diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c38dce9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Shop Bob Server — Install Script
+# Target: Ubuntu/Debian with NVIDIA T4 (16GB VRAM)
+
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+NC='\033[0m'
+
+ERRORS=0
+WARNINGS=0
+
+pass()  { echo -e "  ${GREEN}✓${NC} $1"; }
+warn()  { echo -e "  ${YELLOW}⚠${NC} $1"; ((WARNINGS++)); }
+fail()  { echo -e "  ${RED}✗${NC} $1"; ((ERRORS++)); }
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+VENV_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/.venv"
+PIPER_MODEL="en_US-lessac-medium"
+PIPER_MODEL_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/piper-models"
+
+# ─── System checks ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo ""
+echo "═══ Shop Bob Server — Dependency Check & Install ═══"
+echo ""
+
+# ── OS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo "System:"
+if [ -f /etc/os-release ]; then
+    . /etc/os-release
+    pass "OS: ${PRETTY_NAME}"
+else
+    warn "Cannot detect OS — expected Ubuntu/Debian"
+fi
+
+# ── Python 3.11+ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "Python:"
+if command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
+    PY_VER=$(python3 -c 'import sys; print(f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}")')
+    PY_MAJOR=$(echo "$PY_VER" | cut -d. -f1)
+    PY_MINOR=$(echo "$PY_VER" | cut -d. -f2)
+    if [ "$PY_MAJOR" -eq 3 ] && [ "$PY_MINOR" -ge 11 ]; then
+        pass "Python ${PY_VER}"
+    else
+        fail "Python ${PY_VER} found — need 3.11+"
+    fi
+else
+    fail "python3 not found"
+    echo "       Install: sudo apt install python3.11 python3.11-venv python3.11-dev"
+fi
+
+if command -v pip3 &>/dev/null || python3 -m pip --version &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    pass "pip available"
+else
+    fail "pip not found"
+    echo "       Install: sudo apt install python3-pip"
+fi
+
+# ── NVIDIA Driver ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "NVIDIA GPU:"
+if command -v nvidia-smi &>/dev/null; then
+    DRIVER_VER=$(nvidia-smi --query-gpu=driver_version --format=csv,noheader 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+    GPU_NAME=$(nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name --format=csv,noheader 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+    GPU_MEM=$(nvidia-smi --query-gpu=memory.total --format=csv,noheader 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+
+    if echo "$GPU_NAME" | grep -qi "T4"; then
+        pass "GPU: ${GPU_NAME} (${GPU_MEM})"
+    else
+        warn "GPU: ${GPU_NAME} (${GPU_MEM}) — expected NVIDIA T4"
+    fi
+    pass "Driver: ${DRIVER_VER}"
+
+    # Check minimum driver version for CUDA 12 (>=525.60)
+    DRIVER_MAJOR=$(echo "$DRIVER_VER" | cut -d. -f1)
+    if [ "$DRIVER_MAJOR" -ge 525 ]; then
+        pass "Driver supports CUDA 12"
+    else
+        fail "Driver ${DRIVER_VER} too old — need >=525 for CUDA 12"
+        echo "       Install: sudo apt install nvidia-driver-535"
+    fi
+else
+    fail "nvidia-smi not found — no NVIDIA driver installed"
+    echo "       Install driver:"
+    echo "         sudo apt update"
+    echo "         sudo apt install nvidia-driver-535"
+    echo "         sudo reboot"
+fi
+
+# ── CUDA Toolkit ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "CUDA:"
+if command -v nvcc &>/dev/null; then
+    CUDA_VER=$(nvcc --version | grep -oP 'release \K[0-9]+\.[0-9]+')
+    pass "CUDA toolkit: ${CUDA_VER}"
+elif [ -d /usr/local/cuda ]; then
+    CUDA_VER=$(cat /usr/local/cuda/version.json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['cuda']['version'])" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+    pass "CUDA found at /usr/local/cuda (${CUDA_VER})"
+    warn "nvcc not in PATH — add: export PATH=/usr/local/cuda/bin:\$PATH"
+else
+    # faster-whisper bundles cuDNN/cuBLAS via ctranslate2, so CUDA toolkit
+    # is not strictly required if the driver is new enough
+    warn "CUDA toolkit not found — faster-whisper may still work via bundled libs"
+    echo "       Optional install: sudo apt install nvidia-cuda-toolkit"
+fi
+
+# ── cuDNN ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+if ldconfig -p 2>/dev/null | grep -q libcudnn; then
+    CUDNN_VER=$(ldconfig -p 2>/dev/null | grep libcudnn | head -1 | grep -oP 'libcudnn\S+')
+    pass "cuDNN: found (${CUDNN_VER})"
