Installation

Overview
Installation
Authentication
Getting Started
Python CLI
Node.js CLI
Learn
Flows engine steps
Types

Install watsonx.ai Flows Engine

To install watsonx.ai Flows Engine you need to follow a couple of steps, starting with selecting your programming language of choice. See here for the differences between the two versions.

Prerequisite: You need to have Python 3.8 or higher (up to Python 3.12) installed on your local machine.

Download the CLI using the button below:
Run the following command from the directory you've downloaded the file
Copy to clipboard to:
```
pip install wxflows_cli-1.0.0rc200-py3-none-any.whl --force-reinstall
```
This will install the latest version of the CLI from the downloaded
Copy to clipboard file.
After installing the CLI you can verify that it's installed correctly as follows:
```
wxflows --version
```
This should return something like
Copy to clipboard.

You can now proceed to the next section.

Which CLI should I use?

You can use either the Python or Node.js version of the CLI, but there are slight differences between the two. Currently, the Python CLI is recommended for doing Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and building flows; while the Node.js CLI works best for tool calling.

	Python CLI	Node.js CLI (experimental)
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)	✅	⏳ TBD
Tool Calling	⛔ Tool creation (via API Connect Essentials) ✅ Tool registration ✅ Tool deployment	✅ Tool creation ✅ Tool registration ✅ Tool deployment
Flow language	✅	⏳ TBD