Environment variables

Langflow uses environment variables to configure certain settings. You can also import environment variables for use in your deployment, such as environment variables used by certain components in your flows.

You can set Langflow environment variables in your terminal, in .env, and with the Langflow CLI.

Precedence

If an environment variable is set in multiple places, the following hierarchy applies:

1. Langflow CLI options override .env and terminal variables.
2. .env overrides terminal variables.
3. Terminal variables are used only if the variable isn't set in .env or Langflow CLI options.

For example, if you set LANGFLOW_PORT in .env and your terminal, then Langflow uses the value from .env. Similarly, if you run a Langflow CLI command with --port, Langflow uses that port number instead of the LANGFLOW_PORT in .env.

Configure environment variables

Langflow recognizes supported environment variables from the following sources:

• Environment variables that you've set in your terminal.
• Environment variables that you've imported from a .env file when starting Langflow or using the --env-file option in the Langflow CLI.

You can choose to use one or both sources. However, environment variables imported from a .env file take precedence over those set in your terminal.

Set environment variables in your terminal

Run the following commands to set environment variables for your current terminal session:

Linux or macOS

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export VARIABLE_NAME='VALUE'

Windows

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set VARIABLE_NAME='VALUE'

Docker

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docker run -it --rm \

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-p 7860:7860 \

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-e VARIABLE_NAME='VALUE' \

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langflowai/langflow:latest

When you start Langflow, it looks for environment variables that you've set in your terminal. If it detects a supported environment variable, then it automatically adopts the specified value, subject to precedence rules.

Import environment variables from a .env file

1. If Langflow is running, quit Langflow.

2. Create a .env file, and then open it in your preferred editor.

3. Define Langflow environment variables in the .env file. For example:

   
   

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   DO_NOT_TRACK=True

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   LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN=False

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   LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING=True

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   LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING_INTERVAL=1000

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   LANGFLOW_BACKEND_ONLY=False

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   LANGFLOW_BUNDLE_URLS=["https://github.com/user/repo/commit/hash"]

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   LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE=async

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   LANGFLOW_COMPONENTS_PATH=/path/to/components/

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   LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR=/path/to/config/

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   LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/langflow

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   LANGFLOW_DEV=False

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   LANGFLOW_FALLBACK_TO_ENV_VAR=False

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   LANGFLOW_HEALTH_CHECK_MAX_RETRIES=5

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   LANGFLOW_HOST=localhost

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   LANGFLOW_LANGCHAIN_CACHE=InMemoryCache

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   LANGFLOW_MAX_FILE_SIZE_UPLOAD=10000

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   LANGFLOW_MAX_ITEMS_LENGTH=100

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   LANGFLOW_MAX_TEXT_LENGTH=1000

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   LANGFLOW_LOG_LEVEL=error

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   LANGFLOW_OPEN_BROWSER=False

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   LANGFLOW_PORT=7860

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   LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS=False

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   LANGFLOW_SAVE_DB_IN_CONFIG_DIR=True

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   LANGFLOW_SECRET_KEY=somesecretkey

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   LANGFLOW_STORE=True

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   LANGFLOW_STORE_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES=True

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   LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER=adminuser

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   LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD=adminpass

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   LANGFLOW_WORKER_TIMEOUT=60000

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   LANGFLOW_WORKERS=3

   
   

   For additional examples, see the .env.example file in the Langflow repository.

4. Save and close .env.

5. Start Langflow with your .env file:

   Local

   
   

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   python -m langflow run --env-file .env

   
   

   Docker

   
   

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   docker run -it --rm \

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   -p 7860:7860 \

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   --env-file .env \

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   langflowai/langflow:latest

   
   

   If your .env file isn't in the same directory, provide the path to your .env file.

On startup, Langflow imports the environment variables from your .env file, as well as any others that you set in your terminal, and then adopts their specified values.

Supported environment variables

The following table lists the environment variables supported by Langflow.

