# Getting Started

## Prerequisites

There is only one thing you need to have installed that you might not have already, and that is Python. Python is the programming language in which Atropine is written.

To use Atropine, you either need the Windows executable, or you need Python 3 installed. If you don't have it already installed, go and download and install it. At the time of writing (December 2024), the latest version of Python 3 is 3.13.1. If there's a newer version by the time you read this, then install that.

Python 2 is no longer supported, either by Atropine or by much else.

## Installation (Windows executable)

Download the zip file which contains the Windows executable, unzip its contents to a folder of your choice, and run `atropine.exe` in that folder. This type of installation doesn't require Python, but it obviously only works on Windows.

## Installation (Python source)

After you have installed Python 3 as above, download Atropine. This is distributed as a zip file named `atropine-X.Y.Z.zip`, where `X.Y.Z` is a version number. Extract this zip file into folder of your choosing. There are a number of files and folders, but the only one you need to know about to use Atropine is `atropine.py`.

## Starting Atropine

Atropine is a web server. When you run it, you leave it sitting in the background and then use your web browser to connect to it and administer tournaments. To start atropine, run `atropine.py` or `atropine.exe`, depending on which flavour of installation you have. The Windows Firewall might tell you it has blocked some features of Python and ask you what you want to do about it. You need to allow Python to use at least private networks.

Once `atropine.py` or `atropine.exe` is running, use your web browser to visit http://localhost:3960. This will redirect you to the home screen.

## Next step

Once you've got Atropine running, you can set up your first tourney.

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