Please be sure, to always use the latest version
Currently it is version 2.0.1
Prior versions will no longer be supported in special cases

1. Check the prerequisites


-- Supported systems (64-Bit only)


SikuliX can be used on systems with
  • Windows XP, 7, 8 and 10 (development on Windows 10)
  • Mac OSX 10.10 and later (development on macOS 10.15)
  • Linux/Unix systems depending on the availability of the prerequisites
Mobile OS (like Android, iOS, ...) are currently NOT supported in native mode (VNC solutions might apply).

-- Valid Java installation


In any case you must have a valid 64-Bit Java installation of at least Java 8.
It is highly recommended, to always have a recent version on your system.

After version 8 Oracle has changed the release concept, so for private or non-commercial use you would normally have the latest OpenJDK version on your system.

— How to check your Java version
On a command line enter
java -version


-- Real Screen needed


The system running SikuliX scripts or any apps using SikuliX features must have a real screen connected. So called headless systems are not supported (Java restriction). While using SikuliX features, the screen should not be in sleep mode nor show a screen saver. It must be in a state, that a user could work with the system and watch on the screen what is going on.

-- Using Virtual Machines


Running it in VM guest systems as the above mentioned should usually work, but might have quirks.

-- Machine not useable in parallel while SikuliX scripts or programs are running


While running SikuliX scripts or any apps using SikuliX features on a system, usually one cannot work on this system in parallel, not even on another monitor, since normally SikuliX will "use" mouse and/or keyboard and watches the screen according to the running SikuliX workflow. User actions on this system will normally corrupt the SikuliX workflow, except this is intended and supported by the workflow.

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2. How do I download SikuliX


Download the latest stable version from here

Download nightly builds (developement version) from here

Understand and follow the mentioned steps there.

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3. Use the SikuliX IDE


To start the SikuliX IDE, you have the following options:

  • double click sikulix.jar (on Linux you might need to switch on the executable bit)
  • use java -jar path-to-sikulix.jar optionally with parameters on a command line

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4. How to run my scripts


You might run the scripts from within the SikuliX IDE or from commandline (look here for more information).

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5. How to deal with problems


Try to get help (see 6. Getting Help) or Switch on debugging

With an adequate debug level set, SikuliX might reveal more information on what is happening.

When running SikuliX IDE from command line (or a script) use as command line parameters
-d 3 or -v sets the debug level
-c will redirect the IDE output (normally shown in the IDE's message area) to the command line.

There is another special hack:

Before starting add an empty file named SikulixDebug.txt in your home folder.

This is detected and will internally switch to running with -d 3 -c and redirect all debug output to this file.
This is the only way to get debug output from the very beginning, when not running SikuliX from a commandline.
Simply delete it, if it is not needed anymore, to get back to normal operation.

The debug level can also be set inline in scripts and code
... and will be used from this point on until switched off or reset to another value
  • Debug.on(3) — switch debugging on with level 3
  • Debug.off() — switch debugging off
Look here for more information about debugging and logging.

Post a bug
If you think, your problems are created by SikuliX malfunction in any way, you may report an issue on Github or post a bug on the SikuliX site on Launchpad.

For users of the SikuliX IDE:
Use the menu entry "Report a bug" in the Help menu, since it has special information, puts the version/system/java info to the clipboard, so it can be pasted and opens the Launchpad Bug site in your browser.

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6. Getting help


You may ask questions and get answers from the SikuliX community and look at the FAQs on the SikuliX site on Launchpad.

For users of the SikuliX IDE:
Use the menu entry "Ask questions ..." in the Help menu, since it has special information, puts the version/system/java info to the clipboard, so it can be pasted and opens the Launchpad Question site in your browser.

The official SikuliX feature and API documentation is here.

For special topics have a look at the wiki pages on GitHub.

Still not found a suitable answer: Many people ask on StackOverflow and get answers.

... and you might contact RaiMan directly.

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7. Java environments


SikuliX Java API (sikulixapi.jar) is available
  • from MavenCentral or
  • as a ready to use library jar.
For details look here.

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