Variable	Format	Default	Description
DO_NOT_TRACK	Boolean	False	Whether to report Langflow telemetry data. If true, Langflow telemetry is disabled.
LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN	Boolean	True	See LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN.
LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING	Boolean	True	Enable flow auto-saving.
LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING_INTERVAL	Integer	1000	Set the interval for flow auto-saving in milliseconds.
LANGFLOW_BACKEND_ONLY	Boolean	False	Run only the Langflow backend service (no frontend).
LANGFLOW_BUNDLE_URLS	List[String]	[]	A list of URLs from which to load component bundles and flows. Supports GitHub URLs. If LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN is enabled, flows from these bundles are loaded into the database.
LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE	String	async	Set the cache type for Langflow. Possible values: async, redis, memory, disk. If you set the type to redis, then you must also set the following environment variables: LANGFLOW_REDIS_HOST, LANGFLOW_REDIS_PORT, LANGFLOW_REDIS_DB, and LANGFLOW_REDIS_CACHE_EXPIRE.
LANGFLOW_COMPONENTS_PATH	String	Not set	Path to the directory containing custom components.
LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR	String	Varies	Set the Langflow configuration directory where files, logs, and the Langflow database are stored. Default path depends on your installation. See Flow storage and logs.
LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL	String	Not set	Set the database URL for Langflow. If not provided, Langflow uses a SQLite database.
LANGFLOW_DATABASE_CONNECTION_RETRY	Boolean	False	Whether to retry lost connections to the Langflow database. If true, Langflow tries to connect to the database again if the connection fails.
LANGFLOW_DB_POOL_SIZE	Integer	20	DEPRECATED: Use LANGFLOW_DB_CONNECTION_SETTINGS instead. The number of connections to keep open in the connection pool.
LANGFLOW_DB_MAX_OVERFLOW	Integer	30	DEPRECATED: Use LANGFLOW_DB_CONNECTION_SETTINGS instead. The number of connections to allow that can be opened beyond the pool size.
LANGFLOW_DB_CONNECT_TIMEOUT	Integer	30	The number of seconds to wait before giving up on a lock to be released or establishing a connection to the database.
LANGFLOW_DB_CONNECTION_SETTINGS	JSON	Not set	A JSON dictionary to centralize database connection parameters. Example: {"pool_size": 20, "max_overflow": 30}
LANGFLOW_DISABLE_TRACK_APIKEY_USAGE	Boolean	False	Whether to track API key usage. If true, disables tracking of API key usage (total_uses and last_used_at) to avoid database contention under high concurrency.
LANGFLOW_ENABLE_SUPERUSER_CLI	Boolean	True	Allow creation of superusers with the Langflow CLI command langflow superuser. Recommended to be disabled (false) in production for security reasons.
LANGFLOW_FALLBACK_TO_ENV_VAR	Boolean	True	If enabled, global variables set in your Langflow Settings can use an environment variable with the same name if Langflow can't retrieve the variable value from the global variables.
LANGFLOW_FRONTEND_PATH	String	./frontend	Path to the frontend directory containing build files. This is for development purposes only. See --frontend-path.
LANGFLOW_HEALTH_CHECK_MAX_RETRIES	Integer	5	Set the maximum number of retries for the health check. See --health-check-max-retries.
LANGFLOW_HOST	String	localhost	The host on which the Langflow server will run. See --host.
LANGFLOW_LANGCHAIN_CACHE	String	InMemoryCache	Type of cache to use. Possible values: InMemoryCache, SQLiteCache. See --cache.
LANGFLOW_LOG_LEVEL	String	INFO	Set the logging level for Langflow. Possible values: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL.
LANGFLOW_LOG_FILE	String	Not set	Path to the log file. If this option isn't set, logs are written to stdout.
LANGFLOW_LOG_RETRIEVER_BUFFER_SIZE	Integer	10000	Set the buffer size for log retrieval. Only used if LANGFLOW_ENABLE_LOG_RETRIEVAL is enabled.
LANGFLOW_MAX_FILE_SIZE_UPLOAD	Integer	100	Set the maximum file size for the upload in megabytes. See --max-file-size-upload.
