.

All make commands

CommandWhat it does
make setupInstall all dependencies (npm + uv). Auto-skipped when lock files haven't changed.
make devStart backend + Electron with full hot reload.
make dev-webStart backend + Vite web dev server.
make buildProduction build of the frontend (renderer + main process).
make dist-macBuild and package a macOS .dmg.
make dist-winBuild and package a Windows .exe.
make docker-buildBuild the api and web Docker images.
make docker-upStart the Docker stack (docker compose up).
make docker-downStop and remove containers.