> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.apostate.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Quickstart
> Install Apostate, launch a Windows persona and check what a page sees.
This page installs Apostate and launches a Windows persona from Python or Node. It needs Python 3.10 or later, or Node 22 or later, on Linux x64, Linux arm64, macOS on Apple silicon or Windows x64.
```bash Python theme={null}
pip install apostate
```
```bash Node theme={null}
npm install @heretic-tech/apostate
```
The package brings Patchright, the driver it launches the browser with. Do not run `playwright install`. Apostate brings its own browser.
The first launch downloads the browser (about 150 to 200 MB, depending on the host) and checks its SHA-256. To download it now instead:
```bash Python theme={null}
apostate install
```
```bash Node theme={null}
npx apostate install
```
Both packages share one install in your user cache directory, so installing with one serves the other.
A Windows persona shows only Windows fonts that are installed on the host. On Linux or macOS, install them once:
```bash theme={null}
apostate fonts install windows
```
It needs `git`. On Windows the fonts are already there. [Fonts](/guides/fonts) explains what this installs and where.
```python Python theme={null}
from apostate import launch
browser = launch(fingerprint=42, fingerprint_platform="windows")
page = browser.new_page()
page.goto("https://example.com")
print(page.evaluate("""() => ({
platform: navigator.platform,
cores: navigator.hardwareConcurrency,
screen: [screen.width, screen.height, screen.availWidth, screen.availHeight],
})"""))
browser.close()
```
```javascript Node theme={null}
import { launch } from "@heretic-tech/apostate";
const browser = await launch({ fingerprint: 42, fingerprintPlatform: "windows" });
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto("https://example.com");
console.log(await page.evaluate(() => ({
platform: navigator.platform,
cores: navigator.hardwareConcurrency,
screen: [screen.width, screen.height, screen.availWidth, screen.availHeight],
})));
await browser.close();
```
Seed 42 as a Windows persona is a desktop with a 1920x1080 screen whose taskbar takes 48 pixels. This output is from a Mac with 14 cores:
```text theme={null}
{'platform': 'Win32', 'cores': 12, 'screen': [1920, 1080, 1920, 1032]}
```
The core count depends on the host, because a persona never claims more cores than the host has. Seed 42 reports 12 on a host with 12 to 19 logical cores, 20 on a host with 20 or more, and the host's own count on a host with fewer than 12. [The host cap](/concepts/seeds-and-identity#the-host-cap) explains why.
Before the launch, the package looked up your IP address and gave the persona the timezone and language of its location. Behind a proxy it looks up the proxy's exit instead.
`--fingerprint-explain` prints every value the seed chose and exits without opening a window:
```bash theme={null}
apostate run -- --fingerprint=42 --fingerprint-platform=windows --fingerprint-explain
```
```text theme={null}
apostate fingerprint composition
chromium 152.0.7977.83
...
platform persona windows
host platform macos
host cores 14
...
seed 42
seed source --fingerprint (pinned by flag, identical on any machine)
reproduce with --fingerprint=42
...
surface layer evidence value
anchor anchor physical-ground-truth windows-d3d11-intel-79dfeb5b4f99
os_release dispersion physical-ground-truth windows-11
gpu_identity dispersion catalogue-value d3d11-intel-uhd-graphics-770-4680
webgpu anchor physical-ground-truth Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770
machine_class dispersion catalogue-value win-sff-desktop
cpu dispersion public-corpus cores-12
memory dispersion catalogue-value gib-8
panel dispersion public-corpus fhd-1080p
...
```
## Keep a machine between runs
The same seed gives the same machine on every launch. Across hosts, only the core count and memory can change. To keep cookies and logins as well, launch a persistent context. The first launch draws a machine and stores its seed in the directory. Every later launch presents the same machine.
```python Python theme={null}
from apostate import launch_persistent_context
context = launch_persistent_context("./profiles/shop-account", fingerprint_platform="windows")
page = context.new_page()
page.goto("https://example.com")
context.close()
```
```javascript Node theme={null}
import { launchPersistentContext } from "@heretic-tech/apostate";
const context = await launchPersistentContext("./profiles/shop-account", { fingerprintPlatform: "windows" });
const page = await context.newPage();
await page.goto("https://example.com");
await context.close();
```
[Seeds and identity](/concepts/seeds-and-identity) covers how long a machine lasts.
## Next steps
Route through an HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy, with the locale and timezone of its exit.
Run headless or headed on a server with no GPU and no display.
Connect Claude Code, Codex or another agent to Apostate.
Runnable scripts for common jobs, in Python and Node.