LANGFLOW_MAX_ITEMS_LENGTH	Integer	100	Maximum number of items to store and display in the visual editor. Lists longer than this will be truncated when displayed in the visual editor. Doesn't affect data passed between components nor outputs.
LANGFLOW_MAX_TEXT_LENGTH	Integer	1000	Maximum number of characters to store and display in the visual editor. Responses longer than this will be truncated when displayed in the visual editor. Doesn't truncate responses between components nor outputs.
LANGFLOW_MCP_SERVER_ENABLED	Boolean	True	If this option is set to False, Langflow doesn't enable the MCP server.
LANGFLOW_MCP_SERVER_ENABLE_PROGRESS_NOTIFICATIONS	Boolean	False	If this option is set to True, Langflow sends progress notifications in the MCP server.
LANGFLOW_NEW_USER_IS_ACTIVE	Boolean	False	See LANGFLOW_NEW_USER_IS_ACTIVE.
LANGFLOW_OPEN_BROWSER	Boolean	False	Open the system web browser on startup.
LANGFLOW_PORT	Integer	7860	The port on which the Langflow server runs. The server automatically selects a free port if the specified port is in use.
LANGFLOW_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED	Boolean	False	Expose Prometheus metrics.
LANGFLOW_PROMETHEUS_PORT	Integer	9090	Set the port on which Langflow exposes Prometheus metrics.
LANGFLOW_REDIS_CACHE_EXPIRE	Integer	3600	See LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE.
LANGFLOW_REDIS_DB	Integer	0	See LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE.
LANGFLOW_REDIS_HOST	String	localhost	See LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE.
LANGFLOW_REDIS_PORT	String	6379	See LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE.
LANGFLOW_REDIS_PASSWORD	String	Not set	Password for Redis authentication when using Redis cache type.
LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS	Boolean	False	Remove API keys from the projects saved in the database.
LANGFLOW_SAVE_DB_IN_CONFIG_DIR	Boolean	False	If false (default), the Langflow database is saved in the langflow root directory. This means the database isn't shared between different virtual environments, and the database is deleted when you uninstall Langflow. If true, the database is saved in the LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR.
LANGFLOW_SECRET_KEY	String	Automated	See LANGFLOW_SECRET_KEY.
LANGFLOW_STORE	Boolean	True	Whether to enable the Langflow Store features.
LANGFLOW_STORE_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES	Boolean	True	Whether to store environment variables as global variables in the database.
LANGFLOW_CREATE_STARTER_PROJECTS	Boolean	True	Whether to create templates during initialization. If false, Langflow doesn't create templates, and LANGFLOW_UPDATE_STARTER_PROJECTS is treated as false.
LANGFLOW_UPDATE_STARTER_PROJECTS	Boolean	True	Whether to update templates with the latest component versions when initializing after an upgrade.
LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER	String	langflow	See LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER and LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD.
LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD	String	langflow	See LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER and LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD.
LANGFLOW_VARIABLES_TO_GET_FROM_ENVIRONMENT	String	Not set	Comma-separated list of environment variables to get from the environment and store as global variables.
LANGFLOW_LOAD_FLOWS_PATH	String	Not set	Path to a directory containing flow JSON files to be loaded on startup. Note that this feature only works if LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN is enabled.
LANGFLOW_WORKER_TIMEOUT	Integer	300	Worker timeout in seconds.
LANGFLOW_WORKERS	Integer	1	Number of worker processes.
LANGFLOW_SSL_CERT_FILE	String	Not set	Path to the SSL certificate file on the local system.
LANGFLOW_SSL_KEY_FILE	String	Not set	Path to the SSL key file on the local system.
LANGFLOW_SKIP_AUTH_AUTO_LOGIN	Boolean	True	See LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN.

