# Installation

## Requirements

bpod-core requires **Python 3.10 or later** and is supported on Linux, macOS, and
Windows. It is compatible with Bpod Finite State Machines r2 and newer. Older hardware
revisions are not supported as of now.

## Virtual Environment

While optional, we recommend installing bpod-core into a dedicated virtual environment,
isolating bpod-core and its dependencies from other Python projects, preventing version
conflicts and keeping your system Python clean. We recommend using
[uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) to manage Python environments. See
[uv's documentation](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) for
installation instructions.

### Creation

To create a virtual environment:

```console
$ uv venv bpod-core --python 3.14
```

### Activation

To activate the virtual environment:

### Linux and macOS

```console
$ source bpod-core/bin/activate
```

### Windows

```pwsh-session
PS> bpod-core\Scripts\activate
```

## Installing bpod-core

To install bpod-core and its dependencies into the active virtual environment:

```console
$ uv pip install bpod-core
```

#### NOTE
**Linux users:** You may encounter permission errors when connecting to a Bpod
device. See [Frequently Asked Questions](https://int-brain-lab.github.io/bpod-core/faq/index.html.md) for instructions on installing the required udev rules.

## Verifying the installation

After installation, run the `bpod` command-line tool:

```console
$ bpod --version
```

This should print the installed version of bpod-core.

## Updating

To update bpod-core to the latest release:

```console
$ uv pip install --upgrade bpod-core
```