Install newt

Install the newt CLI as a global tool from the public newt-python repo. Takes about five minutes.

Draft — pending review.

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New Theory ships from a public GitHub repo today, not PyPI. The HTTPS install command below clones new-theory-research/newt-python anonymously — no GitHub account or access setup needed. A public PyPI release is eventually planned.

Install the CLI with uv tool

uv tool install puts newt on your PATH as a global command — no virtual environment to create or activate:

uv tool install "git+https://github.com/new-theory-research/newt-python.git"

On a machine set up for SSH-based GitHub auth instead, use the SSH URL:

uv tool install "git+ssh://git@github.com/new-theory-research/newt-python.git"

If uv is not installed: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh, then source $HOME/.local/bin/env.

If newt isn't on PATH after install, run uv tool update-shell — this adds ~/.local/bin to your shell profile. uv's own installer handles it automatically for new installs; a manual shell may need it once.

Python 3.11 or newer is required. uv python install 3.12 if you need it.

Add the library to a Python project

The newt Python library installs into a project, not globally. You add it when you have Python code to write:

uv init my-robot
cd my-robot
uv add "newt @ git+https://github.com/new-theory-research/newt-python.git"

On a machine set up for SSH-based GitHub auth instead, use uv add "newt @ git+ssh://git@github.com/new-theory-research/newt-python.git".

uv run python resolves the project environment regardless of shell state — no activation needed, agent-safe:

uv run python -c "from newt import Robot"

Starter kits run uv sync on first setup and handle the library install automatically.

SSH-only machines

If your machine routes all GitHub traffic over SSH, add the insteadOf rewrite before any install step that fetches git+https:// URLs:

git config --global url."git@github.com:".insteadOf "https://github.com/"

HTTPS-only machines

If your machine authenticates to GitHub over HTTPS (the gh CLI credential helper, for example) and has no SSH key registered, add the reverse rewrite before any install step that fetches git+ssh:// URLs:

git config --global url."https://github.com/".insteadOf "git@github.com:"

Verify

newt --version

Or continue to Getting started — newt login in step 2 confirms the tool is on PATH and can reach the API.

Getting started → — authenticate with an API key and confirm the API answers. No hardware needed.