Configure .env, override.conf, and tasks.json files

The following examples show how to configure Langflow using environment variables in different scenarios.

.env file

The .env file is a text file that contains key-value pairs of environment variables.

Create or edit a .env file in the root directory of your application or Langflow environment, and then add your configuration variables to the file:

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DO_NOT_TRACK=True

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LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN=False

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LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING=True

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LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING_INTERVAL=1000

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LANGFLOW_BACKEND_ONLY=False

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LANGFLOW_BUNDLE_URLS=["https://github.com/user/repo/commit/hash"]

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LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE=async

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LANGFLOW_COMPONENTS_PATH=/path/to/components/

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LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR=/path/to/config/

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LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/langflow

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LANGFLOW_DEV=False

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LANGFLOW_FALLBACK_TO_ENV_VAR=False

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LANGFLOW_HEALTH_CHECK_MAX_RETRIES=5

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LANGFLOW_HOST=localhost

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LANGFLOW_LANGCHAIN_CACHE=InMemoryCache

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LANGFLOW_MAX_FILE_SIZE_UPLOAD=10000

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LANGFLOW_MAX_ITEMS_LENGTH=100

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LANGFLOW_MAX_TEXT_LENGTH=1000

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LANGFLOW_LOG_LEVEL=error

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LANGFLOW_OPEN_BROWSER=False

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LANGFLOW_PORT=7860

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LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS=False

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LANGFLOW_SAVE_DB_IN_CONFIG_DIR=True

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LANGFLOW_SECRET_KEY=somesecretkey

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LANGFLOW_STORE=True

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LANGFLOW_STORE_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES=True

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LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER=adminuser

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LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD=adminpass

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LANGFLOW_WORKER_TIMEOUT=60000

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LANGFLOW_WORKERS=3

Systemd service

A systemd service configuration file configures Linux system services.

To add environment variables, create or edit a service configuration file and add an override.conf file. This file allows you to override the default environment variables for the service.

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[Service]

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Environment="DO_NOT_TRACK=true"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN=false"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING=true"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING_INTERVAL=1000"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_BACKEND_ONLY=false"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_BUNDLE_URLS=[\"https://github.com/user/repo/commit/hash\"]"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE=async"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_COMPONENTS_PATH=/path/to/components/"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR=/path/to/config"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/langflow"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_DEV=false"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_FALLBACK_TO_ENV_VAR=false"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_HEALTH_CHECK_MAX_RETRIES=5"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_HOST=localhost"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_LANGCHAIN_CACHE=InMemoryCache"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_MAX_FILE_SIZE_UPLOAD=10000"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_MAX_ITEMS_LENGTH=100"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_MAX_TEXT_LENGTH=1000"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_LOG_ENV=container_json"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_LOG_FILE=logs/langflow.log"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_LOG_LEVEL=error"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_OPEN_BROWSER=false"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_PORT=7860"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS=false"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_SAVE_DB_IN_CONFIG_DIR=true"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_SECRET_KEY=somesecretkey"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_STORE=true"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_STORE_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES=true"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER=adminuser"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD=adminpass"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_WORKER_TIMEOUT=60000"

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Environment="LANGFLOW_WORKERS=3"

For more information on systemd, see the Red Hat documentation.

VSCode tasks.json

The tasks.json file located in .vscode/tasks.json is a configuration file for development environments using Visual Studio Code.

Create or edit the .vscode/tasks.json file in your project root:

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{

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"version": "2.0.0",

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"options": {

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"env": {

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"DO_NOT_TRACK": "true",

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"LANGFLOW_AUTO_LOGIN": "false",

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"LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING": "true",

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"LANGFLOW_AUTO_SAVING_INTERVAL": "1000",

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"LANGFLOW_BACKEND_ONLY": "false",

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"LANGFLOW_BUNDLE_URLS": "[\"https://github.com/user/repo/commit/hash\"]",

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"LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE": "async",

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"LANGFLOW_COMPONENTS_PATH": "D:/path/to/components/",

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"LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR": "D:/path/to/config/",

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"LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/langflow",

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"LANGFLOW_DEV": "false",

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"LANGFLOW_FALLBACK_TO_ENV_VAR": "false",

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"LANGFLOW_HEALTH_CHECK_MAX_RETRIES": "5",

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"LANGFLOW_HOST": "localhost",

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"LANGFLOW_LANGCHAIN_CACHE": "InMemoryCache",

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"LANGFLOW_MAX_FILE_SIZE_UPLOAD": "10000",

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"LANGFLOW_MAX_ITEMS_LENGTH": "100",

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"LANGFLOW_MAX_TEXT_LENGTH": "1000",

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"LANGFLOW_LOG_ENV": "container_csv",

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"LANGFLOW_LOG_FILE": "langflow.log",

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"LANGFLOW_LOG_LEVEL": "error",

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"LANGFLOW_OPEN_BROWSER": "false",

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"LANGFLOW_PORT": "7860",

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"LANGFLOW_REMOVE_API_KEYS": "true",

