Installation

Getting Selu running takes just a few minutes. You’ll use Docker Compose to bring up the platform, and then verify everything is working through the web dashboard.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

Docker & Docker Compose

Selu runs in containers. You’ll need Docker Engine 24+ and Docker Compose v2+. Get Docker if you don’t have it yet.

System resources

At minimum, 2 GB of RAM and 5 GB of disk space. If you plan to run local language models, you’ll want significantly more — 16 GB RAM and a GPU are recommended.

Other requirements:

• A supported OS: Linux, macOS, or Windows (via WSL2)
• An open port (default: 8080) for the web dashboard
• An API key from a language model provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) — or a local model if you prefer

Install with Docker Compose

1. Create a project directory

mkdir selu && cd selu

2. Download the Compose file

curl -fsSL https://get.selu.io/docker-compose.yml -o docker-compose.yml

This pulls the official Compose file, which defines the Selu server, database, and supporting services.

3. Configure your environment

Create a .env file with your basic settings:

cat <<EOF > .env
# Required: A secret key for session encryption (generate your own)
SELU_SECRET_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

# Optional: Set your preferred port (default is 8080)
SELU_PORT=8080
EOF

You’ll configure your language model provider after installation — no API keys are needed just to get Selu running.

4. Start Selu

docker compose up -d

Docker will pull the required images and start the services. This usually takes 1–2 minutes on the first run.

Verify your installation

Check that services are running

docker compose ps

You should see all services in a running state with no restarts.

Open the dashboard

Visit http://localhost:8080 in your browser. You should see the Selu welcome screen and be prompted to create your first account.

Check logs if something went wrong

docker compose logs -f

Look for errors related to port conflicts, missing environment variables, or resource limits.

Common issues

Problem	Solution
Port 8080 is already in use	Change SELU_PORT in your .env file and restart with docker compose up -d
Containers keep restarting	Check logs with docker compose logs. This usually means insufficient memory.
Can’t reach the dashboard	Make sure your firewall allows traffic on the configured port. On macOS, check Docker Desktop’s resource settings.

Updating Selu

To update to the latest version:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Your data is stored in Docker volumes, so updates won’t erase your agents, conversations, or settings.

Next steps

Selu is running — nice! Head to the Quick Start guide to configure a language model and install your first agent.