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Get started with Pixeltable

Pixeltable is the unified multimodal backend for AI data apps and agents: database, orchestration, and serving in one Python file. It is not an LLM wrapper and not a standalone vector database. Cloud is Limited Beta.

Humans follow this page. Coding agents should use the playbook at /get-started.md.

pip install 'pixeltable[serve]'
Agent playbook

Setup

  1. 1. Install the CLI

    Python 3.11+. Catalog-only install is pip install pixeltable. Serving needs the serve extra. pxt init marks the project root; schema and service refuse a file without one.

    pip install -U 'pixeltable[serve]'

  2. 2. Add the Pixeltable Skill

    Install once per coding agent. It teaches TableModel, computed columns, indexes, and anti-patterns. Skip if the full Pixeltable plugin already provides the Skill.

    npx skills add pixeltable/pixeltable-skill

  3. 3. One file: tables, computed columns, HTTP

    The app is one app.py: TableModel tables, computed columns, and FastAPIRouter routes. Schema update creates tables; service update starts endpoints. Cloud is Limited Beta.

    pxt init && pxt service example --out app.py

Then apply that file to a local catalog directory (the TARGET). my_app is an example directory name; the same file can later be applied to another directory or a pxt:// URI. Run pxt schema update app.py my_app to create the tables, then pxt service update app.py my_app to start the HTTP routes. Open the catalog with pxt dashboard, or check pending changes with pxt schema diff app.py my_app.

Connect MCP when the job needs it

Three surfaces. Connect the one the current job needs; merge into existing MCP config instead of replacing it. Exact commands live in get-started.md.

ServerWhat it does
pixeltable-webRead-only docs search at https://www.pixeltable.com/mcp. No table mutations.
pixeltable-cloudSigned-in Cloud org, databases, catalog, and bounded rows at https://www.pixeltable.com/mcp/cloud. Setup: /developers/mcp-cloud.
pixeltable-developerLocal stdio: inspect schemas, query tables, REPL against a catalog.

Cloud, no account

pxt new creates a free hosted database and a claim link. Nobody signs in. Unclaimed, it is deleted after 48 hours. Limits and the claim flow: /new. In an existing account, the agent runs pxt login and the user confirms the code. Then pxt db update, pxt schema update, pxt service update against pxt://<org>:main.