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"LANGFLOW_SAVE_DB_IN_CONFIG_DIR": "false",

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"LANGFLOW_SECRET_KEY": "somesecretkey",

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"LANGFLOW_STORE": "true",

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"LANGFLOW_STORE_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES": "true",

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"LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER": "adminuser",

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"LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD": "adminpass",

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"LANGFLOW_WORKER_TIMEOUT": "60000",

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"LANGFLOW_WORKERS": "3"

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}

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},

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"tasks": [

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{

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"label": "langflow backend",

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"type": "shell",

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"command": ". ./langflownightly/Scripts/activate && langflow run",

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"isBackground": true,

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"problemMatcher": []

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}

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]

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}

To run Langflow using the above VSCode tasks.json file, in the VSCode command palette, select Tasks: Run Task > langflow backend.

Set environment variables for Langflow Desktop

Environment variables set in your terminal aren't automatically available to GUI-based applications like Langflow Desktop when you launch them from the Windows or macOS GUI.

For Windows, this means any GUI-based app launched from the Start menu, desktop shortcuts, or Windows Explorer.

For macOS, this means any GUI-based app launched from Finder, Spotlight, Launchpad, or the Dock.

To set environment variables for Langflow Desktop, you need to use specific commands or files, depending on your OS.

macOS

Langflow Desktop for macOS cannot automatically use variables set in your terminal, such as those in.zshrc or .bash_profile, when launched from the macOS GUI.

To make environment variables available to GUI apps on macOS, you need to use launchctl with a plist file:

1. Create the LaunchAgents directory if it doesn't exist:

   
   

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   mkdir -p ~/Library/LaunchAgents

   
   

2. In the LaunchAgents directory, create a .plist file called dev.langflow.env.

3. Add the following content to dev.langflow.env.plist, and then add, change, or remove Langflow environment variables as needed for your configuration.

   This example sets multiple environmental variables for all GUI apps launched from the macOS GUI.

   
   

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   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

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   <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

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   <plist version="1.0">

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   <dict>

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   <key>Label</key>

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   <string>dev.langflow.env</string>

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   <key>ProgramArguments</key>

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   <array>

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   <string>/bin/sh</string>

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   <string>-c</string>

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   <string>

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   launchctl setenv LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR /Users/your_user/custom/config &&

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   launchctl setenv LANGFLOW_PORT 7860 &&

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   launchctl setenv LANGFLOW_HOST localhost &&

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   launchctl setenv ARIZE_API_KEY ak-...

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   </string>

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   </array>

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   <key>RunAtLoad</key>

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   <true/>

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   </dict>

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   </plist>

   
   

4. Load the file with launchctl:

   
   

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   launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/dev.langflow.env.plist

   
   

Window System Properties

Langflow Desktop for Windows cannot automatically use variables set in your terminal, such as those defined with set in cmd or $env:VAR=... in PowerShell, when launched from the Windows GUI.

To make environment variables available to the Langflow Desktop app, you must set them at the user or system level using the System Properties interface or the Terminal.

To set environment variables using the System Properties interface, do the following:

1. Press Win + R, enter SystemPropertiesAdvanced, and then press Enter.

2. Click Environment Variables.

3. Under User variables, click New.

   tip

   To apply the setting to all users, select System variables.

4. Enter the name of the Langflow variable you want to set, such as LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR, and the desired value, such as C:\Users\your_user\.langflow_config.

5. Click OK to save the variable.

6. Repeat until you have set all necessary Langflow environment variables.

7. Launch or restart Langflow Desktop to apply the environment variables.

Powershell

To define environment variables for Windows using PowerShell, do the following:

1. Enter the name of the Langflow variable you want to set, such as LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR, and the desired value, such as C:\Users\your_user\.langflow_config.

   To set an environment variable for the current user:

   
   

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   [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR", "C:\Users\your_user\.langflow_config", "User")

   
   

   To set an environment variable for all users (you must have Administrator priveleges):

   
   

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   [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR", "C:\Langflow\Config", "Machine")

   
   

2. Repeat until you have set all necessary Langflow environment variables.

3. Launch or restart Langflow Desktop to apply the environment variables.