> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL. > For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.nvidia.com/nemoclaw/llms.txt. > For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.nvidia.com/nemoclaw/_mcp/server. # Prerequisites > Hardware, software, and supported platforms for running NemoClaw. Before you start, verify that your machine has the software and hardware needed to run NemoClaw. ## Hardware | Resource | Minimum | Recommended | | -------- | ---------- | ----------- | | CPU | 4 vCPU | 4+ vCPU | | RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB | | Disk | 20 GB free | 40 GB free | The sandbox image is approximately 2.4 GB compressed. During image push, the Docker daemon, k3s, and the OpenShell gateway run alongside the export pipeline. The pipeline buffers decompressed layers in memory. On machines with less than 8 GB of RAM, this combined usage can trigger the OOM killer. If you cannot add memory, configure at least 8 GB of swap to work around the issue at the cost of slower performance. ## Software | Dependency | Version | | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | Node.js | 22.16 or later | | npm | 10 or later | | Docker | Docker Engine, Docker Desktop, or Colima on a tested platform | | Platform | Refer to [Platforms](#platforms) below | On Linux, the installer can install Docker, start the Docker service, and add your user to the `docker` group. If the group change is not active in the current shell, the installer exits with `newgrp docker` guidance before it starts onboarding. If you choose the native Linux Ollama install path, the onboard wizard also requires `zstd` for Ollama archive extraction. The installer also requires `strings` from `binutils` to verify the OpenShell binary before it continues with OpenShell install work. NemoClaw needs Docker access. On personal Linux development machines, adding your user to the `docker` group is the standard way to run Docker without sudo. Members of the `docker` group can control the daemon with root-level impact. Grant this access only to trusted local accounts. On shared or managed systems, use your organization's approved Docker access path. For background, review Docker's [daemon attack surface guidance](https://docs.docker.com/engine/security/#docker-daemon-attack-surface). On Debian and Ubuntu, NemoClaw installs `zstd` with `apt-get` if it is missing; on other Linux distributions, install `zstd` before onboarding. If the installer reports that `strings` is missing, install `binutils` and rerun the installer: ```bash sudo apt-get install -y binutils ``` On macOS, NemoClaw uses the Docker-driver OpenShell gateway path with Docker Desktop or Colima. You do not need to install or sign a separate OpenShell VM driver helper for standard macOS onboarding. If you use Homebrew Colima, install the Docker CLI package with Colima because `brew install colima` does not provide the `docker` command: ```bash brew install colima docker colima start --cpu 4 --memory 8 docker info ``` For NemoClaw-managed environments, use `nemo-deepagents onboard` when you need to create or recreate the OpenShell gateway or sandbox. Avoid `openshell self-update`, `npm update -g openshell`, `openshell gateway start --recreate`, or `openshell sandbox create` directly unless you intend to manage OpenShell separately and then rerun `nemo-deepagents onboard`. On Linux hosts running Docker 26 or later with the [containerd image store](https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/containerd/) enabled, `nemo-deepagents onboard` transparently builds a `fuse-overlayfs`-enabled cluster image. The containerd image store is the install-time default for fresh `docker-ce` installations on Ubuntu 24.04 and similar distros. The `fuse-overlayfs`-enabled image bypasses a kernel-level nested-overlay limitation in k3s. You do not need manual setup. ## Platforms The following table lists tested platform and runtime combinations. Availability is not limited to these entries, but untested configurations can have issues. The table comes from [`ci/platform-matrix.json`](https://github.com/NVIDIA/NemoClaw/blob/main/ci/platform-matrix.json), the single source of truth kept in sync by CI and QA. | OS | Container runtime | Status | Notes | | --------------------- | ---------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Linux | Docker | Tested | Primary tested path. Ubuntu 24.04 is the validated distro in production source (`DEFAULT_COMPAT_IMAGE` in `src/lib/onboard/docker-driver-gateway-compat.ts:11` and the preflight tests pin 24.04 only); the installer's package-manager probes assume apt-get. Other distros (Ubuntu 22.04, Fedora, Rocky, Alma, NixOS, Arch) may work but are not validated. | | macOS (Apple Silicon) | Colima, Docker Desktop | Tested with limitations | Start the container runtime (Colima or Docker Desktop) before running the installer. Homebrew Colima users must install both Colima and the Docker CLI (`brew install colima docker`) before `docker info` can work. Xcode Command Line Tools (`xcode-select --install`) are typically required for Node native modules during install. NemoClaw recommends them but does not enforce them during preflight. | | DGX Spark | Docker | Tested | Use the standard installer and `nemo-deepagents onboard`. For an end-to-end walkthrough with local inference, see the [NVIDIA Spark playbook](https://build.nvidia.com/spark/nemoclaw). | | Windows WSL2 | Docker Desktop (WSL backend) | Tested with limitations | Requires WSL2 with Docker Desktop backend. | ## Next Steps * Use [Prepare Windows for NemoClaw](prerequisites/windows-preparation) if you are using Windows. * [Quickstart](quickstart) installs NemoClaw and launches your first sandboxed agent. * [AI Agent Docs](../resources/agent-skills) lets your AI coding assistant fetch NemoClaw Markdown docs before setup.