Getting Started with Nimi App Development
Welcome to the Nimi developer ecosystem! Whether you want to craft a private, on-device AI utility for your personal workflow or build an ecosystem application for the global Nimi desktop audience, these guides will walk you through scaffolding, local debugging, and distribution.
4 Steps to Your First App
- Development Setup: Install Node.js and pnpm, and launch the Nimi Desktop supervisor alongside the local Runtime daemon.
- Create an App: Use the
@nimiplatform/app-toolsCLI to scaffold a project with protected host access and frontend hot reload. - Make Your First AI Call: Request text completions, streaming responses, or multimodal inference via the strongly-typed Nimi SDK—without managing API keys or low-level RPC endpoints.
- Troubleshooting & Diagnostics: Pinpoint and resolve service disconnections, permission mismatches, or missing model configurations.
Going Further:
- Need consistent UI components and design tokens? See Use Kit in an App.
- Want an interactive playground to test capability routes? Explore Nimi Lab.
Three App Lifecycle Modes
Nimi supports three distinct ways to develop, install, and discover apps:
- Developer Mode: Run live, unbundled source code directly under Nimi Desktop supervision, with instant frontend hot-reloading and interactive inspection.
- Local Package Import: Import an immutable packaged archive into Nimi Desktop for local verification (implemented on macOS arm64 and Windows x86_64). Local import lets you verify packaged builds on your machine, while full product acceptance and public release readiness are evaluated separately.
- Official Registry Catalog: Submit an audited application package to the Nimi Registry so users can discover, install, and update it in Nimi Home. Publishers remain responsible for signing their packages; Registry review governs catalog admission and does not replace an OS signature or serve as a safety guarantee.
Note: In the current release, package management is supported on macOS (arm64) and Windows (x86_64); package lifecycles on other platforms and ordinary App repair are not yet available. Before submitting for distribution, consult the App Tools Release Guide.
Architecture & API References
- SDK Reference & SDK Boundaries: Public API surface, client conventions, and boundary rules.
- Runtime Architecture: Model execution, session lifecycles, and protected access.
- Platform Architecture & Glossary: Core platform concepts and authoritative definitions.
Looking to install and experience the Nimi desktop client directly? Visit nimi.ai and check the download page.