Installing Python, pip, and git on Windows

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About this guide

To use ailia SDK from Python, you need three things: Python, pip, and git. This guide explains what each of them does and walks you through installing them on Windows 10 / 11. Once everything is in place, you will be able to run the samples with pip3 install ailia.

Python — the language and runtime for writing and running programs. The ailia SDK samples are written in Python.
pip — the tool for installing Python packages (libraries) from the internet. It comes bundled with Python.
git — the tool for downloading (cloning) programs from GitHub and similar services. You will use it to get the ailia-models sample collection.

Estimated time: About 15–20 minutes in total. Downloads happen during installation, so stay connected to the internet while you work through the steps.

1. Installing Python

Download the installer from the official Python website. ailia SDK supports Python 3.6 and later (the latest stable release is fine unless you have a specific reason otherwise).

Open the official Python download page in your browser.
Click the large yellow "Download Python 3.x.x" button at the top of the page. This downloads the 64-bit Windows installer (python-3.x.x-amd64.exe).
Double-click the downloaded .exe to run it.
On the first screen of the installer, be sure to check "Add python.exe to PATH" (or "Add Python to PATH") at the bottom.
Click "Install Now" to complete the installation.

Which file should I download? If the download page shows several options and you are unsure, use these as a guide:

Use this: the "Windows installer (64-bit)" under the latest Python 3.x.x in "Stable Releases" (a .exe whose name ends in -amd64.exe). This is the right choice for a typical Intel / AMD PC.
Skip these: the MSIX / MSI under "Python install manager" are for the newer management tool and are not needed here. The "embeddable package" is for embedding scenarios and is also not needed.
The ARM64 build is only for PCs with Arm processors such as Snapdragon. In that case, see the Windows on Arm setup guide.

Important: If you forget to check "Add python.exe to PATH", the Command Prompt will report that python or pip "cannot be found". If you missed it, run the installer again and add PATH from "Modify", or uninstall and reinstall with the box checked.

Verifying the installation

Open "Command Prompt" from the Windows Start menu, type the following command, and press Enter.

python --version

If the version is displayed as below, the installation succeeded (the numbers vary by environment).

Python 3.13.1

Tip: On Windows, typing python may open a Microsoft Store page. If that happens, reinstall from python.org using the steps above, or try py --version.

2. Checking and updating pip

pip comes bundled with Python, so there is no need to install it separately once Python is installed. First, confirm that it is available.

pip3 --version

If a version is displayed, it is ready to use. An outdated pip can cause installation failures, so we recommend updating it to the latest version.

pip3 install --upgrade pip

Tip: If the pip3 command is "not found", run it as python -m pip instead (e.g. python -m pip --version). This reliably targets the same Python as your python command.

3. Installing git

Install git to fetch the sample collection (ailia-models) from GitHub.

Open the Git for Windows download page in your browser.
Click "Git for Windows/x64 Setup" to download the installer.
Run the downloaded .exe.
The installer shows many options, but you can keep all the defaults and just keep clicking "Next". Click "Install" at the end.

Verifying the installation

After installation, open a new Command Prompt window and run the following command.

git --version

If the version is displayed as below, it succeeded.

git version 2.47.1.windows.1

Tip: A Command Prompt that was already open before installation may not recognize git. Close the window and open a new one to apply the changes.

4. Installing the Visual C++ Redistributable

The core of ailia SDK is a native library written in C/C++. To run it on Windows, you need the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (VC++ Redistributable). If it is not installed, you may get a DLL loading error when you run import ailia.

Download the 64-bit installer (vc_redist.x64.exe) from the following link:
https://aka.ms/vc14/vc_redist.x64.exe
Run the downloaded vc_redist.x64.exe and follow the on-screen instructions to install it.
Restart your PC if you are prompted to do so after installation.

You can check the latest supported versions and installers for other architectures (x86 / Arm64) on Microsoft's official page.

Download the latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable (Microsoft Learn)

Tip: If the VC++ Redistributable is already installed via another application, the installer will report that it is "already installed". In that case, you can simply close it.

5. Installing and running ailia SDK

Once Python, pip, and git are in place, you can finally install ailia SDK. Run the following in the Command Prompt.

pip3 install ailia

Next, let's clone the sample collection and run it.

git clone https://github.com/ailia-ai/ailia-models.git
cd ailia-models
pip3 install -r requirements.txt
cd object_detection/yolox
python yolox.py -v 0

If object detection results are overlaid on your webcam feed, it worked. For more details on how to use it, see the ailia SDK getting started page.

Next steps: If you want faster execution on a GPU, also check out the CUDA Toolkit / cuDNN installation guide for NVIDIA GPUs, or the cross-platform Vulkan setup guide.