Installation with pip

Note

PyAutoGalaxy requires Python 3.12 or later. On Python 3.9, 3.10 or 3.11, pip install autogalaxy stops with an error telling you to upgrade — it will not quietly install an older release instead. Upgrade Python to 3.12+ before installing.

Install

We strongly recommend that you install PyAutoGalaxy in a Python virtual environment, with the link attached describing what a virtual environment is and how to create one.

We upgrade pip to ensure certain libraries install:

pip install --upgrade pip

The latest version of PyAutoGalaxy is installed via pip as follows (specifying the version as shown below ensures the installation has clean dependencies):

pip install autogalaxy

This installs [JAX](https://docs.jax.dev/en/latest/notebooks/thinking_in_jax.html) by default, which PyAutoGalaxy uses for just-in-time compilation and GPU acceleration (the older pip install autogalaxy[jax] command still works and installs the same thing). The default install is CPU-only JAX; for GPU support, follow the official [JAX installation guide](https://jax.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html) before installing. On Intel (x86_64) macOS, where JAX publishes no wheels, the install automatically excludes JAX and runs on the slower NumPy path — a warning is printed at import to make this clear.

If pip prints warnings about dependency version conflicts, these can usually be ignored — the instructions below will identify clearly if the installation is a success.

If there are no errors PyAutoGalaxy is installed!

If there is an error check out the troubleshooting section.

Workspace

Next, clone the autogalaxy workspace (the line --depth 1 clones only the most recent branch on the autogalaxy_workspace, reducing the download size):

cd /path/on/your/computer/you/want/to/put/the/autogalaxy_workspace
git clone https://github.com/PyAutoLabs/autogalaxy_workspace --depth 1
cd autogalaxy_workspace

Run the welcome.py script to get started!

python3 welcome.py

It should be clear that PyAutoGalaxy runs without issue.

If there is an error check out the troubleshooting section.

Numba

Numba (https://numba.pydata.org) is an optional library which makes PyAutoGalaxy run a lot faster, which we strongly recommend users have installed.

You can install numba via the following command:

pip install numba

Some users have experienced difficulties installing numba, which is why it is an optional library. If your installation is not successful, you can use PyAutoGalaxy without it installed for now, to familiarize yourself with the software and determine if it is the right software for you.

If you decide that PyAutoGalaxy is the right software, then I recommend you commit the time to getting a successful numba install working, with more information provided at this readthedocs page

Optional

For interferometer analysis there is one optional dependency that must be installed via the command:

pip install nufftax

PyAutoGalaxy will run without these libraries and it is recommended that you only install them if you intend to do interferometer analysis.

If you run interferometer code a message explaining that you need to install these libraries will be printed, therefore it is safe not to install them initially.

Legacy Python versions

We dropped support for Python 3.9, 3.10 and 3.11 in release 2026.7.29.2 (July 2026) — the first release published declaring Requires-Python >=3.12.

Raising that floor does not retract what is already published. Releases at or below 2026.7.29.1 were published declaring >=3.9, and PyPI metadata is immutable, so they remain valid candidates forever. Left alone, pip install autogalaxy on an older Python did not fail — it walked back to 2026.7.29.1 and installed a months-old stack without JAX, reporting nothing.

Release 2026.7.29.1.post1 exists to stop that. It contains no code, declares Requires-Python <3.12, and raises an error when pip tries to build it, so an unsupported Python gets an explanation instead of a stale install.

If you need a historical release, pin it exactly — that still resolves on older Pythons:

pip install autogalaxy==2025.10.6.1

One gap remains: pip install --only-binary=:all: autogalaxy skips source distributions entirely, so it steps past 2026.7.29.1.post1 and installs the old wheel silently. If you use that flag, pin the version you want.