+else
+    warn "cuDNN not detected in system libs — faster-whisper ships its own, should be OK"
+fi
+
+# ── Ollama ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "Ollama:"
+if command -v ollama &>/dev/null; then
+    OLLAMA_VER=$(ollama --version 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+    pass "Ollama installed: ${OLLAMA_VER}"
+
+    # Check if Ollama service is running
+    if curl -sf http://localhost:11434/api/tags &>/dev/null; then
+        pass "Ollama service is running"
+
+        # Check for the default model
+        if curl -sf http://localhost:11434/api/tags | python3 -c "
+import sys, json
+tags = json.load(sys.stdin)
+models = [m['name'] for m in tags.get('models', [])]
+if any('llama3.1' in m for m in models):
+    print('found')
+else:
+    sys.exit(1)
+" &>/dev/null; then
+            pass "llama3.1 model available"
+        else
+            warn "llama3.1 model not pulled yet"
+            echo "       Run: ollama pull llama3.1:8b"
+        fi
+    else
+        warn "Ollama installed but service not running"
+        echo "       Start: sudo systemctl start ollama"
+    fi
+else
+    fail "Ollama not installed"
+    echo "       Install: curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh"
+    echo "       Then:    ollama pull llama3.1:8b"
+fi
+
+# ── System packages for Piper ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "Piper TTS dependencies:"
+PIPER_DEPS=(libespeak-ng1 libsndfile1)
+for dep in "${PIPER_DEPS[@]}"; do
+    if dpkg -l "$dep" &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        pass "${dep}"
+    else
+        warn "${dep} not installed"
+        echo "       Install: sudo apt install ${dep}"
+    fi
+done
+
+# ─── Install ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo ""
+echo "═══ Installation ═══"
+echo ""
+
+# ── Python venv ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo "Virtual environment:"
+if [ -d "$VENV_DIR" ]; then
+    pass "Existing venv at ${VENV_DIR}"
+else
+    echo "  Creating venv..."
+    python3 -m venv "$VENV_DIR"
+    pass "Created ${VENV_DIR}"
+fi
+source "${VENV_DIR}/bin/activate"
+pass "Activated venv ($(python3 --version))"
+
+# ── pip dependencies ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "Python packages:"
+echo "  Installing from requirements.txt..."
+pip install --upgrade pip -q
+pip install -r "${SCRIPT_DIR}/server/requirements.txt" -q
+pass "All pip packages installed"
+
+# ── Piper model ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "Piper TTS model:"
+ONNX_FILE="${PIPER_MODEL_DIR}/${PIPER_MODEL}.onnx"
+JSON_FILE="${PIPER_MODEL_DIR}/${PIPER_MODEL}.onnx.json"
+
+if [ -f "$ONNX_FILE" ] && [ -f "$JSON_FILE" ]; then
+    pass "Model already downloaded: ${PIPER_MODEL}"
+else
+    echo "  Downloading ${PIPER_MODEL}..."
+    mkdir -p "$PIPER_MODEL_DIR"
+    PIPER_URL="https://huggingface.co/rhasspy/piper-voices/resolve/main/en/en_US/lessac/medium"
+    curl -sL "${PIPER_URL}/${PIPER_MODEL}.onnx" -o "$ONNX_FILE"
+    curl -sL "${PIPER_URL}/${PIPER_MODEL}.onnx.json" -o "$JSON_FILE"
+
+    if [ -f "$ONNX_FILE" ] && [ -s "$ONNX_FILE" ]; then
+        pass "Downloaded ${PIPER_MODEL}"
+    else
+        fail "Failed to download Piper model"
+    fi
+fi
+
+# ─── Summary ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo ""
+echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+if [ $ERRORS -gt 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${RED}  ${ERRORS} error(s)${NC}, ${WARNINGS} warning(s)"
+    echo "  Fix errors above before running the server."
+    echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+    exit 1
+elif [ $WARNINGS -gt 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${GREEN}  Install complete${NC} with ${YELLOW}${WARNINGS} warning(s)${NC}"
+    echo ""
+    echo "  Review warnings above. To start the server:"
+    echo "    source .venv/bin/activate"
+    echo "    uvicorn server.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8765"
+    echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+    exit 0
+else
+    echo -e "${GREEN}  Install complete — all checks passed!${NC}"
+    echo ""
+    echo "  To start the server:"
+    echo "    source .venv/bin/activate"
+    echo "    uvicorn server.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8765"
+    echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+    exit 0
+fi