Langflow CLI

The Langflow command line interface is the main interface for managing and running the Langflow server.

The Langflow CLI is automatically installed when you install the Langflow package. It isn't available for Langflow Desktop.

How to use the CLI

The Langflow CLI can be invoked in several ways, depending on your installation method and environment.

The recommended approach is to run the CLI with uv run from within a virtual environment where Langflow is installed.

For example, to start Langflow on the default port, run the following command:

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uv run langflow run

If Langflow is installed globally or added to your PATH, you can execute the CLI directly with langflow.

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langflow run

Precedence

Langflow CLI options override the values of environment variables set in your terminal or primary .env file.

For example, if you have LANGFLOW_PORT=7860 defined as an environment variable, and you run the CLI with --port 7880, then Langflow sets the port to 7880 because the CLI option overrides the environment variable.

This also applies to Boolean environment variables. For example, if you set LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS=True in your .env file, then you can change it to False by running the CLI with --no-remove-api-keys.

Langflow CLI options

All Langflow CLI commands support options that modify the command's behavior or set environment variables.

To set values for options, you can use either of the following syntax styles:

• --option value
• --option=value

Values with spaces must be surrounded by quotation marks:

• --option 'Value with Spaces'
• --option="Value with Spaces"

Boolean options

Boolean options enable and disable settings. They have a true (enabled) and false (disabled) form:

• Enabled (true): --option
• Disabled (false): --no-option

The following examples compare Boolean option forms for REMOVE_API_KEYS.

True

--remove-api-keys is equivalent to setting LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS=True in .env:

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uv run langflow run --remove-api-keys

False

--no-remove-api-keys is equivalent to LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS=False in .env:

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uv run langflow run --no-remove-api-keys

In the following command references, default values for Booleans include both the CLI flag and the equivalent Boolean evaluation, such as "--option (true)" and "--no-option (false)".

Universal options

The following options are available for all Langflow CLI commands:

• --version, -v: Show the version and exit.
• --install-completion: Install auto-completion for the current shell.
• --show-completion: Show the location of the auto-completion config file, if installed.
• --help: Print information about command usage, options, and arguments.

CLI commands

The following sections describe the available CLI commands and any additional options (beyond the universal options) available for each command.

langflow

Running the CLI without any arguments prints a list of available options and commands.

uv (recommended)

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uv run langflow

Direct

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langflow

langflow api-key

Creates a Langflow API key.

You must be a superuser to create API keys with the CLI. For more information, see Langflow API keys.

uv (recommended)

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uv run langflow api-key

Direct

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langflow api-key

Options

Option	Default	Type	Description
--log-level	error	String	The logging level. One of debug, info, warning, error, or critical.

langflow copy-db

Copies the Langflow database files from the cache directory to the current Langflow installation directory, which is the directory containing __main__.py. You can find the copy target directory by running which langflow.

The following files are copied if they exist in the cache directory:

• langflow.db: The main Langflow database, stored in the user cache directory
• langflow-pre.db: The pre-release database, if it exists

uv (recommended)

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uv run langflow copy-db

Direct

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langflow copy-db

langflow migration

Manages Langflow database schema changes using Alembic, a database migration tool for SQLAlchemy.

The migration command has two modes:

• Test mode (default): Checks if migrations can be applied safely without actually running the migrations. Use this mode to previews the changes that would be made to the database schema before proceeding with the migrations.

• Fix mode: Applies the migrations to update the database schema.

  warning

  langflow migration --fix is a destructive operation that can delete data. Always run langflow migration first to preview the changes.

uv (recommended)

1. Run test mode:

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uv run langflow migration

2. Preview the changes returned by the test to determine if it's safe to proceed with the migration.

3. Run fix mode to apply the changes:

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uv run langflow migration --fix

Global

1. Run test mode:

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langflow migration

2. Preview the changes returned by the test to determine if it's safe to proceed with the migration.

3. Run fix mode to apply the changes:

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langflow migration --fix

langflow run

Starts the Langflow server.

uv (recommended)

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uv run langflow run [OPTIONS]

Direct

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langflow run [OPTIONS]

Options

This command supports some common and non-sensitive configuration options for your Langflow server. Other options must be set in the .env or your terminal. For more information Langflow configuration options, see Langflow environment variables.

