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##The Lithium Lab
[The Lab](http://lab.lithify.me) is the plugin server for Lithium-based applications. The goal is to enable command line and browser-based management of community plugins.
### Using the Lab
To interact with the Lab, you can use the [wiki:using/command-line command line] or [wiki:using/browser your browser].
### Creating Your Own Lab
Although the Lab is the official plugin repository for Lithium, you can create your own plugin repository by downloading and installing the li3_lab plugin. Before beginning, make sure you have [ downloaded](http://couchdb.apache.org/downloads.html) and [installed CouchDB](http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Installation).
- run:
{{{
git clone code@rad-dev.org:li3_lab.git
}}}
- symlink or move the plugin into your ```app/libraries```
- then add the code below to your ```app/config/bootstrap/libraries.php```
{{{
Libraries::add('li3_lab');
}}}
you could also specify the path like:
{{{
$plugins = '/path/to/plugins/';
Libraries::add('li3_lab', array('path' => "{$plugins}/li3_lab"));
}}}
Once the plugin is installed and you have made sure that CouchDB is running, change to your ```app/``` folder and run
{{{
li3 server install
}}}
At this point you should have a fully operational Lab on your computer.