Installation

Download Yao Engine from the [download page](/download). Select your platform and architecture.

## Step 1: Launch Yao Engine

Open Yao Engine. The main window shows Yao and Tai services.

![Yao Engine](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/engine/01-engine-app-en-$__THEME.png)

> **Note:** On first launch, set App Root to an empty directory. Requires Yao Agents v1.6.1+.

Click **Start**. Both services will show their PIDs and addresses once running.

![Yao Engine running](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/engine/02-engine-start-en-$__THEME.png)

## Step 2: Open the welcome page

Click **Visit** to open the welcome page in your browser, then click **Get Started**.

![Welcome page](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/engine/03-engine-visit-en-$__THEME.png)

## Step 3: Sign in

**First login** — use the default root account:

- **Email:** `root@yaoagents.com`
- **Password:** `Yao123++`

![Sign in](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/engine/05-engine-login-code-en-$__THEME.png)

> **Note:** Accounts are stored locally. To register additional users, configure SMTP first, otherwise they won't receive the verification code.

## Step 4: Configure models

Open **Settings → Model Configuration** (avatar icon, bottom-left of sidebar).

![Model Configuration](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/engine/06-engine-models-en-$__THEME.png)

| Slot | Used for |
|------|----------|
| Default | General tasks |
| Heavy | Complex reasoning, long context |
| Light | Fast, lightweight queries |
| Vision | Image recognition |
| Audio | Speech-to-text |
| Embedding | Vector search, knowledge base |

> **Note:** DeepSeek models do not support vision or audio. Assign a separate provider to those slots (e.g. Claude or GPT-4o for Vision, Whisper for Audio).

Click **Add Provider** and enter your credentials.

![Add provider](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/engine/07-engine-provider-add-en-$__THEME.png)

> **Tip:** Add an image2 (OpenAI-compatible) provider for text-to-image and image editing. Agents will automatically dispatch image generation tasks when needed.

Select your default model.

![Provider configured](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/engine/08-engine-provider-default-en-$__THEME.png)

## Step 5: Install the desktop client

The desktop client is recommended for daily use. It works alongside the browser.

Download from the [client download page](/download/yaoagents). Enter your server address (same as the browser URL above) and click **Connect**. Sign in the same way as you did in the browser.

![Add server](https://cdn.yaoagents.cn/assets/en/servers/02-servers-add-en-$__THEME.png)

> **Tip:** Right-click the tray icon to switch servers or access settings.

## What's next

- [AI Experts](/docs/en-us/getting-started/ai-experts-intro) – Start working with built-in experts
- [Connect a device](/docs/en-us/tai-link/connect-first-device) – Add machines via Tai Link