> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://iso8583sim.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Installation

> Install iso8583sim from PyPI:

## Requirements

* Python 3.10 or higher
* pip package manager

## Basic Installation

Install iso8583sim from PyPI:

```bash theme={null}
pip install iso8583sim
```

## Optional Dependencies

### LLM Providers

For AI-powered message explanation and generation:

```bash theme={null}
# Anthropic (Claude) - Recommended
pip install iso8583sim[anthropic]

# OpenAI (GPT)
pip install iso8583sim[openai]

# Google (Gemini)
pip install iso8583sim[google]

# Ollama (Local models)
pip install iso8583sim[ollama]

# All LLM providers
pip install iso8583sim[llm]
```

After installation, set your API key:

```bash theme={null}
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
# or
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
# or
export GOOGLE_API_KEY="..."
```

### MCP Server

To use iso8583sim from Claude, Cursor or another MCP client:

```bash theme={null}
pip install iso8583sim[mcp]
```

See [MCP Server](../mcp-server) for client setup.

### REST API

```bash theme={null}
pip install iso8583sim[web]
```

See [REST API](../web).

### PIN Blocks and MACs

```bash theme={null}
pip install iso8583sim[security]
```

See [PIN Blocks and MACs](../core/security).

### Performance Extensions

The compiled Cython extensions (about 2x faster parsing) are included in the wheels on PyPI for CPython 3.10 to 3.14 on:

* Linux: x86\_64 and aarch64 (glibc and musl)
* macOS: Intel and Apple Silicon
* Windows: x64

On other platforms pip installs the pure-Python wheel, which works the same, only slower. It also runs in Pyodide (Python in the browser, and Cloudflare Python Workers). To compile the extensions yourself, install a C compiler and run `pip install --no-binary iso8583sim iso8583sim`. To check which you have:

```bash theme={null}
python -c "import iso8583sim.core.parser as p; print(p._USE_CYTHON)"
```

### Development

For development and testing:

```bash theme={null}
pip install iso8583sim[dev]
```

This includes pytest, ruff, mypy, and pre-commit hooks.

### Documentation

The docs are built with [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com) from the `docs/` folder. To preview them locally (needs Node.js 20.17 or newer):

```bash theme={null}
cd docs
npx mint dev
```

The Python API reference and the REST API spec are generated from the code. After changing docstrings or endpoints, regenerate them:

```bash theme={null}
pip install -e ".[docs,web]"
python scripts/generate_api_docs.py
python scripts/export_openapi.py
```

## Development Installation

Clone and install in development mode:

```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/bassrehab/ISO8583-Simulator.git
cd iso8583sim
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"
```

## Verify Installation

```python theme={null}
from iso8583sim.core.parser import ISO8583Parser
from iso8583sim.core.builder import ISO8583Builder

print("iso8583sim installed successfully!")
```

## Next Steps

* [Quick Start Tutorial](./quickstart) - Build your first message
* [ISO 8583 Concepts](./concepts) - Learn the basics


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.