Requirements

Nyia Keeper runs your AI coding assistants inside Docker containers. To use it you need Docker and Git, and you launch assistants inside a Git repository.

What you need

Requirement	Why	Check
Docker (running)	Assistants run in containers	docker info
Your user in the docker group (Linux)	So Nyia can talk to the Docker daemon without sudo	docker run --rm hello-world
Git	To install the runtime and to give AI agents a safety net (work branches, diffs)	git --version
A Git repository	AI agents modify files — Git lets you review and undo	git rev-parse --git-dir

If Docker can't be reached, Nyia fails fast with a clear message before it tries to pull an image — so a permission problem no longer looks like "image not found".

Linux

1. Install Docker: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ (or curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh).
2. Start it: sudo systemctl enable --now docker.
3. Add yourself to the docker group (this is the most common first-run problem):

   sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
   # then log out and back in, or in the current shell:
   newgrp docker
   docker run --rm hello-world   # verify
   

4. Install Git: sudo apt install git (Debian/Ubuntu) · sudo dnf install git (Fedora/RHEL).

macOS

• Install Docker Desktop (or Colima) and make sure it's running.
• Git ships with the Xcode command-line tools: xcode-select --install, or brew install git.
• See macOS setup for details.

Windows / WSL2

Nyia Keeper needs WSL2 (WSL1 lacks Docker socket integration). Install Docker Desktop and enable WSL integration for your distro. Full walkthrough: WSL2 setup.

Running outside a Git repo

The Git-repo check is a safety default (AI agents change files). If you knowingly want to run in a non-Git directory, pass --skip-checks — you lose the work-branch/undo safety net.

Troubleshooting

• Cannot connect to the Docker daemon → Docker isn't running, or you're not in the docker group (see Linux step 3).
• Not in a Git repository → run inside a repo, or --skip-checks to bypass.
• More: Troubleshooting.