jyapayne/langflow
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases 1 Packages Wiki Activity Actions

docs: install from source (#8369)

Browse source 
* initial-content

* add-faster-instructions-to-readme

* link-anchor-and-clone

* additional-make-commands

* copy-content-to-contributing-repo-file

* remove-readme-content

* remove extra file

* tests-location

* makefile-update

* cleanup-extra-make-commands

* contributing-update

* Apply suggestions from code review

Co-authored-by: April I. Murphy <36110273+aimurphy@users.noreply.github.com>

* move-run-cli

* docs-review

---------

Co-authored-by: Edwin Jose <edwin.jose@datastax.com>
Co-authored-by: April I. Murphy <36110273+aimurphy@users.noreply.github.com>
This commit is contained in:
Mendon Kissling 2025-06-30 16:44:05 -04:00 • committed by GitHub
commit 0034c0b8cc
No known key found for this signature in database
GPG key ID: B5690EEEBB952194
3 changed files with 250 additions and 86 deletions
Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

182
CONTRIBUTING.md
View file

@ -1,47 +1,163 @@
# Contributing to Langflow
This guide is intended to help you get started contributing to Langflow.
As an open-source project in a rapidly developing field, we are extremely open
to contributions, whether it be in the form of a new feature, improved infra, or better documentation.
This guide is intended to help you start contributing to Langflow.
As an open-source project in a rapidly developing field, Langflow welcomes contributions, whether it be in the form of a new feature, improved infrastructure, or better documentation.
To contribute to this project, please follow the [fork and pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/contributing-to-projects) workflow.
To contribute code or documentation to this project, follow the [fork and pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/contributing-to-projects) workflow.
## Reporting bugs or suggesting improvements
## Install Langflow from source
Our [GitHub issues](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow/issues) page is kept up to date
with bugs, improvements, and feature requests. There is a taxonomy of labels to help
with sorting and discovery of issues of interest. [See this page](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow/labels) for an overview of
the system we use to tag our issues and pull requests.
Install Langflow from source by forking the repository, and then set up your development environment using Make.
If you're looking for help with your code, consider posting a question on the
[GitHub Discussions board](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow/discussions). Please
understand that we won't be able to provide individual support via email. We
also believe that help is much more valuable if it's **shared publicly**,
so that more people can benefit from it.
### Prerequisites
- **Describing your issue:** Try to provide as many details as possible. What
exactly goes wrong? _How_ is it failing? Is there an error?
"XY doesn't work" usually isn't that helpful for tracking down problems. Always
remember to include the code you ran and if possible, extract only the relevant
parts and don't just dump your entire script. This will make it easier for us to
reproduce the error.
* [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) version 0.4 or later
* [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager)
* [Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/#documentation)
- **Sharing long blocks of code or logs:** If you need to include long code,
logs or tracebacks, you can wrap them in `<details>` and `</details>`. This
[collapses the content](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/HTML/Element/details)
so it only becomes visible on click, making the issue easier to read and follow.
### Clone the Langflow repository
## Contributing code and documentation
1. Fork the [Langflow GitHub repository](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow).
You can develop Langflow locally and contribute to the Project!
2. Add the new remote to your local repository on your local machine:
```bash
git remote add FORK_NAME https://github.com/GIT_USERNAME/langflow.git
```
Replace the following:
* `FORK_NAME`: A name for your fork of the repository
* `GIT_USERNAME`: Your Git username
See [DEVELOPMENT.md](DEVELOPMENT.md) for instructions on setting up and using a development environment.
### Run Langflow from source
## Opening a pull request
If you're not developing, but want to run Langflow from source after cloning the repo, run:
Once you wrote and manually tested your change, you can start sending the patch to the main repository.
```bash
make run_cli
```
- Open a new GitHub pull request with the patch against the `main` branch.
- Ensure the PR title follows semantic commits conventions.
- For example, `feat: add new feature`, `fix: correct issue with X`.
- Ensure the PR description clearly describes the problem and solution. Include the relevant issue number if applicable.
This command:
- Installs frontend and backend dependencies
- Builds the frontend static files
- Starts the application with default settings
