Installation

ModelScript runs from the same WebAssembly compiler core across browsers, desktop IDEs, headless CI runners, and AI agent hosts. Choose the surface that matches your workflow.

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For Users & Engineers

1. Zero-Install Browser Playground & Web IDE

To explore ModelScript without installing anything locally:

• Interactive Playground (/playground): Try curated multi-domain examples, inspect live GLR syntax trees, run stiff DAE simulations, and view rendered schematics directly in your browser tab.
• Full Web Studio (https://ide.modelscript.org): Multi-file workspace explorer, dockable 2D schematic and 3D OpenCASCADE CAD viewports, requirements traceability matrix, and in-browser WebWorker compilation.

2. Command-Line Interface (msx)

The @modelscript/cli package installs both the modelscript binary and its shorthand alias msx for local development, simulation sweeps, formal verification, and CI/CD automation (requires Node.js ≥ 22):

# Run any command via npx without global installation
npx @modelscript/cli --help

# Or install globally for system-wide access
npm install -g @modelscript/cli
msx --version

Accelerating Repeated CLI Runs with --daemon

When running frequent interactive checks or pre-commit hooks, start the persistent background compiler daemon so msx reuses warm WebAssembly parser instances and incremental Salsa caches over a local Unix socket (~/.modelscript/daemon.sock):

# Start the background daemon and inspect its status
msx daemon start
msx daemon status

# Pass --daemon to any command to reuse warm workspace caches
msx lint ./models --daemon

3. VS Code Extension

The official extension turns VS Code or Cursor into a complete multi-domain modeling studio:

1. Open VS Code and open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X).
2. Search for ModelScript (modelscript.modelscript) and click Install.

The extension bundles the native WebAssembly Language Server (@modelscript/lsp), real-time diagnostics across all 44 supported formats, interactive schematic and Bode plot panels, the 3D WebGL CAD viewer, and the DAP time-travel simulation debugger.

4. AI Coding Assistants & MCP Server (@modelscript/mcp)

Connect AI agents (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or custom orchestrators) to ModelScript's 52 deterministic engineering tools over the Model Context Protocol:

# Register @modelscript/mcp in Claude Code with a single command
claude mcp add modelscript -- npx -y @modelscript/mcp

For Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json), Claude Desktop, or VS Code, add the stdio server entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "modelscript": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelscript/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

See the AI Agents & MCP Workflows Guide for closed-loop synthesis recipes and remote SSE gateway configuration.

5. Native Desktop Studio (Tauri v2)

For air-gapped networks, classified labs, or hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) benches, download the standalone native desktop application (@modelscript/desktop) from GitHub Releases:

• Linux: Standalone .AppImage or Debian/Ubuntu .deb packages.
• macOS: Universal Apple Silicon / Intel .dmg disk image.
• Windows: 64-bit .msi installer or portable .exe.

The desktop studio embeds offline WebAssembly GLR parsers, local SQLite artifact caching, and native serial/UDP bridges for real-time HIL testing.

6. Containerized Hub & Simulation Server (Community & Enterprise Editions)

Deploy the self-hosted ModelScript Hub, package registry, REST/GraphQL/SPARQL APIs, and multi-tenant MCP gateway via Docker in either Community Edition (MSX_EDITION=ce, pure AGPL-3.0-or-later open-core) or Enterprise Edition (MSX_EDITION=ee, with SSO/SAML, RBAC, Slurm HPC, and NERC CIP / FERC CEII compliance):

# Option A: Community Edition (pure AGPL-3.0-or-later open-core, zero ee/ code)
docker pull ghcr.io/modelscript/api-ce:latest
docker pull ghcr.io/modelscript/web:latest

# Option B: Enterprise Edition & Air-Gapped Intranet Appliance (requires MSX_LICENSE_KEY in production)
docker pull ghcr.io/modelscript/api:latest
docker pull ghcr.io/modelscript/appliance:latest

# Launch backend simulation cluster and web IDE
docker compose up -d

See the Platform Administration Guide for Kubernetes Helm charts, offline MSX_LICENSE_KEY provisioning, Slurm HPC worker setup, and PostgreSQL audit-ledger configuration.

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For Contributors & Compiler Developers

To build and hack on the ModelScript monorepo locally, install Node.js ≥ 24 (matching .nvmrc) and npm.

1. Clone & Install

git clone https://github.com/modelscript/modelscript.git
cd modelscript
npm install

2. Build Core Compiler & Language Runtimes

ModelScript compiles its native WebAssembly GLR parsers (parser.wasm), AssemblyScript flattening kernels, and TypeScript packages via Nx:

npm run build:libs    # Build core compiler packages and language runtimes
npm run build         # Build all monorepo packages and applications

3. Launch Local Development Servers

npm run dev           # Start API backend, LSP workers, and Web IDE

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Next Steps

• Follow the Getting Started Tutorial to build, verify, simulate, and export your first connected multi-domain model.
• Explore CLI Overview for global flags, environment variables, and all 41 msx commands.