Installation

Requirements

Python 3.10 or higher
An LLM API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, or xAI)

Basic Installation

Install the core package:

pip install anvil-agent

With LLM Providers

Anvil needs an LLM to generate tool code. Install with your preferred provider:

# Claude (recommended)
pip install "anvil-agent[anthropic]"

# GPT-4
pip install "anvil-agent[openai]"

# Both providers
pip install "anvil-agent[all-providers]"

With Framework Adapters

If you’re using a specific AI framework, install the corresponding adapter:

# LangChain
pip install "anvil-agent[langchain]"

# CrewAI
pip install "anvil-agent[crewai]"

# AutoGen
pip install "anvil-agent[autogen]"

# OpenAI Agents SDK
pip install "anvil-agent[openai-agents]"

# All frameworks
pip install "anvil-agent[all-frameworks]"

Full Installation

Install everything:

pip install "anvil-agent[all]"

This includes:

All LLM providers (Anthropic, OpenAI)
All framework adapters
Documentation fetching (FireCrawl)

Development Installation

For contributing or local development:

git clone https://github.com/anthropics/anvil-sdk.git
cd anvil-sdk
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Setting Up API Keys

Anvil needs API keys to generate tools. Set them as environment variables:

# Required: At least one LLM provider
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
# or
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# Optional: For fetching documentation
export FIRECRAWL_API_KEY="..."

Or use the CLI to set up interactively:

anvil init

This creates a .env file with your keys securely stored.

Verify Installation

Check that everything is working:

anvil doctor

This will show:

Python version
Docker availability (optional, for sandboxing)
API key status
Configuration files

Optional: Docker

For enhanced security, Anvil can run generated code in Docker containers. Install Docker Desktop or Docker Engine to enable this feature.

When Docker is available, generated tools are verified in a sandbox before being saved.

Next Steps

Now that you have Anvil installed: