🌟 How to Use AI Town on Windows 🌟

AI Town is a virtual town where AI characters live, chat, and socialize. This guide will help you set up AI Town on a Windows machine using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). You will connect to Ollama running on your Windows machine and use Convex for the backend.

Prerequisites

1. Windows 10/11 with WSL2 installed
2. Internet connection

Steps

1. Install WSL2

First, you need to install WSL2. Follow this guide to set up WSL2 on your Windows machine. We recommend using Ubuntu as your Linux distribution.

2. Update Packages

Open your WSL terminal (Ubuntu) and update your packages:

sudo apt update

3. Install NVM and Node.js

NVM (Node Version Manager) helps manage multiple versions of Node.js. Install NVM and Node.js 18 (the stable version):

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.2/install.sh | bash
export NVM_DIR="$([ -z "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME-}" ] && printf %s "${HOME}/.nvm" || printf %s "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/nvm")"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
source ~/.bashrc
nvm install 18
nvm use 18

4. Install Python and Pip

Python is required for some dependencies. Install Python and Pip:

sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python

5. Install Additional Tools

Install unzip and socat:

sudo apt install unzip socat

6. Install Rust and Cargo

Cargo is the Rust package manager. Install Rust and Cargo:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env

7. Install just with Cargo

just is used to run commands. Install it with Cargo:

cargo install just
export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
just --version

8. Configure socat to Bridge Ports for Ollama

Run the following command to bridge ports, allowing communication between Convex and Ollama:

socat TCP-LISTEN:11434,fork TCP:$(cat /etc/resolv.conf | grep nameserver | awk '{print $2}'):11434 &

Test if it's working:

curl http://127.0.0.1:11434

If it responds OK, the Ollama API is accessible.

9. Clone the AI Town Repository

Clone the AI Town repository from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/a16z-infra/ai-town.git
cd ai-town

10. Install NPM Packages

Install the necessary npm packages:

npm install

11. Install Precompiled Convex

Download and install the precompiled version of Convex:

curl -L -O https://github.com/get-convex/convex-backend/releases/download/precompiled-2024-06-28-91981ab/convex-local-backend-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip
unzip convex-local-backend-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip
rm convex-local-backend-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip
chmod +x convex-local-backend

12. Launch Convex

In a separate terminal, launch Convex:

./convex-local-backend

13. Configure Convex to Use Ollama

Set the Ollama host in Convex:

just convex env set OLLAMA_HOST http://localhost:11434

14. Launch AI Town

Finally, launch AI Town:

npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:5173 in your browser to see AI Town in action.

Relaunching AI Town

If you need to restart the services:

1. Ensure socat is running:

   socat TCP-LISTEN:11434,fork TCP:$(cat /etc/resolv.conf | grep nameserver | awk '{print $2}'):11434 &

2. Launch Convex:

   ./convex-local-backend

3. Launch AI Town:

   npm run dev

Enjoy your AI Town experience! If you encounter any issues, feel free to reach out for support. 🌟