Option	Default	Type	Description
--auto-saving	--auto-saving (true)	Boolean	Whether to enable flow auto-saving. Use --no-auto-saving to disable flow auto-saving.
--auto-saving-interval	1000	Integer	The interval for flow auto-saving in milliseconds.
--backend-only	--no-backend-only (false)	Boolean	Whether to run Langflow's backend service only (no frontend). Omit or use --no-backend-only to start both the frontend and backend. See Start Langflow in headless mode.
--cache	async	String	The type of cache to use. One of async, redis, memory, or disk.
--components-path	Not set	String	The path to the directory containing custom components.
--dev	--no-dev (false)	Boolean	Whether to run in development mode (may contain bugs).
--env-file	Not set	String	The path to the .env file containing Langflow environment variables. See Start Langflow with a specific .env file.
--frontend-path	Not set	String	The path to the frontend directory containing build files. This is only used when contributing to the Langflow codebase or developing a custom Langflow image that includes customized frontend code.
--health-check-max-retries	5	Integer	The maximum number of retries for the health check.
--host	localhost	String	The host on which the Langflow server will run.
--log-file	logs/langflow.log	String	The path to the log file for Langflow.
--log-level	critical	String	The logging level as one of debug, info, warning, error, or critical.
--log-rotation	Not set	String	The log rotation (Time/Size).
--max-file-size-upload	100	Integer	The maximum size in megabytes for file uploads.
--open-browser	--no-open-browser (false)	Boolean	Whether to open the system web browser on startup. Use --open-browser to open the system's default web browser when Langflow starts.
--port	7860	Integer	The port on which the Langflow server will run. The server automatically selects a free port if the specified port is in use.
--remove-api-keys	--no-remove-api-keys (false)	Boolean	Whether to remove API keys from projects saved in the Langflow database.
--ssl-cert-file-path	Not set	String	The path to the SSL certificate file on the local system.
--ssl-key-file-path	Not set	String	The path to the SSL key file on the local system.
--store	--store (true)	Boolean	Whether to enable the Langflow Store features. Use --no-store to disable the Langflow Store features.
--worker-timeout	300	Integer	The worker timeout in seconds.
--workers	1	Integer	The number of worker processes.

Start Langflow with a specific .env file

The --env-file option starts Langflow using the configuration defined in the given .env file. Additional options appended to this command override the values in the .env file if there are duplicates.

If --env-file is omitted or doesn't include all required variables, Langflow uses the default values for those variables.

uv (recommended)

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uv run langflow run --env-file PATH/TO/LANGFLOW/.env

Direct

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langflow run --env-file PATH/TO/LANGFLOW/.env

Start Langflow in headless mode

The --backend-only option starts Langflow's backend service only. This headless mode has no frontend (visual editor), and you can only access the server programmatically with the Langflow API and CLI.

uv (recommended)

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uv run langflow run --backend-only

Direct

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langflow run --backend-only

langflow superuser

Creates a superuser account with the given username and password.

uv (recommended)

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uv run langflow superuser --username [NAME] --password [PASSWORD] [OPTIONS]

Direct

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langflow superuser --username [NAME] --password [PASSWORD] [OPTIONS]

Options

Option	Default	Type	Description
--log-level	error	String	The logging level. One of debug, info, warning, error, or critical.

For this command, --username and --password aren't optional, and they have no default value. The command fails if you don't provide these arguments. For more information, see LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER and LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD.

Disable CLI superuser creation

The langflow superuser command is controlled by the LANGFLOW_ENABLE_SUPERUSER_CLI environment variable:

• LANGFLOW_ENABLE_SUPERUSER_CLI=True (default): The langflow superuser command is available, and superuser creation is unrestricted.
• LANGFLOW_ENABLE_SUPERUSER_CLI=False (recommended): Disables the langflow superuser command. For security reasons, this is recommended to prevent unauthorized superuser creation, especially in production environments.

To disable the langflow superuser command, you must set LANGFLOW_ENABLE_SUPERUSER_CLI=False in your Langflow .env file, and then start Langflow with your .env file.