---
id: setting-up
title: Setting up
---

import ApiLink from '@site/src/components/ApiLink';
import CodeBlock from '@theme/CodeBlock';
import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs';
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';

This guide will help you get started with Crawlee by setting it up on your computer. Follow the steps below to ensure a smooth installation process.

## Prerequisites

Before installing Crawlee itself, make sure that your system meets the following requirements:

- **Python 3.9 or higher**: Crawlee requires Python 3.9 or a newer version. You can download Python from the [official website](https://python.org/downloads/).
- **Python package manager**: While this guide uses [pip](https://pip.pypa.io/) (the most common package manager), you can also use any package manager you want. You can download pip from the [official website](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installation/).

### Verifying prerequisites

To check if Python and pip are installed, run the following commands:

```sh
python --version
```

```sh
python -m pip --version
```

If these commands return the respective versions, you're ready to continue.

## Installing Crawlee

Crawlee is available as [`crawlee`](https://pypi.org/project/crawlee/) package on PyPI. This package includes the core functionality, while additional features are available as optional extras to keep dependencies and package size minimal.

### Basic installation

To install the core package, run:

```sh
python -m pip install crawlee
```

After installation, verify that Crawlee is installed correctly by checking its version:

```sh
python -c 'import crawlee; print(crawlee.__version__)'
```

### Full installation

If you do not mind the package size, you can run the following command to install Crawlee with all optional features:

```sh
python -m pip install 'crawlee[all]'
```

### Installing specific extras

Depending on your use case, you may want to install specific extras to enable additional functionality:

For using the <ApiLink to="class/BeautifulSoupCrawler">`BeautifulSoupCrawler`</ApiLink>, install the `beautifulsoup` extra:

```sh
python -m pip install 'crawlee[beautifulsoup]'
```

For using the <ApiLink to="class/ParselCrawler">`ParselCrawler`</ApiLink>, install the `parsel` extra:

```sh
python -m pip install 'crawlee[parsel]'
```

For using the <ApiLink to="class/CurlImpersonateHttpClient">`CurlImpersonateHttpClient`</ApiLink>, install the `curl-impersonate` extra:

```sh
python -m pip install 'crawlee[curl-impersonate]'
```

If you plan to use a (headless) browser with <ApiLink to="class/PlaywrightCrawler">`PlaywrightCrawler`</ApiLink>, install Crawlee with the `playwright` extra:

```sh
python -m pip install 'crawlee[playwright]'
```

After installing the playwright extra, install the necessary Playwright dependencies:

```sh
playwright install
```

### Installing multiple extras

You can install multiple extras at once by using a comma as a separator:

```sh
python -m pip install 'crawlee[beautifulsoup,curl-impersonate]'
```

## Start a new project

The quickest way to get started with Crawlee is by using the Crawlee CLI and selecting one of the prepared templates. The CLI helps you set up a new project in seconds.

### Using Crawlee CLI with Pipx

First, ensure you have Pipx installed. You can check if Pipx is installed by running:

```sh
pipx --version
```

If Pipx is not installed, follow the official [installation guide](https://pipx.pypa.io/stable/installation/).

Then, run the Crawlee CLI using Pipx and choose from the available templates:

```sh
pipx run 'crawlee[cli]' create my-crawler
```

### Using Crawlee CLI directly

If you already have `crawlee` installed, you can spin it up by running:

```sh
crawlee create my_crawler
```

Follow the interactive prompts in the CLI to choose a crawler type and set up your new project.

### Running your project

To run your newly created project, navigate to the project directory, activate the virtual environment, and execute the Python interpreter with the project module:

<Tabs>
  <TabItem value="Linux" label="Linux" default>
      <CodeBlock language="sh">cd my_crawler/</CodeBlock>
      <CodeBlock language="sh">source .venv/bin/activate</CodeBlock>
      <CodeBlock language="sh">python -m my_crawler</CodeBlock>
  </TabItem>
<TabItem value="Windows" label="Windows" default>
      <CodeBlock language="sh">cd my_crawler/</CodeBlock>
      <CodeBlock language="sh">venv\Scripts\activate</CodeBlock>
      <CodeBlock language="sh">python -m my_crawler</CodeBlock>
  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

Congratulations! You have successfully set up and executed your first Crawlee project.

## Next steps

Next, you will learn how to create a very simple crawler and Crawlee components while building it.
