diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 29df1897..8fed055f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ uv run --with mellea docs/examples/tutorial/example.py
 | MCP | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://colab.research.google.com/github/generative-computing/mellea/blob/main/docs/examples/notebooks/mcp_example.ipynb"><img src="https://colab.research.google.com/assets/colab-badge.svg" alt="Open In Colab"/></a> | Mellea + MCP |
 
 
-### Installing from source
+### `uv`-based installation from source
 
 Fork and clone the repositoy:
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ If you are planning to contribute to the repo, it would be good to have all the
 uv pip install '.[all]' --group dev --group notebook --group docs
 ```
 
-or 
+or
 
 ```bash
 uv sync --all-extras --all-groups
@@ -149,6 +149,20 @@ If you want to contribute, ensure that you install the precommit hooks:
 pre-commit install
 ```
 
+### `conda`/`mamba`-based installation from source
+
+Fork and clone the repositoy:
+
+```bash
+git clone ssh://git@github.com/<my-username>/mellea.git && cd mellea/
+```
+
+It comes with an installation script, which does all the commands listed above:
+
+```bash
+conda/install.sh
+```
+
 ## Getting started with validation
 
 Mellea supports validation of generation results through a **instruct-validate-repair** pattern.
diff --git a/conda/environment.yml b/conda/environment.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7f6deeaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conda/environment.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+
+name: mellea
+channels:
+  - conda-forge
+dependencies:
+  - python=3.12                 # note: at the time of writing, xformer (< vllm) has a broken wheel for 3.13. https://github.com/facebookresearch/xformers/issues/740#issuecomment-2753869337
+  - uv
+variables:
+  VLLM_USE_V1: 0                 # need this to make outlines work
diff --git a/conda/install.sh b/conda/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..6df570e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conda/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/bin/bash -e
+
+CONDA=""
+if which mamba > /dev/null
+then
+    CONDA=$(which mamba)
+fi
+if which conda > /dev/null
+then
+    CONDA=$(which conda)
+fi
+
+if [ -z $CONDA ]
+then
+    echo "Error: conda or mamba is not installed or is not in the PATH."
+    echo "Go to "
+    echo "* https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge (open source)"
+    echo "* https://www.anaconda.com/download/success (registration required)"
+    echo "to obtain a conda/mamba installer."
+else
+    echo "Using $CONDA for environment setup"
+fi
+
+
+usage(){
+    echo "Usage: install.sh [-h] [-y]"
+    echo
+    echo "-h : show this help"
+    echo "-y : Adds '-y' option to '$CONDA env [create|remove|...]' command arguments."
+    exit 1
+}
+
+CONDA_OPTIONS=""
+while getopts "yh" OPTNAME ; do
+    case "${OPTNAME}" in
+        h)
+            usage
+            ;;
+        y)
+            CONDA_OPTIONS="-y"
+            shift 1
+            ;;
+        :)
+            # If expected argument omitted:
+            echo "Error: -${OPTARG} requires an argument."
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+        *)
+            # If unknown (any other) option:
+            echo "Error: -${OPTARG} unknown."
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+if $CONDA env list | grep -q mellea
+then
+    echo "An existing mellea environment was found."
+    $CONDA env remove $CONDA_OPTIONS -n mellea
+fi
+
+
+# note:
+# this is a portable way (works in linux and osx) to get the directory of this script.
+# readlink -ef may not work on osx.
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+$CONDA env create $CONDA_OPTIONS -f $SCRIPT_DIR/environment.yml
+
+$CONDA run -n mellea uv pip install -e .[all] --group dev --group notebook --group docs
+
+$CONDA run -n mellea pre-commit install