The `make run_cli` command allows you to configure the application such as logging level, host, port, and environment variables.
For example, this command starts Langflow with custom settings for the logging level, host binding, and port number, and specifies a custom `.env` file.
```bash
make run_cli log_level=info host=localhost port=8000 env=.env.custom
```
The `make run_cli` command accepts the following parameters:
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|-----------|---------|-------------|
| `log_level` | `debug` | Set the logging level. Options: `debug`, `info`, `warning`, `error`, `critical` |
| `host` | `0.0.0.0` | The host address to bind the server to. Use `localhost` or `127.0.0.1` for local-only access. |
| `port` | `7860` | The port number to run the server on. |
| `env` | `.env` | Path to the environment file containing configuration variables. |
| `open_browser` | `true` | Whether to automatically open the browser when starting. Set to `false` to disable. |
### Set up your Langflow development environment
1. To set up the Langflow development environment, run the following command:
```bash
make init
```
This command sets up the development environment by:
- Checking for uv and npm.
- Installing backend and frontend dependencies.
- Installing pre-commit hooks.
2. Run the backend and frontend in separate terminals for development:
```bash
# Run backend in development mode (includes hot reload)
make backend
# In another terminal, run frontend in development mode (includes hot reload)
make frontend
```
The `make backend` and `make frontend` commands automatically install dependencies, so you don't need to run install commands separately.
3. (Optional) Install pre-commit hooks to help keep your changes clean and well-formatted. `make init` installs pre-commit hooks automatically.
```bash
uv sync
uv run pre-commit install
```
:::note
With pre-commit hooks installed, you need to use `uv run git commit` instead of `git commit` directly.
:::
4. To test your changes, run `make lint`, `make format`, and `make unit_tests` before pushing to the repository.
To run all tests, including unit tests, integration tests, and coverage, run `make tests`.
### Debug
The repo includes a `.vscode/launch.json` file for debugging the backend in VSCode, which is faster than debugging with Docker Compose. To debug Langflow with the `launch.json` file in VSCode:
For more information, see the [VSCode documentation](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/debugtest/debugging#_start-a-debugging-session).
### Additional contribution guides
- [Contribute Bundles](./docs/docs/Contributing/contributing-bundles.md)
- [Contribute Components](./docs/docs/Contributing/contributing-components.md)
- [Contribute Tests](./docs/docs/Contributing/contributing-component-tests.md)
- [Contribute Templates](./docs/docs/Contributing/contributing-templates.md)
## Contribute documentation
The documentation is built using [Docusaurus](https://docusaurus.io/) and written in [Markdown](https://docusaurus.io/docs/markdown-features).
Contributions should follow the [Google Developer Documentation Style Guide](https://developers.google.com/style).
### Prerequisites
* [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager)
* [Yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/)
### Clone the Langflow repository
1. Fork the [Langflow GitHub repository](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow).
2. Add the new remote to your local repository on your local machine:
```bash
git remote add FORK_NAME https://github.com/GIT_USERNAME/langflow.git
```
Replace the following:
* `FORK_NAME`: A name for your fork of the repository
* `GIT_USERNAME`: Your Git username
3. From your Langflow fork's root, change directory to the `langflow/docs` folder with the following command:
```bash
cd docs
```
4. To install dependencies and start a local Docusaurus static site with hot reloading, run:
```bash
yarn install && yarn start
```
The documentation will be available at `localhost:3000` and all the files are located in the `/docs` folder.
5. Optional: Run `yarn build` to build the site locally and ensure there are no broken links.
## Open a pull request
To submit a pull request, do the following:
1. Open a new GitHub pull request with your patch against the `main` branch.
2. Ensure the PR title follows semantic commit conventions. For example, features are `feat: add new feature` and fixes are `fix: correct issue with X`.
Some additional guidance on pull request titles:
* Ensure the pull request description clearly describes the problem and solution. If the PR fixes an issue, include a link to the fixed issue in the PR description with `Fixes #1234`.
* Pull request titles appear in Langflow's release notes, so they should explain what the PR does as explicitly as possible.
* Pull requests should strive to fix one thing **only**, and should contain a good description of what is being fixed.
3. A Langflow maintainer will review your pull request and may request changes, so ensure you pay attention to your PRs. Thanks for your contribution!
For more information, see the [Python Developer's Guide](https://devguide.python.org/getting-started/pull-request-lifecycle/index.html#making-good-commits).

