---
title: Installation
description: Install Reverse API Engineer with uv or pip, then set up Playwright browsers.
---

<Callout type="info" title="What you'll need">
- **Python 3.11+**
- SDK credentials for your selected backend. For the default Claude SDK, set
  **`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`**.
- **Node.js + npx** for agent mode. `chrome-mcp` specifically requires
  Node.js 20.19+.
- A few minutes
</Callout>

## Install the CLI

`uv` is recommended for faster installs and proper tool isolation. Pick one.

<Tabs items={['uv (recommended)', 'pip']}>
  <Tab value="uv (recommended)">
    ```bash
    uv tool install reverse-api-engineer
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab value="pip">
    ```bash
    pip install reverse-api-engineer
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Install Playwright browsers

This downloads the Chromium build that powers manual and agent capture:

```bash
playwright install chromium
```

## Verify the install

```bash
reverse-api-engineer --version
```

You should see a version string. If not, ensure your shell's `PATH` includes
`~/.local/bin` (for `uv tool`) or wherever `pip` puts user scripts.

## Where does it store data?

```text
~/.reverse-api/
├── config.json              # your settings
└── runs/
    └── scripts/{run_id}/    # generated clients (canonical)
```

Plus a local copy in `./scripts/{descriptive_name}/` inside the directory
where you launched the CLI, so the output lands inside the project you're
working on.

## Next

<Cards>
  <Card title="Quick start" href="/docs/quick-start" description="From `pip install` to a working client." />
  <Card title="Configure your model" href="/docs/configuration/models" description="Pick between Sonnet, Opus, Haiku." />
</Cards>
