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

# Installation

> Learn to install the Zero Runtime Python SDK, connect to the runtime, and build voice AI agents with Python 3.11+.

The Zero Runtime Python SDK lets you build voice AI agents on Python 3.11+ with a clean, type-hinted API.

## Prerequisites

Before installing, make sure you have:

* **Python 3.11 or later**
* A **Zero Runtime auth token** — get these from the [Zero Runtime dashboard](https://app.zeroruntime.ai/)
* **API keys** for any AI/voice providers you plan to use (e.g., STT, TTS, LLM providers)

## Installation

Install the SDK via pip:

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

## Connect to the Runtime

Point the worker at your runtime address, and set your auth token, using the values from the dashboard:

```bash theme={null}
export ZERORUNTIME_TARGET=us2.zeroruntime.ai:443
export ZERORUNTIME_AUTH_TOKEN=<your-auth-token>
```

## Key Conventions

Once installed, keep these conventions in mind as you build:

* **Agents** subclass `Agent` and implement the `async def on_enter` and `on_exit` hooks.
* **Tools** use the `@function_tool` decorator — the schema is automatically inferred from type hints and the docstring.
* **Provider plugins** are imported from `zrt.plugins`.

## Next Steps

* Follow the [Quickstart](https://docs.zeroruntime.ai/quickstarts/build-your-first-voice-agent) guide to build your first complete agent.
* Browse runnable examples in the [zeroruntime-python-examples](https://github.com/ZeroRuntimeAI/zeroruntime-python-examples/tree/main) and [zeroruntime-js-examples](https://github.com/ZeroRuntimeAI/zeroruntime-js-examples/tree/main) repositories.