DART 7 · in development You are reading the documentation for DART 7, an in-progress redesign that is not yet recommended for production use. Looking for the current stable release? See the DART 6 LTS documentation.

Install DART

DART 7 is Python-first, but because it is still in development its dartpy packages are pre-releases. The two reliable ways to get the DART 7 API used throughout this guide are PyPI pre-release wheels and a source build.

Default channels still install DART 6

Plain uv add dartpy, pixi add dartpy, and conda install dartpy resolve the stable DART 6 line, which uses a different API — dart.World() and add_rigid_body from this guide do not exist there. Install DART 7 explicitly with one of the options below, or build from source.

Python package (pre-release)

DART 7 wheels are published as pre-releases on PyPI (currently Linux x86_64 / CPython 3.14). Opt into pre-releases so you get DART 7 rather than DART 6:

pip install --pre dartpy           # pip (PyPI)
uv add dartpy --prerelease allow    # uv (PyPI)

The default pixi add dartpy and conda install -c conda-forge dartpy channels currently track the stable DART 6 line; use them for DART 6, or build from source (below) for the DART 7 examples in this guide.

Verify the install by creating a tiny world in code — this does not need any sample data files:

import dartpy as dart

world = dart.World()
world.add_rigid_body("box", dart.RigidBodyOptions())
world.enter_simulation_mode()
world.step()
print(f"Stepped one frame to t = {world.time:.4f} s")

If that prints without error, you are ready for Hello, DART.

Build from source

A source checkout tracks the main branch and gives you the full DART 7 API plus the interactive demos. DART uses pixi to provide a reproducible toolchain:

git clone https://github.com/dartsim/dart.git
cd dart
pixi install            # fetch the toolchain and dependencies
pixi run build          # build C++ and the dartpy bindings

Run a headless smoke check to confirm the build works:

pixi run py-demos -- --scene rigid_body --headless --frames 1

To use your source build from a plain Python interpreter, point PYTHONPATH at the built bindings (the exact path is printed at the end of pixi run build), for example:

PYTHONPATH=build/default/cpp/Release/python python your_script.py

For more detail on supported platforms and wheels, see the Python installation reference. For build troubleshooting, see the developer building guide.

Next

You have DART installed — now run your first simulation in Hello, DART.