System Requirements

Jan runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Requirements vary based on the size of models you want to run.

Operating System Requirements

macOS

Minimum: macOS 13.6 (Ventura) or laterRecommended: macOS 14+ (Sonoma)Architecture: Intel or Apple Silicon

Windows

Minimum: Windows 10 (64-bit)Recommended: Windows 11GPU Support: NVIDIA, AMD, Intel Arc

Linux

Supported: Most distributionsTested: Ubuntu 18.04+, Debian, FedoraGPU Support: NVIDIA (CUDA 11.7+)

RAM Requirements by Model Size

Choose models based on your available RAM. For best performance, use models that consume less than 80% of your system RAM.

8GB RAM
16GB RAM
32GB RAM
64GB+ RAM

Small Models (3B parameters)

Model Size: 2-4GBExamples:

Llama 3B
Phi-2
Gemma 2B

Performance:

Good for basic conversations
Lightweight coding assistance
Fast response times

Avoid models larger than 6GB with 8GB RAM systems.

GPU Requirements (Optional)

GPU acceleration significantly improves performance but is not required.

NVIDIA GPUs

Windows
Linux

Requirements:

NVIDIA GPU (GTX 10 series or newer recommended)
NVIDIA Driver 470.63.01 or higher
CUDA Toolkit 11.7 or higher

Installation:

Download NVIDIA Driver
Install CUDA Toolkit
Restart your computer
Launch Jan - GPU will be detected automatically

Verify Installation:

nvidia-smi
nvcc --version

Requirements:

NVIDIA GPU (GTX 10 series or newer recommended)
NVIDIA Driver 470.63.01 or higher
CUDA Toolkit 11.7 or higher
GCC 11+ with C++17 support

Installation:

# Install NVIDIA driver
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-535

# Install CUDA toolkit
# Download from https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads

# Install GCC
sudo apt install gcc-11 g++-11 cpp-11

# Set up environment
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/cuda/lib64

Verify Installation:

nvidia-smi
nvcc --version

AMD GPUs (Windows)

Requirements:

AMD Radeon GPU (RX 5000 series or newer)
Latest AMD Adrenalin drivers

Note: AMD support is experimental. Performance may vary.

Intel Arc (Windows)

Requirements:

Intel Arc A-series GPU
Latest Intel Graphics drivers

Note: Intel Arc support is experimental.

Apple Silicon (macOS)

Built-in Acceleration:

M1, M2, M3, M4 chips have automatic Metal acceleration
No additional setup required
Excellent performance for model size

Verified Configurations

These setups have been tested and confirmed working:

Desktop Configurations

Windows 11 Pro
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
macOS Sonoma

Component	Specification
OS	Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070Ti
CUDA	12.2
Driver	531.18
RAM	32GB

Performance: Excellent for 13B-70B models

Component	Specification
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070Ti
CUDA	12.2
Driver	545

Component	Specification
OS	macOS 14+ (Sonoma)
Chip	M1 Max / M2 Pro / M3
RAM	32GB unified memory

Virtual Machine Setups

VM performance is typically lower than bare metal installations.

Ubuntu on Proxmox:

Component	Specification
OS	Ubuntu 20.04/18.04 LTS
VM	Proxmox
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti (passthrough)
CUDA	12.1
Driver	535

Requirements for GPU Passthrough:

IOMMU support enabled in BIOS
Proper GPU passthrough configuration
Dedicated GPU for VM

Storage Requirements

Application Size

Jan Installation: 500MB - 1GB
System Dependencies: 2-5GB (CUDA, drivers, etc.)

