> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://smallestai-ff1e543d.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Prerequisites

> What you need before deploying Smallest Self-Host

## Overview

Before deploying Smallest Self-Host, you'll need credentials from Smallest.ai and infrastructure with GPU support.

## Credentials from Smallest.ai

Contact **[support@smallest.ai](mailto:support@smallest.ai)** to obtain the following:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="License Key" icon="key">
    Your unique license key for validation. This is required for all deployments.

    You'll add this to your configuration:

    ```yaml theme={null}
    global:
      licenseKey: "your-license-key-here"
    ```

    Or as an environment variable:

    ```bash theme={null}
    LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key-here
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Container Registry Credentials" icon="docker">
    Credentials to pull Docker images from `quay.io`:

    * **Username**
    * **Password**
    * **Email**

    Login to the registry:

    ```bash theme={null}
    docker login quay.io
    ```

    For Kubernetes, you'll add these to your `values.yaml`:

    ```yaml theme={null}
    global:
      imageCredentials:
        create: true
        registry: quay.io
        username: "your-username"
        password: "your-password"
        email: "your-email@example.com"
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Model Download URLs" icon="download">
    Download URLs for the AI models (STT and/or TTS).

    For Docker deployments, add to your `.env`:

    ```bash theme={null}
    MODEL_URL=your-model-url-here
    ```

    For Kubernetes, add to `values.yaml`:

    ```yaml theme={null}
    models:
      asrModelUrl: "your-asr-model-url"
      ttsModelUrl: "your-tts-model-url"
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Infrastructure Requirements

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="GPU Requirements" icon="microchip">
    * **NVIDIA GPU** with 16+ GB VRAM
    * Recommended: A10, L4, L40s, T4, or A100
    * NVIDIA Driver 525+ (for A10, A100, L4)
    * NVIDIA Driver 470+ (for T4, V100)
  </Card>

  <Card title="Container Runtime" icon="docker">
    * Docker 20.10+ or Podman 4.0+
    * NVIDIA Container Toolkit
    * For Kubernetes: GPU Operator or Device Plugin
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

### Minimum Resources

<table style={{ borderCollapse: 'separate', borderSpacing: 0, width: '100%', borderRadius: '8px', overflow: 'hidden' }}>
  <thead>
    <tr style={{ backgroundColor: 'rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08)' }}>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderTopLeftRadius: '8px' }}>Component</th>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>CPU</th>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>Memory</th>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>GPU</th>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderTopRightRadius: '8px' }}>Storage</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}><strong>Lightning ASR</strong></td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>4-8 cores</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>12-16 GB</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>1x NVIDIA (16+ GB VRAM)</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>50+ GB</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}><strong>Lightning TTS</strong></td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>4-8 cores</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>12-16 GB</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>1x NVIDIA (16+ GB VRAM)</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>20+ GB</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>API Server</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>0.5-2 cores</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>512 MB - 2 GB</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>None</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>1 GB</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>License Proxy</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>0.25-1 core</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>256-512 MB</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>None</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>100 MB</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderBottomLeftRadius: '8px' }}>Redis</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>0.5-1 core</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>512 MB - 2 GB</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>None</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderBottomRightRadius: '8px' }}>1 GB</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

## Network Requirements

The License Proxy requires outbound HTTPS access to validate licenses:

<table style={{ borderCollapse: 'separate', borderSpacing: 0, width: '100%', borderRadius: '8px', overflow: 'hidden' }}>
  <thead>
    <tr style={{ backgroundColor: 'rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08)' }}>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderTopLeftRadius: '8px' }}>Endpoint</th>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>Port</th>
      <th style={{ padding: '12px 16px', textAlign: 'left', fontWeight: '800', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderTopRightRadius: '8px' }}>Purpose</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderBottomLeftRadius: '8px' }}><code>api.smallest.ai</code></td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)' }}>443</td>
      <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', border: '0.5px solid rgba(209, 213, 219, 0.2)', borderBottomRightRadius: '8px' }}>License validation and usage reporting</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

<Warning>
  Ensure your firewall and network policies allow outbound HTTPS traffic to `api.smallest.ai`.
</Warning>

## Next Steps

Choose your deployment method and follow the specific prerequisites:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Docker Prerequisites" icon="docker" href="/v4.0.0/content/on-prem/docker/stt/prerequisites/hardware-requirements">
    Setup requirements for Docker deployments including NVIDIA Container Toolkit installation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Kubernetes Prerequisites" icon="dharmachakra" href="/v4.0.0/content/on-prem/kubernetes/prerequisites/hardware-requirements">
    Cluster requirements, GPU node setup, and Helm configuration for Kubernetes deployments.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>