Set up to build

Install covered the one tool you need to run examples: uv. This page sets you up to build your own KAOS project.

Start a project

uv init my-kaos-project
cd my-kaos-project

Add the packages you need

KAOS is à la carte — add only the layers you’ll use. A few common starting points:

# Foundation + document model
uv add kaos-core kaos-content

# LLM programming
uv add kaos-llm-client kaos-llm-core

# Agents (pulls in the LLM layer)
uv add kaos-agents

# Deterministic substrate (offline, no key)
uv add kaos-nlp-core kaos-citations kaos-graph kaos-names

All packages require Python 3.13+ and are Apache-2.0 licensed. The Rust-backed packages (kaos-nlp-core, kaos-graph, kaos-ml-core, kaos-nlp-transformers) ship prebuilt abi3 wheels — no Rust toolchain needed to use them.

Provider keys (only for live LLM calls)

Deterministic packages and the FunctionClient offline path need no keys. To make live LLM calls, set a provider key:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-...     # the documented default for KAOS examples
# or OPENAI_API_KEY / GOOGLE_API_KEY

KAOS reads these via typed settings (KAOS_LLM_* env vars also work and take precedence). Keys are held in SecretStr and redacted from logs and output.

Verify

uv run python -c "import kaos_core; print(kaos_core.__version__)"

You’re ready. Follow the tutorial spine to build something, or browse the how-to cookbook for task recipes.