How to set up SillyTavern on Windows, macOS or Linux

What SillyTavern is, and what it is not

The docs call it a locally installed interface for text generation models, and that wording matters. SillyTavern is the chat window, the character manager and the prompt builder. The actual writing comes from a backend: a paid cloud API, a free community service called AI Horde, or a model running on your own graphics card.

For local models the docs recommend an NVIDIA 3000-series card with at least 6 GB of video memory. SillyTavern itself needs far less; it runs on anything that can run Node.js 20 or newer. If you would rather compare hosted apps before installing anything, the chatbot comparison covers eight of them.

What you need before you start

• Node.js, version 20 or newer. The Windows page recommends the latest LTS release, and that is what I install everywhere.
• Git. On Windows the docs point to Git for Windows; on macOS and Linux they only say the method varies by system.
• A folder you own. The Windows page is emphatic: never install into Program Files, System32 or any other folder Windows controls.
• Something to talk to: an API key from a cloud provider, or AI Horde, which the quick start uses for a free first test.

Windows 7 is out, by the way. The docs say it cannot run Node.js 20, so the install is not possible there.

Finding the official repository

SillyTavern lives on GitHub under an account and a repository with the same name, so the official project reads SillyTavern/SillyTavern. Search GitHub for SillyTavern and check that both halves match; the documentation site links to it as well. Forks and lookalikes exist, and none of them is what this guide describes.

On the repository page, press the green Code button, choose HTTPS and copy the address it shows. That address goes wherever the commands below say <the address you copied>.

Then pick a branch. The docs recommend release, the stable one, for most people; staging changes several times a day and can break at any moment.

Installing on Windows

1. Install Node.js (the LTS build) and Git for Windows, accepting the defaults.
2. Open File Explorer and create a folder outside the system folders, for example C:\SillyTavern.
3. Click the address bar of that folder, type cmd and press Enter. A Command Prompt opens in that folder.
4. Run the clone command below. It creates a SillyTavern folder with the release branch inside.
5. Open the new folder and double-click Start.bat. If Windows hides file extensions, it shows up as Start.

git clone <the address you copied> -b release

The first start installs the Node packages, so the black console window scrolls for a while. When it settles, SillyTavern opens in your browser. Do not run Start.bat as administrator; the docs warn against it in capital letters, and they are right to.

The docs also describe a Launcher script and a GitHub Desktop route; the GitHub Desktop one ends at the same Start.bat.

Installing on macOS or Linux

Everything here happens in a terminal. The docs say to install Git and Node.js first and leave the method to you. On a Mac I use the official Node.js installer; on Linux, the distribution's package manager. That part is my habit, not the documentation's. For Git, the docs' Mac Launcher steps use Homebrew (brew install git).

git clone <the address you copied> -b release
cd SillyTavern
./start.sh

If the shell refuses to run ./start.sh, use bash start.sh instead. The docs list both, and the second one does not care about file permissions.

Where it opens

This is the first gap in the docs. The install pages say the browser opens and stop there; none of them prints the address. It lives in the config reference instead, which lists 8000 as the default port and has the browser launch on startup by default.

So in practice the tab opens at 127.0.0.1:8000 or localhost:8000. If nothing opens, type one of those into the address bar yourself. If another program already holds port 8000, the same reference documents a --port argument; on Windows that looks like Start.bat --port 8001.

Listening for other devices is also off by default, and the whitelist only admits this computer. Leave that alone until you have a reason.

Connecting a model

On first launch SillyTavern asks for a persona name, which is simply what the chat calls you. After that, everything happens in the API Connections panel, opened from its button in the top bar.

The first choice there confuses most people: Chat Completion or Text Completion. The docs explain it as a question of prompt shape, not of cloud versus local. Chat Completion sends the conversation as a list of messages between user, assistant and system. Text Completion squashes everything into one long string for the model to continue, and usually needs an instruct template to behave.

1. Open API Connections and pick the API type. The docs' walkthroughs for OpenAI and OpenRouter both pick Chat Completion.
2. Pick the source from the next menu, for example OpenRouter.
3. Paste your key into the key box. OpenRouter also offers an Authorize button that fetches a key for you.
4. Press Connect. The OpenAI walkthrough says the status should then read Valid.
5. Choose a model. On OpenRouter, the optional Test Message button checks the whole chain.

For a free first test, the quick start uses AI Horde instead: enter a key (it says ten zeros will do for now), tick a few models and close the panel. Treat that as proof the pipes work, not as a preview of the quality you will get later.

Treat any API key like a password. The quick start says it in capitals: whoever has your key can spend your money.

Your first character

SillyTavern ships with a default character called Seraphina. Open Character Management at the far right of the top bar, pick her and send a message. If a reply comes back, the install, the connection and the model all work, which is the only thing this test proves.

To make your own, use Create New Character in the same panel; the name is the only required field. Import Character loads a card from a file, which is how most shared cards arrive. What goes in the other fields is a topic of its own, and the character card guide walks through each one with an example.

In the default standalone mode, your characters and chats are saved in the data folder inside the install folder, and your settings in config.yaml beside it. Back up both. If you installed extensions for all users, the updating guide also lists public/scripts/extensions/third-party.

Keeping it up to date

Because you installed with Git, updating is one command, run inside the SillyTavern folder. On Windows, the docs suggest trying UpdateAndStart.bat from the same folder first. If an update refuses because you edited a system file, the update page lists the fixes.

cd SillyTavern
git pull

Where the docs leave gaps

• The install pages never state the local address. Port 8000 comes from the config reference.
• The macOS and Linux page does not say how to install Node.js or Git, or which Node version to pick beyond the general 20 or newer.
• The API connections page lists the sources but leaves key entry to each provider's own page, so the exact boxes differ from one source to the next.

Or skip the setup

SillyTavern rewards tinkering, and some evenings you just want to play. This site needs no install: on the home page you type an idea for a scene, answer a few questions about it, and then write it out with a free account in a writing app that has a role-play mode.

It is a different tool. You get less control over prompts and models, and a lot less time in a terminal.

Questions