1  ---
 2  title: Installing and Configuring Agent Mesh
 3  sidebar_position: 300
 4  ---
 5  
 6  # Installing and Configuring Agent Mesh
 7  
 8  Getting Agent Mesh up and running involves several key steps that prepare your development environment and configure the system for your specific needs. You'll install the framework, create your first project, configure essential settings, and connect to the language models that power your intelligent agents.
 9  
10  ## Setting Up Your Environment
11  
12  Before you can build and deploy agent meshes, you need to install the Agent Mesh framework and CLI tools on your system. The installation process includes setting up Python dependencies, configuring virtual environments, and verifying that all components work correctly. You can choose between local installation using pip or uv, or use the pre-built Docker image for containerized deployments. For complete installation instructions and system requirements, see [Installing Agent Mesh](installation.md).
13  
14  ## Creating Your First Project
15  
16  Once you have Agent Mesh installed, you'll create and run your first project to establish a working agent mesh system. This process involves initializing a new project directory, configuring basic settings through either a web interface or command-line prompts, and starting your agent mesh with the built-in orchestrator and web gateway. The project creation process also handles essential setup tasks like environment variable configuration and component initialization. For step-by-step guidance on project creation and execution, see [Creating and Running an Agent Mesh Project](run-project.md).
17  
18  ## Managing System Configuration
19  
20  Effective configuration management ensures consistent behavior across all components in your agent mesh deployment. The shared configuration system allows you to define common settings such as broker connections, service definitions, and environment-specific parameters in centralized files that multiple agents and gateways can reference. You'll learn how to structure configuration files, use YAML anchors for reusable settings, and manage multiple configuration environments for development, testing, and production scenarios. For comprehensive configuration guidance and best practices, see [Configuring Agent Mesh](configurations.md).
21  
22  ## Connecting Large Language Models
23  
24  Large language models (LLMs) provide the intelligence that powers your agents' reasoning, decision-making, and natural language capabilities. The recommended way to configure models is through the Agent Mesh UI. You can start Agent Mesh without pre-configuring any models and set them up directly from the **Models** page after launch. This approach provides centralized credential management, dynamic updates without restarts, and full visibility into model usage across your deployment. For details on managing models through the UI, see [Model Configurations](model_configurations.md).
25  
26  For advanced use cases such as CI/CD pipelines or fully automated deployments where UI access is not available, you can also configure models through YAML files and environment variables. The system supports numerous LLM providers through a unified configuration interface, allowing you to connect with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Amazon, and many other services. For detailed provider configurations and security settings, see [Configuration Settings for LLMs](large_language_models.md).