Installation

To use Betty, you must first install Betty’s requirements and then install Betty itself.

Installing requirements

Linux, macOS, or Windows

You must use one of these desktop operating systems to be able to run Betty.

Python

Betty requires Python 3.11 or higher.

Node.js

Some optional parts of Betty use third-party JavaScript packages to help build your site.

If Betty shows you an error telling you you need npm or Node.js, then in order to use that functionality, you must:

  1. install Node.js 20 or higher following the instructions shown there

  2. ensure npm (the Node.js package manager) is in your PATH, e.g. that npm can be run in a terminal from anywhere. When running npm --help in a terminal shows you npm’s usage instructions, then you’re all set.

Poppler

If your ancestry includes PDF files, then Betty requires Poppler. There several ways to install this, including but not limited to:

Linux: Debian, Ubuntu, etc.

Run apt install poppler-utils

Linux: CentOS, Fedora, RHEL, etc.

Run yum install poppler-utils

macOS

Install with Homebrew: brew install poppler

Windows

Install with Scoop: scoop install main/poppler

Installing Betty itself

Use one of the following methods:

pip

Run pip install betty to install the latest stable release.

pipx

Run pipx install betty to install the latest stable release.

poetry

Run poetry add betty to install the latest stable release.

From source

This also requires Bash.

Run the following to install the latest unstable version:

  1. git clone https://github.com/bartfeenstra/betty.git

  2. cd betty

  3. ./bin/build