Quickstart

Isaac Lab is a GPU-accelerated framework for robot learning built on vectorized simulation. Environments run thousands of parallel copies on the GPU, and a modular manager design lets you swap robots, sensors, and controllers without rewriting task logic.

This page gets you installed and running a first training job in minutes. For deeper topics (configurations, project scaffolding, standalone apps, preset catalogs), see Quickstart Details.

Install

Clone Isaac Lab, create a Python 3.12 environment, and install. Choose the path that matches your workflow:

Kit-less (no Isaac Sim)

Fastest start — Newton physics only, no Isaac Sim download required.

Linux

Windows

See Modularized Installation for install tokens and Kit-less Installation for feature availability without Isaac Sim.

With Isaac Sim (full features)

Recommended for PhysX, RTX rendering, ROS, URDF/MJCF importers, and the Kit visualizer.

Linux

Windows

On Linux aarch64 (DGX Spark), use cu130 for PyTorch and see Local Installation for additional setup notes.

For conda, binary installs, Docker, and troubleshooting, see Local Installation.

Run Training

Use the reinforcement learning training command with a task name and physics=, renderer=, and presets= to select backends and task-specific options:

Linux

# Kit-less: Newton MJWarp physics + Newton visualizer
./isaaclab.sh train --rl_library rsl_rl \
  --task=Isaac-Cartpole-Direct-v0 \
  --num_envs=16 --max_iterations=10 \
  physics=newton_mjwarp --visualizer newton

# With Isaac Sim: PhysX physics (default renderer)
./isaaclab.sh train --rl_library rsl_rl \
  --task=Isaac-Cartpole-Direct-v0 \
  --num_envs=4096 \
  physics=physx

# Camera task: typed physics + renderer + domain preset
./isaaclab.sh train --rl_library rl_games \
  --task=Isaac-Cartpole-RGB-Camera-Direct-v0 \
  physics=newton_mjwarp renderer=newton_renderer presets=rgb

Windows

isaaclab.bat train --rl_library rsl_rl ^
  --task=Isaac-Cartpole-Direct-v0 ^
  --num_envs=16 --max_iterations=10 ^
  physics=newton_mjwarp --visualizer newton

isaaclab.bat train --rl_library rsl_rl ^
  --task=Isaac-Cartpole-Direct-v0 ^
  --num_envs=4096 ^
  physics=physx

Use --help on any script to see task-specific physics=, renderer=, and presets= options.

See also

• Hydra Configuration System — preset system and Hydra overrides

• Quickstart Details — preset catalog, environments, project generator, and more

Next Steps

• List registered environments: python scripts/environments/list_envs.py

• Scaffold a new project: ./isaaclab.sh --new (Linux) or isaaclab.bat --new (Windows)

• Walk through tutorials: Tutorials

• Browse all environments: Available Environments