150
docs/docs/Contributing/contributing-how-to-contribute.md
View file

@ -8,115 +8,159 @@ As an open-source project in a rapidly developing field, Langflow welcomes contr
To contribute code or documentation to this project, follow the [fork and pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/contributing-to-projects) workflow.
## Contribute code
## Install Langflow from source
Develop Langflow locally with [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) and [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager).
Install Langflow from source by forking the repository, and then set up your development environment using Make.
### Prerequisites
* [uv(>=0.4)](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/)
* [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) version 0.4 or later
* [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager)
* [Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/#documentation)
### Clone the Langflow Repository
### Clone the Langflow repository
1. Navigate to the [Langflow GitHub repository](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow), and then click **Fork**.
1. Fork the [Langflow GitHub repository](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow).
2. Add the new remote to your local repository on your local machine:
Replace `YOUR_FORK_NAME` with a name for your fork.
Replace `YOUR_GIT_USERNAME` with your Git username.
```bash
git remote add YOUR_FORK_NAME https://github.com/YOUR_GIT_USERNAME/langflow.git
git remote add FORK_NAME https://github.com/GIT_USERNAME/langflow.git
```
Replace the following:
* `FORK_NAME`: A name for your fork of the repository
* `GIT_USERNAME`: Your Git username
### Run Langflow from source
If you're not developing, but want to run Langflow from source after cloning the repo, run:
```bash
make run_cli
```
### Prepare the development environment
This command:
- Installs frontend and backend dependencies
- Builds the frontend static files
- Starts the application with default settings
1. Create development hooks.
The `make run_cli` command allows you to configure the application such as logging level, host, port, and environment variables.
For example, this command starts Langflow with custom settings for the logging level, host binding, and port number, and specifies a custom `.env` file.
```bash
make run_cli log_level=info host=localhost port=8000 env=.env.custom
```
The `make run_cli` command accepts the following parameters:
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|-----------|---------|-------------|
| `log_level` | `debug` | Set the logging level. Options: `debug`, `info`, `warning`, `error`, `critical` |
| `host` | `0.0.0.0` | The host address to bind the server to. Use `localhost` or `127.0.0.1` for local-only access. |
| `port` | `7860` | The port number to run the server on. |
| `env` | `.env` | Path to the environment file containing configuration variables. |
| `open_browser` | `true` | Whether to automatically open the browser when starting. Set to `false` to disable. |
### Set up your Langflow development environment
1. To set up the Langflow development environment, run the following command:
```bash
make init
```
This command sets up the development environment by installing backend and frontend dependencies, building the frontend static files, and initializing the project. It runs `make install_backend`, `make install_frontend`, `make build_frontend`, and finally `uv run langflow run` to start the application.
This command sets up the development environment by:
- Checking for uv and npm.
- Installing backend and frontend dependencies.
- Installing pre-commit hooks.
2. Run `make lint`, `make format`, and `make unit_tests` before pushing to the repository.
2. Run the backend and frontend in separate terminals for development:
```bash
# Run backend in development mode (includes hot reload)
make backend
# In another terminal, run frontend in development mode (includes hot reload)
make frontend
```
The `make backend` and `make frontend` commands automatically install dependencies, so you don't need to run install commands separately.
3. (Optional) Install pre-commit hooks to help keep your changes clean and well-formatted. `make init` installs pre-commit hooks automatically.
```bash
uv sync
uv run pre-commit install
```
:::note
With pre-commit hooks installed, you need to use `uv run git commit` instead of `git commit` directly.
:::
4. To test your changes, run `make lint`, `make format`, and `make unit_tests` before pushing to the repository.
To run all tests, including unit tests, integration tests, and coverage, run `make tests`.
### Debug
The repo includes a `.vscode/launch.json` file for debugging the backend in VSCode, which is faster than debugging with Docker Compose. To debug Langflow with the `launch.json` file in VSCode:
1. Open Langflow in VSCode.
2. Press **Ctrl+Shift+D** for Windows **or Cmd+Shift+D** for Mac to open the Run and Debug view.
3. From the **Run and Debug** dropdown, choose a debugging configuration.
4. Click the green **Play** button or press F5 to start debugging.