Model Storage

Plan disk space based on models you want:

Model Size	Disk Space Needed
3B models	2-4GB per model
7B models	4-8GB per model
13B models	8-16GB per model
70B models	40-80GB per model

Recommended Free Space: 50GB+ for comfortable model collection Storage Location:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Jan
Windows: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Jan
Linux: ~/.config/Jan

Network Requirements

For Local Models

Internet: Only needed to download models initially
Offline Use: Fully functional once models are downloaded

For Cloud Integrations

Internet: Required for OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq connections
Bandwidth: Standard broadband sufficient

Performance Optimization

CPU-Only Systems

Use smaller models (3B-7B)
Increase CPU threads in settings
Close other applications
Use SSDs for model storage

GPU-Accelerated Systems

Adjust GPU layers (ngl) parameter
Start low and increase gradually
Monitor VRAM usage
Keep 1-2GB VRAM free for system

Compatibility Notes

Laptop Considerations

Laptop GPUs may have lower performance than desktop equivalents
Thermal throttling can affect sustained performance
Hybrid graphics (Optimus) may require additional configuration

Virtual RAM / Swap

Not recommended as primary RAM for models
Significantly slower than physical RAM
May cause poor performance

Quick Reference

Most users: 16GB RAM + 7B models = great experienceBudget systems: 8GB RAM + 3B models = functionalPower users: 32GB+ RAM + GPU + 13B-70B models = excellent

Check Your System

Before installing:

Check RAM:
- Windows: Task Manager → Performance → Memory
- macOS: About This Mac → Memory
- Linux: free -h
Check GPU (if applicable):
- Windows: Task Manager → Performance → GPU
- macOS: Apple Silicon includes integrated GPU
- Linux: lspci | grep -i vga
Check Storage:
- Ensure 50GB+ free space for models
- SSD recommended for best performance

Need Help?

If you’re unsure about compatibility:

Ask in Discord #🆘|jan-help
Check Troubleshooting guide
Review FAQ for common questions

Support

Resources

System Requirements

System Requirements

Operating System Requirements

macOS

Windows

Linux

RAM Requirements by Model Size

Small Models (3B parameters)

Medium Models (7B parameters)

Large Models (13B+ parameters)

Extra Large Models (70B+ parameters)

GPU Requirements (Optional)

NVIDIA GPUs

AMD GPUs (Windows)

Intel Arc (Windows)

Apple Silicon (macOS)

Verified Configurations

Desktop Configurations

Virtual Machine Setups

Storage Requirements

Application Size

Model Storage

Network Requirements

For Local Models

For Cloud Integrations

Performance Optimization

CPU-Only Systems

GPU-Accelerated Systems

Compatibility Notes

Laptop Considerations

Virtual RAM / Swap

Quick Reference

Check Your System

Need Help?

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Support

Resources

​System Requirements

​Operating System Requirements

macOS

Windows

Linux

​RAM Requirements by Model Size

​Small Models (3B parameters)

​Medium Models (7B parameters)

​Large Models (13B+ parameters)

​Extra Large Models (70B+ parameters)

​GPU Requirements (Optional)

​NVIDIA GPUs

​AMD GPUs (Windows)

​Intel Arc (Windows)

​Apple Silicon (macOS)

​Verified Configurations

​Desktop Configurations

​Virtual Machine Setups

​Storage Requirements

​Application Size

​Model Storage

​Network Requirements

​For Local Models

​For Cloud Integrations

​Performance Optimization

CPU-Only Systems

GPU-Accelerated Systems

​Compatibility Notes

​Laptop Considerations

​Virtual RAM / Swap

​Quick Reference

​Check Your System

​Need Help?

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

System Requirements

Operating System Requirements

RAM Requirements by Model Size

Small Models (3B parameters)

Medium Models (7B parameters)

Large Models (13B+ parameters)

Extra Large Models (70B+ parameters)

GPU Requirements (Optional)

NVIDIA GPUs

AMD GPUs (Windows)

Intel Arc (Windows)

Apple Silicon (macOS)

Verified Configurations

Desktop Configurations

Virtual Machine Setups

Storage Requirements

Application Size

Model Storage

Network Requirements

For Local Models

For Cloud Integrations

Performance Optimization

Compatibility Notes

Laptop Considerations

Virtual RAM / Swap

Quick Reference

Check Your System

Need Help?