Skip to main content
Longshot can be installed via PyPI (recommended), Homebrew, or from source for development.

​
Prerequisites

Before installing Longshot, ensure you have the following installed:
  • Python 3.12+ - Required for the CLI
  • Node.js 22+ - Required runtime engine for the orchestrator
  • Modal account - For cloud sandboxes (pip install modal && modal setup)

​
Installation Methods

pipx install longshot
longshot --version
The recommended installation method is pipx as it isolates Longshot in its own virtual environment.

​
Runtime Bootstrap

On first run, the CLI automatically downloads a matching runtime bundle and installs Node runtime dependencies into a local cache:
  • Default cache location: ~/.longshot/runtime/<version>
  • Runtime components: TypeScript orchestrator, planner, worker pool, and reconciler packages

​
Runtime Configuration

You can override the default runtime behavior with these environment variables:
VariableDescription
LONGSHOT_RUNTIME_URLExplicit URL for the runtime tarball
LONGSHOT_RELEASE_REPOGitHub repo slug for release downloads (default: andrewcai8/longshot)
LONGSHOT_CACHE_DIRCustom cache root for runtime assets
If you’re developing Longshot locally, the CLI will automatically detect and use the local runtime from packages/orchestrator/dist/main.js instead of downloading a remote bundle.

​
Verify Installation

After installation, verify that Longshot is working correctly: 
longshot --version
You should see output like: 
longshot 1.0.0

​
Next Steps

Quickstart

Get your first Longshot project running in minutes

Configuration

Configure environment variables and LLM providers

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us