For more information, see the [VSCode documentation](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/debugtest/debugging#_start-a-debugging-session).
Use `launch.json` to quickly debug different parts of your application, like the backend, frontend, or CLI, directly from VSCode.
### Additional contribution guides
### Run Langflow locally
After setting up the environment with `make init`, you can run Langflow's backend and frontend separately for development.
Before you begin, ensure you have [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) and [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager) installed.
1. In the repository root, install the dependencies and start the development server for the backend:
```bash
make backend
```
2. Install dependencies and start the frontend:
```bash
make frontend
```
This approach allows you to work on the backend and frontend independently, with hot-reloading for faster development.
- [Contribute Bundles](./contributing-bundles.md)
- [Contribute Components](./contributing-components.md)
- [Contribute Tests](./contributing-component-tests.md)
- [Contribute Templates](./contributing-templates.md)
## Contribute documentation
The documentation is built using [Docusaurus](https://docusaurus.io/) and written in [Markdown](https://docusaurus.io/docs/markdown-features).
Contributions should follow the [Google Developer Documentation Style Guide](https://developers.google.com/style).
### Prerequisites
* [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager)
* [Yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/)
### Clone the Langflow repository
1. Navigate to the [Langflow GitHub repository](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow), and then click **Fork**.
1. Fork the [Langflow GitHub repository](https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow).
2. Add the new remote to your local repository on your local machine:
```bash
git remote add fork https://github.com/<your_git_username>/langflow.git
git remote add FORK_NAME https://github.com/GIT_USERNAME/langflow.git
```
Replace the following:
* `FORK_NAME`: A name for your fork of the repository
* `GIT_USERNAME`: Your Git username
3. To run the documentation locally, run the following commands:
3. From your Langflow fork's root, change directory to the `langflow/docs` folder with the following command:
```bash
cd docs
yarn install
yarn start
```
The documentation will be available at `localhost:3000` and all the files are located in the `docs/docs` folder.
4. To install dependencies and start a local Docusaurus static site with hot reloading, run:
```bash
yarn install && yarn start
```
The documentation will be available at `localhost:3000` and all the files are located in the `/docs` folder.
5. Optional: Run `yarn build` to build the site locally and ensure there are no broken links.
## Open a pull request
Once you have written and manually tested your changes with `make lint` and `make unit_tests`, open a pull request to send your changes upstream to the main Langflow repository.
To submit a pull request, do the following:
1. Open a new GitHub pull request with your patch against the `main` branch.
2. Ensure the PR title follows semantic commit conventions. For example, features are `feat: add new feature` and fixes are `fix: correct issue with X`.
3. A Langflow maintainer will review your pull request. Thanks for your contribution!
Some additional guidance on pull request titles:
* Ensure the pull request description clearly describes the problem and solution. If the PR fixes an issue, include a link to the fixed issue in the PR description with `Fixes #1234`.
* Pull request titles appear in Langflow's release notes, so they should explain what the PR does as explicitly as possible.
* Pull requests should strive to fix one thing **only**, and should contain a good description of what is being fixed.
For more information, see the [Python Developer's Guide](https://devguide.python.org/getting-started/pull-request-lifecycle/index.html#making-good-commits).
3. A Langflow maintainer will review your pull request and may request changes, so ensure you pay attention to your PRs. Thanks for your contribution!
## Additional contribution guides
- [Contribute Bundles](./contributing-bundles.md)
- [Contribute Components](./contributing-components.md)
- [Contribute Tests](./contributing-component-tests.md)
- [Contribute Templates](./contributing-templates.md)
For more information, see the [Python Developer's Guide](https://devguide.python.org/getting-started/pull-request-lifecycle/index.html#making-good-commits).

4
docs/docs/Get-Started/get-started-installation.md
View file

@ -129,6 +129,10 @@ It can take a few minutes for Langflow to start.
After confirming that Langflow is running, create your first flow with the [Quickstart](/get-started-quickstart).
### Install Langflow from source
To install Langflow from source, see [Install Langflow from source](/contributing-how-to-contribute#install-langflow-from-source).
### Manage Langflow OSS versions
:::important