The Curse of Patience
I realize now after writing a few guides on SillyTavern that I never made one of the more important ones: Getting the damned thing up and running. Luckily, SillyTavern is supported among all operating systems (even Android, although that IS Linux-based but won’t be covered here). This is meant to be a catch-all, simple guide on how to install SillyTavern on any platform ya got. Without further dribble, let’s begin!
Requirements (The Boring Part)
Windows: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit, and no Vista pls)
Mac: macOS 12 Monterey or later
Linux: Any modern distro (Ubuntu 22.04+ makes this even more cake)
Node.js v18.16+ (LTS) (Simply select your OS when you get it here!)
Git (optional but recommended on all platforms. Get it here!)
How to Install SillyTavern on Windows
Download It!
This is the most straightforward installation, Bill Gates made sure of it. If you installed git, simply enter:
git clone https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern
Into your console. This is after you install Git, which I included a link to in the Requirements section. Keep in mind that whatever directory your command prompt indicates is where the installation will be found. You can change the directory to your desktop with this command:
cd %userprofile%\DesktopIf you’d rather just skip right over all that l33tsp33k, go ahead and download the ZIP instead by going to this link:
https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern/releases
Scroll down, and click Source Code.zip to download it. Extract this zip somewhere on your desktop for ease of access (or wherever you’d like, I’m not your boss!). There’s no difference between any of these two methods, but I included both for your leisure. Anyways, we’re already off to a great start here. Learning the rest on how to install Sillytavern is a breeze.
Installing Node.js
On Windows, this is simple as well. Download Node.js directly from the website, selecting the Windows Installer(.msi).
Your architecture should be x64. SillyTavern does NOT support 32-bit operating systems. Once you have it downloaded, run the installer and mash through, hitting next until you can hit install. You can verify the install in your Windows installation by typing:
node -vIn your command prompt.
Run SillyTavern on Windows
The moment of truth. With everything done correctly, go ahead and open your SillyTavern folder wherever you put it with whatever method you used, and double click Start.bat. This will automatically download all dependencies for SillyTavern and complete the installation. Also, the browser should automatically open to localhost:8000. That is how you connect to SillyTavern on any device, as long as you’re connected on the same network. Also, keep in mind the terminal is supposed to STAY open. If you close it, you’ll kill SillyTavern. We don’t want that.
How to Install SillyTavern on Mac
Mac doesn’t have a built-in package installer, which means it’s a teensie-weensie extra bit of work. And by work, I mean copy and pasting. Do note that if you have an M-series mac (M1, M2, etc) that SillyTavern will still work perfectly fine, despite the ARM architecture.
Installing Node.js
Let’s start with this first. Open up your Terminal, also known as your CLI. Paste this in to install Homebrew (which is a lightweight package installer), and use it to install Node.js
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
brew install node You can verify the Node.js installation similar to how we did for Windows.
node -v
Download It!
Luckily for you, Git comes already pre-installed in most cases for OSX. If prompted by Xcode Command Line Tools, just click install when you paste below:
git clone https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern
cd SillyTavern
Again, remember this will download it in whatever directory you’re currently in (so keep it out of ‘that’ folder).
Run SillyTavern on Mac
Alright, the moment Mac users have been waiting for (Windows users need not apply). Since your last command changed your directory to the SillyTavern folder (cd SillyTavern), go ahead and run:
bash start.shAnd that’s a wrap. Similar to windows, it will auto-install your dependencies and also start your browser on localhost:8000.
How to Install Sillytavern on Linux
This one goes out to all my fedora-tippers (yours truly). Similarly to our Mac walkthrough, we’ll start with Node.js.
Installing Node.js
Go ahead and just slap this right into the terminal:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nodejs npm -y
node -v
**NOTE: This is really for Ubuntu users, since it uses apt. For trench coat enthusiasts such as myself, use your respective package manager (dnf, pacman, etc)
This is going to update your repositories, install Node.js, and verify the installation.
Download It!
Download SillyTavern with Git.
git clone https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern
cd SillyTavernThat’s it.
Run SillyTavern on Linux
You’re here. You made it. The previous command put you in SillyTavern’s directory, so simply insert this command in your terminal:
bash start.sh
Because of the way Linux is designed (security-first philosophy), you may need to run an additional command to make it executable:
chmod +x start.shSame thing as Windows or Mac, the browser will automatically open to localhost:8000.
Accessing SillyTavern From Outside of your Home Network
This is a quick footnote for individuals seeking to access SillyTavern from outside of their home network. I’ll make a brief guide later on covering this, but understand that, due to the nature of exposing a port to the internet, it inherently presents a security risk. There are ways to do this safely and securely, which will be covered at that time.
Connecting An AI Model (Any OS)
Because SillyTavern is a front end (a fancier way of saying a user interface), you still need a back end (in this case, a fancier way of saying an AI model). You have two options. My first is also my recommended:
- OpenRouter’s free API – This is free and easy (and those two things together are hard to come by)! Simply make an account on OpenRouter and generate an API key to place in the SillyTavern API connection menu. You have a variety of free AI models to use here. Stepfun 3.5 Flash is pretty decent.
Or, alternatively:
- Host your own local model – This is a bit more involved, and also poses higher demands. Keep in mind the GPU requirements for the model you’re attempting to use. You can check some models out on HuggingFace.co, and I recommend using KoboldCpp or Ollama.
You’re in! What’s Next?
Well, you’re in now. You did it. You learned how to install SillyTavern. Welcome to the elite. Coming from another platform like SpicyChat or Chub.AI, this might seem a little daunting. Fret not. There are plenty of resources out there to help you. Personally, I’ve written a few I’ll add below to get you started:
- Make an optimal system prompt to ensure high-quality roleplay. You can check out my system prompt guide here!
- Make your own character cards! If you want to get started with that, I also wrote a guide on it. Check it out here!
- If you’re interested in seeing what kind of extensions are out there, WorldInfo Recommender by bmen25124 is a personal favorite. Check it out here!
FAQ
This happens when Node.js was installed without adding it to your system PATH. Uninstall Node.js, redownload the installer from nodejs.org, and on the setup screen make sure the option to add Node.js to PATH is checked. Once you reinstall, open a fresh Command Prompt window and try again.
This is almost always your antivirus flagging the batch file or a permissions issue. Right-click Start.bat and select “Run as Administrator.” If it still closes, temporarily disable your antivirus and try again. Windows Defender in particular is known to interfere with SillyTavern on first run.
Your system needs permission to execute the file before it can run it. In your terminal, navigate into the SillyTavern folder and run chmod +x start.sh first, then try bash start.sh again.
Homebrew was not installed successfully before you moved on to the next step. Go back and rerun the Homebrew install command from the official site at brew.sh. Once it finishes, run brew install node again.
Another application on your machine is occupying that port. Open the config.yaml file inside your SillyTavern folder with any text editor, find the port number, and change it to something like 8001 or 8080. Save the file and relaunch.
Nothing is wrong. On the very first launch, SillyTavern takes a minute or two to finish installing its dependencies before the interface loads. Give it up to 60 seconds, then refresh the page. If it is still blank after that, check that the terminal window is still open and has not thrown an error.