Neat Development Environment

The Neat Development Environment, also known as the SDK, is the recommended host-side workspace for building Neat applications and validating them on a Modalix DevKit. It brings the build tools, model tools, hardware connection, and agent-ready source context into one containerized workflow.

The SDK connects three places:

• Host machine: where you install and start the SDK container.
• SDK container: where you build applications, compile models, use agent tooling, and inspect shared files.
• Modalix DevKit: where compiled model artifacts and Neat applications run on hardware.

DevKit Sync connects those places with a shared /workspace, so build outputs, logs, model artifacts, and application files are visible from the host, SDK container, and DevKit without a manual copy step. That shared workspace is the center of the SDK workflow.

Start here

Follow these sections in order when setting up the Neat Development Environment.

Setup Flow

Install the SDK, connect it to a DevKit when available, then run applications on hardware from the same workspace.

• Install the EnvironmentInstall the SDK image that matches your DevKit software version.
• Pair with a DevKitSet up DevKit Sync, shared workspace mapping, and pairing updates.
• Run on the DevKitUse dk from the SDK shell to execute ARM64 binaries and Python scripts on hardware.

What's Included

• Cross-compilation environment: build C++ Neat applications for Modalix from a Linux container on your host.
• DevKit Sync: pair the SDK with a Modalix DevKit and expose the same workspace in both places.
• Model tooling: install the matching Model Compiler in the SDK when you need to quantize and compile ONNX or GenAI models.
• Insight: inspect workspace files, media sources, stream delivery, and runtime behavior from a browser.
• Agent-ready context: use bundled Codex and Claude skills with current Neat source references and examples.

Supported Platforms

Platform	Arch	SDK	Model Compiler
Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 through Docker Engine	x86_64	Yes	Yes
Windows 11 through WSL and Docker Engine	x86_64	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 through Docker Engine	aarch64	Yes	Yes with 2.1.2 or above
macOS 15.5 or above through Colima	aarch64	Yes	Yes with 2.1.2 or above

Tools in the SDK

The SDK is the recommended place to install and update the Neat Library when you are building applications for a paired DevKit.

Neat Insight is served over HTTPS on port 9900 inside the SDK. Open https://localhost:9900 from the same host, or https://<host-ip>:9900 from another machine on the network. For more information, see Insight.

During SDK setup, sima-cli can prompt you to install the matching Model Compiler. For compiler setup and usage, see Compile a Model.

VS Code Workflow

Connect VS Code to ghcr.io-sima-neat-elxr-latest with Dev Containers, then run sima-cli login once inside the container so the SDK can retrieve assets such as prebuilt models.

Install the Codex or Claude Code extension in VS Code and ask what skills are available. When Neat appears, the environment is ready for assisted application development.

Next Step

Start with Install the Environment.