---
title: From Source
description: Jan is a ChatGPT-alternative that runs on your own computer, with a local API server.
keywords: [Jan, ChatGPT alternative, on-premises AI, local API server, local AI, llm, conversational AI, no-subscription fee]
---

# Install Jan from Source

## Installation

### Pre-requisites
Before proceeding with the installation of Jan from source, ensure that the following software versions are installed on your system:
- Node.js version 20.0.0 or higher 
- Yarn version 1.22.0 or higher

### Instructions
> **_Note:_** This instruction is tested on MacOS only.

1. Clone the Jan repository from GitHub
```bash
git clone https://github.com/janhq/jan
git checkout DESIRED_BRANCH
cd jan
```
2. Install the required dependencies using Yarn
```bash
yarn install

# Build core module
yarn build:core

# Packing base plugins
yarn build:plugins

# Packing uikit
yarn build:uikit
```
3. Run development and using Jan
```bash
yarn dev
```
This will start the development server and open the desktop app. During this step, you may encounter notifications about installing base plugins. Simply click `OK` and `Next` to continue.

#### For production build
Build the app for macOS M1/M2 for production and place the result in the dist folder

```bash
# Do step 1 and 2 in previous section
git clone https://github.com/janhq/jan
cd jan
yarn install

# Build core module
yarn build:core

# Package base plugins
yarn build:plugins

# Packing uikit
yarn build:uikit

# Build the app
yarn build
```

This completes the installation process for Jan from source. The production-ready app for macOS can be found in the dist folder.