---
license: apache-2.0
tags:
  - on-device
  - inference
  - webassembly
---

![Cactus Compute - Sub-50mb Super Intelligence For Consumer Devices](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cactus-compute/cactus/main/assets/banner.svg)

# Cactus runtime

Prebuilt runtime binaries for [Needle 3](https://cactuscompute.com/needle), [Whistle](https://cactuscompute.com/blog/whistle) and [Mirage](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/mirage).
One engine runs text, speech and vision locally. Model weights live in their own repositories.

## Get started

```sh
pip install -U cactus-compute
```

Use `import cactus` in Python. The package downloads the matching engine and model weights on first use.
See the [Python API](https://cactuscompute.com/blog/needle-python-docs) and [source code](https://github.com/cactus-compute/cactus).

To download a native runner with a model, choose a platform from the table below.

```sh
cactus download macos-arm64 --model whistle --out ./runtime
./runtime/macos-arm64/cactus --model ./runtime/macos-arm64/whistle.cact --audio clip.wav
```

Use `--model needle3` or `--model mirage` for the other models. Omit `--model` to download binaries alone.

## Supported platforms

Release **4.0.0** has 17 target folders under [`releases/4.0.0`](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0).
Native runners load `.cact` weights at runtime. Static libraries include `cactus.h` for C and C++ applications.

| Target | Folder | Files |
| --- | --- | --- |
| macOS Apple Silicon | [macos-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/macos-arm64) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Linux x86-64 | [linux-x86_64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/linux-x86_64) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Linux ARM64 | [linux-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/linux-arm64) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Linux ARMv7 | [linux-armv7](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/linux-armv7) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Linux RISC-V | [linux-riscv64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/linux-riscv64) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Linux MIPS32el | [linux-mipsel](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/linux-mipsel) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Windows x64 | [windows-x86_64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/windows-x86_64) | `cactus.exe`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Windows ARM64 | [windows-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/windows-arm64) | `cactus.exe`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Android ARM64 | [android-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/android-arm64) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Android ARMv7 | [android-armv7](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/android-armv7) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Android RISC-V | [android-riscv64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/android-riscv64) | `cactus`, `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| iOS ARM64 | [ios-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/ios-arm64) | `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| iOS Simulator ARM64 | [ios-sim-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/ios-sim-arm64) | `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| tvOS ARM64 | [tvos-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/tvos-arm64) | `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| watchOS ARM64 | [watchos-arm64](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/watchos-arm64) | `libcactus.a`, `cactus.h` |
| Browser and Node.js | [wasm](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/wasm) | `cactus.js`, `cactus.wasm`, `cactus.h` |
| WASI Preview 2 | [wasm-component](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/wasm-component) | `cactus.component.wasm`, `cactus.wit` |

The [Python runtime wheels](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/tree/main/releases/4.0.0/python) cover macOS ARM64 and x86-64, Linux ARM64 and x86-64 with glibc or musl, and Windows ARM64 and x64. These contain the shared library. Install `cactus-compute` from PyPI to use them through the Python API.

The WASI component exports `cactus:runtime/engine@4.0.0`. It is also available as the signed OCI artifact `ghcr.io/cactus-compute/cactus-runtime-component:4.0.0`.

## Weights and releases

- [Needle 3 weights](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/needle3)
- [Whistle weights](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/whistle)
- [Mirage weights](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/mirage)

Release artifacts have SHA-256 checksums in the [manifest](https://huggingface.co/Cactus-Compute/cactus/blob/1a028f5a3972b67dd8d8752f882113d475e7ec4c/releases/4.0.0/manifest.json).
For reproducible downloads, use revision `1a028f5a3972b67dd8d8752f882113d475e7ec4c` or tag `v4.0.0` and paths under `releases/4.0.0/`.

See the [deployment guide](https://cactuscompute.com/blog/needle-supported-devices) for native integration, browser use and offline setup.