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, public package channels still resolve stable DART 6 artifacts today. The current DART 7 path is a source build from this repository; the CPython 3.14 wheel lane becomes an install path after a non-yanked DART 7 dartpy wheel is published.

Public package channels still install DART 6

pip install --pre dartpy, uv add dartpy --prerelease allow, pixi add dartpy, and conda install dartpy do not currently provide the DART 7 API used by this guide. They resolve the stable DART 6 line, or no usable non-yanked DART 7 wheel. Use a source build for DART 7 examples until a non-yanked DART 7 wheel is available on PyPI.

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

Verify the install by creating a tiny world in code. Point PYTHONPATH at the built bindings before importing dartpy; this does not need any sample data files:

PYTHONPATH=build/default/cpp/Release/python pixi run python - <<'PY'
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")
PY

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

Use the same prefix for your own scripts:

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

Python package status

The tracked DART 7 wheel workflow builds dartpy for CPython 3.14 on Linux, macOS, and Windows. After a non-yanked DART 7 wheel is published on PyPI, opt into pre-release resolution so the DART 7 wheel is preferred over the stable DART 6 line:

pip install --pre dartpy
uv add dartpy --prerelease allow

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 for the DART 7 examples in this guide.

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.