Set up your machine

Taisce runs in containers and reads conversations with a hosted model. So every machine needs the same things, and differs only in how you get them:

1. Docker with the Compose plugin, so docker compose version answers.
2. jq to read JSON, and uuidgen to make idempotency keys.
3. A way out to the model's host. Taisce's worker calls api.deepseek.com over HTTPS from inside a container.

Follow the section for your system, then run the check. It is the same on every system.

Linux

Docker

Install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin from Docker's own repository, following Install Docker Engine for your distribution. Every distribution ends with the same packages:

sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin   # Ubuntu, Debian
sudo dnf install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin       # Fedora, RHEL

On Fedora and RHEL, installing Docker does not start it. Enable it, so it also starts after a reboot:

sudo systemctl enable --now docker   # Fedora, RHEL

Ubuntu and Debian start Docker when the package is installed.

To run docker without sudo, add yourself to the docker group and log in again. Membership of that group is equivalent to root on the machine, so decide it rather than copy it:

sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"

jq and uuidgen

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install jq uuid-runtime   # Ubuntu, Debian
sudo dnf install jq util-linux                                # Fedora, RHEL

A fresh Ubuntu or Debian has no package lists, so apt-get install alone answers "Unable to locate package" until apt-get update has run.

macOS with Colima

Colima runs Docker in a small Linux virtual machine. The images are published for linux/arm64, so on Apple silicon they run without emulation. uuidgen comes with macOS.

brew install colima docker docker-compose jq

Homebrew installs Compose as a plugin in a directory Docker doesn't search by default. Add it to ~/.docker/config.json, next to anything already in that file:

{
  "cliPluginsExtraDirs": ["/opt/homebrew/lib/docker/cli-plugins"]
}

/opt/homebrew is the prefix on Apple silicon; brew --prefix prints yours.

Start the virtual machine. It holds PostgreSQL and Taisce, and the model runs at the provider:

colima start --cpu 4 --memory 8

Using Docker Desktop instead of Colima? Skip the Colima steps and run the check. Nothing else on this page changes.

Windows with WSL2

Every command in the quickstart is a Linux shell command. On Windows, run them in a Linux distribution under WSL2, not in PowerShell. Microsoft and Docker document the Windows side, so this section points to their guides rather than repeating them.

1. Install WSL, following Microsoft's Install Linux on Windows with WSL. In PowerShell, as administrator:

   wsl --install

   It installs Ubuntu by default. Work in your Linux home directory (cd ~), not under /mnt/c.

2. Install Docker, in one of two ways:

   • Docker Desktop, following Docker's Docker Desktop WSL 2 backend. Bring WSL up to date first, in PowerShell:

     wsl --update

   • Docker Engine inside Ubuntu, following the Linux section.

3. Install jq and uuidgen inside Ubuntu, as in the Linux section.

Check that a container reaches the model

docker compose version
docker run --rm curlimages/curl:8.11.1 -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' --max-time 10 https://api.deepseek.com/models

You should see the Compose version, then 401:

Docker Compose version …
401

401 is DeepSeek refusing a request that carries no key, which proves a container reached it over HTTPS. Taisce's worker makes the same call with your key.

When the check fails

What you see	Most likely	Fix
curl: (6) Could not resolve host	Containers can't resolve names.	Check the host itself resolves api.deepseek.com, then Docker's DNS setting.
curl: (7) Failed to connect or curl: (28) after 10 seconds	A firewall or proxy blocks outbound HTTPS from containers.	Allow outbound port 443 to api.deepseek.com, or configure Docker for your proxy.
curl: (60) SSL certificate problem	A proxy inspects TLS with its own certificate.	Ask for the proxy's certificate authority, or an exception for api.deepseek.com.
failed to connect to the docker API at unix:///var/run/docker.sock	Docker is installed but not running. This is the default on Fedora and RHEL.	sudo systemctl enable --now docker, then run the check again.

docker: command not found or 'compose' is not a docker command means Docker or the Compose plugin is missing: go back to your system's Docker steps.

What this page was run on

The macOS steps were run on 2026-09-13 on Apple silicon, with Colima 0.10.3 and Docker Compose 5.5.0, and the check printed 401.

The Linux steps were run on 2026-09-14 on fresh virtual machines. Each machine ran Docker's own repository setup, the commands above and the check, which printed 401, then the quickstart end to end.

• Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: Docker 29.8.0 and Docker Compose 5.5.1.
• Fedora 44: the same versions. On Fedora the check first failed because Docker was not running, which is why the page now enables it.

Both machines were arm64. The amd64 packages and images were not run on Linux.

On Windows, setting up WSL and Docker follows Microsoft's and Docker's own guides, linked in that section. Everything after that runs inside the Linux distribution, as on Linux.