diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..4c801bab39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+echo "╔══════════════════════════════════════╗"
+echo "║     Unsloth Studio Setup Script      ║"
+echo "╚══════════════════════════════════════╝"
+
+# ── 1. Check existing Node/npm versions ──
+NEED_NODE=true
+if command -v node &>/dev/null && command -v npm &>/dev/null; then
+    NODE_MAJOR=$(node -v | sed 's/v//' | cut -d. -f1)
+    NPM_MAJOR=$(npm -v | cut -d. -f1)
+    if [ "$NODE_MAJOR" -ge 20 ] && [ "$NPM_MAJOR" -ge 11 ]; then
+        echo "✅ Node $(node -v) and npm $(npm -v) already meet requirements. Skipping nvm install."
+        NEED_NODE=false
+    else
+        echo "⚠️  Node $(node -v) / npm $(npm -v) too old. Installing via nvm..."
+    fi
+else
+    echo "⚠️  Node/npm not found. Installing via nvm..."
+fi
+
+if [ "$NEED_NODE" = true ]; then
+    # ── 2. Install nvm ──
+    echo "Installing nvm..."
+    curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash
+
+    # Load nvm (source ~/.bashrc won't work inside a script)
+    export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
+    [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
+
+    # ── 3. Install Node LTS ──
+    echo "Installing Node LTS..."
+    nvm install --lts
+    nvm use --lts
+
+    # ── 4. Verify versions ──
+    NODE_MAJOR=$(node -v | sed 's/v//' | cut -d. -f1)
+    NPM_MAJOR=$(npm -v | cut -d. -f1)
+
+    if [ "$NODE_MAJOR" -lt 20 ]; then
+        echo "❌ ERROR: Node version must be >= 20 (got $(node -v))"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [ "$NPM_MAJOR" -lt 11 ]; then
+        echo "⚠️  npm version is $(npm -v), expected >= 11. Updating..."
+        npm install -g npm@latest
+    fi
+fi
+
+echo "✅ Node $(node -v) | npm $(npm -v)"
+
+# ── 5. Build frontend ──
+echo ""
+echo "Building frontend..."
+cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/studio/frontend"
+npm install
+npm run build
+cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
+echo "✅ Frontend built to studio/frontend/dist"
+
+# ── 6. Python venv + deps ──
+echo ""
+echo "Setting up Python environment..."
+python3 -m venv .venv
+source .venv/bin/activate
+pip install --upgrade pip
+pip install unsloth-zoo unsloth
+pip install typer fastapi uvicorn pydantic matplotlib pandas "datasets==4.3.0"
+echo "✅ Python dependencies installed"
+
+# ── 7. Add shell alias ──
+# Note: venv activation does NOT persist across terminal sessions.
+# This alias hardcodes the venv python path so users don't need to activate.
+echo ""
+REPO_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR"
+ALIAS_LINE="alias unsloth-ui='${REPO_DIR}/.venv/bin/python ${REPO_DIR}/cli.py ui'"
+
+if ! grep -qF "unsloth-ui" ~/.bashrc 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "" >> ~/.bashrc
+    echo "# Unsloth Studio launcher" >> ~/.bashrc
+    echo "$ALIAS_LINE" >> ~/.bashrc
+    echo "✅ Alias 'unsloth-ui' added to ~/.bashrc"
+else
+    echo "✅ Alias 'unsloth-ui' already exists in ~/.bashrc"
+fi
+
+echo ""
+echo "╔══════════════════════════════════════╗"
+echo "║           Setup Complete!            ║"
+echo "╠══════════════════════════════════════╣"
+echo "║ Run 'source ~/.bashrc' or open a    ║"
+echo "║ new terminal, then launch with:     ║"
+echo "║                                      ║"
+echo "║ unsloth-ui -H 0.0.0.0 -p 8000 \    ║"
+echo "║   -f studio/frontend/dist            ║"
+echo "╚══════════════════════════════════════╝"