Skip to content

Installation

This guide covers installing RobotLab in your Ruby project.

Requirements

  • Ruby: 3.1 or higher
  • Bundler: 2.0 or higher (recommended)

Install via Bundler

Add RobotLab to your Gemfile:

gem "robot_lab"

Then install:

bundle install

Install via RubyGems

Or install directly:

gem install robot_lab

Dependencies

RobotLab automatically installs these dependencies:

Gem Purpose
ruby_llm LLM provider integrations
ruby_llm-template Template rendering for prompts
simple_flow Workflow execution

Optional Dependencies

For specific features, you may need additional gems:

gem "async-websocket"

gem "async-http"

# Rails is detected automatically
gem "rails", ">= 7.0"

Verify Installation

Create a test file to verify everything works:

# test_robot_lab.rb
require "robot_lab"

puts "RobotLab version: #{RobotLab::VERSION}"
puts "Installation successful!"

Run it:

ruby test_robot_lab.rb
# => RobotLab version: 0.0.1
# => Installation successful!

Rails Installation

For Rails applications, use the install generator:

rails generate robot_lab:install

This creates:

  • config/initializers/robot_lab.rb - Configuration file
  • db/migrate/*_create_robot_lab_tables.rb - Database migrations
  • app/models/robot_lab_thread.rb - Thread model
  • app/models/robot_lab_result.rb - Result model
  • app/robots/ - Directory for robot definitions
  • app/tools/ - Directory for tool definitions

Then run migrations:

rails db:migrate

Environment Setup

Before using RobotLab, set up your API keys as environment variables:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

export GEMINI_API_KEY="..."

Using dotenv

For development, consider using the dotenv gem to manage environment variables:

# Gemfile
gem "dotenv-rails", groups: [:development, :test]

# .env
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

Troubleshooting

Gem Installation Fails

If you encounter SSL or network errors:

# Update RubyGems
gem update --system

# Try installing with verbose output
gem install robot_lab --verbose

Missing Dependencies

If you see "LoadError" for optional gems:

# Install the specific gem mentioned in the error
bundle add async-websocket

API Key Issues

If you see authentication errors:

  1. Verify your API key is set: echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
  2. Check the key is valid in your provider's console
  3. Ensure you're using the correct environment variable name

Next Steps

Now that RobotLab is installed: