Installation¶

There are two things to install: the Python package(s) you want, and Micro-Manager's device adapters (the C++ drivers for your hardware). The device adapters include a set of demo devices, so you can try out the examples in these docs without a microscope.

You'll need Python 3.11 or newer.

Where do I type these commands?

In a terminal (on Windows, PowerShell or the Anaconda Prompt). We recommend installing into a fresh environment rather than into your system Python. For example, with conda:

conda create -n pymm python=3.12
conda activate pymm

... or with uv, in the folder you'll be working in:

uv venv  # creates a .venv folder here

The uv add command in the uv tab below adds a dependency to a uv project (a folder with a pyproject.toml, which uv init creates). If you just made an environment with uv venv, use uv pip install in place of uv add. Either way, uv run <command> runs a command in that environment (e.g. uv run python my_script.py).

Installing the packages¶

Pick what you need, and copy the commands:

pipuv

pip install "pymmcore-plus[cli]"

uv add "pymmcore-plus[cli]"

The parts in square brackets are optional extras. cli makes sure you get the mmcore command line tool (it's currently included anyway), and io adds support for saving OME-TIFF files. (Saving to OME-Zarr works without it.)

All install options

You want	Command
The core library and the `mmcore` CLI	`pip install "pymmcore-plus[cli]"`
… plus OME-TIFF writing (and `tifffile`)	`pip install "pymmcore-plus[cli,io]"`
Qt widgets (choose a Qt backend)	`pip install "pymmcore-widgets[PyQt6]"` or `"pymmcore-widgets[PySide6]"`
The pymmcore-gui application (needs `git`)	`pip install git+https://github.com/pymmcore-plus/pymmcore-gui`
The napari plugin	`pip install "napari-micromanager[PyQt6]"`

Each package brings in everything it builds on, so you only need the top-most one: pymmcore-gui already includes pymmcore-widgets, pymmcore-plus[cli,io] and PyQt6; napari-micromanager and pymmcore-widgets include pymmcore-plus[cli].

All of these are on PyPI. (Some are on conda-forge too, but those packages are currently out of date, so please use pip inside your conda environment.)

Installing the device adapters¶

The mmcore command downloads the latest compatible Micro-Manager device adapters for your platform:

mmcore install

(If you used uv venv, that's uv run mmcore install.)

They go into a folder in your user data directory, where pymmcore-plus will find them automatically. For more details (choosing a version, using an existing Micro-Manager installation, and what the "device interface version" is), see Micro-Manager device adapters.

Apple Silicon and Linux

On Apple Silicon Macs and on Linux, mmcore install currently downloads only Micro-Manager's test adapters (the demo camera and a few others). That's all you need for the examples in these docs. For real hardware on those platforms, see Using your own microscope.

Checking your setup¶

mmcore info prints the versions of the relevant packages, and the folder that the device adapters will be loaded from:

$ mmcore info
python            : 3.14.2 (main, Dec  9 2025, 19:29:30) [Clang 21.1.4 ]
platform          : macOS-27.0.1-arm64-arm-64bit-Mach-O
pymmcore-plus     : 0.18.1
pymmcore          : 12.5.1.75.0
pymmcore-nano     :
core-version-info : MMCore version 12.5.1
api-version-info  : Device API version 75, Module API version 10
adapter-path      : ~/Library/Application Support/pymmcore-plus/mm/Micro-Manager-75.20260226
useq-schema       : 0.9.2

If adapter-path says not found, pymmcore-plus can't find any device adapters (did mmcore install work?). If something else went wrong, have a look at Troubleshooting, and please let us know on image.sc if that doesn't help.

Next steps¶

Once that's done, head to First steps to start controlling the demo devices from Python, or jump straight to your first acquisition or your first GUI.