showcase/shell-docs/src/content/docs/integrations/langgraph/quickstart.mdx
<video src="https://cdn.copilotkit.ai/docs/copilotkit/images/coagents/chat-example.mp4" className="rounded-lg shadow-xl" loop playsInline controls autoPlay muted />
Before you begin, you'll need the following:
First, we'll use our CLI to create a new project for us. Choose between Python or JavaScript:
<Tabs groupId="language_langgraph_agent" items={['Python', 'JavaScript']} persist>
<Tab value="Python">
```bash
npx copilotkit@latest create -f langgraph-py
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="JavaScript">
```bash
npx copilotkit@latest create -f langgraph-js
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>
</Step>
<Step>
### Install dependencies
```npm
npm install
```
</Step>
<Step>
### Configure your environment
Create a `.env` file in your agent directory and add your OpenAI API key:
```plaintext title=".env"
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key
```
<Callout type="info" title="What about other models?">
The starter template is configured to use OpenAI's GPT-4o by default, but you can modify it to use any language model supported by LangChain.
</Callout>
</Step>
<Step>
### Start the development server
<Tabs groupId="package-manager" items={['npm', 'pnpm', 'yarn', 'bun']}>
<Tab value="npm">
```bash
npm run dev
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="pnpm">
```bash
pnpm dev
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="yarn">
```bash
yarn dev
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="bun">
```bash
bun dev
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>
This will start both the UI and agent servers concurrently.
</Step>
</TailoredContentOption>
<TailoredContentOption
id="bring-your-own"
title="Use an existing agent"
description="I already have a LangChain agent and want to add CopilotKit."
>
<Step>
### Initialize your agent project
If you don't already have a Python project set up, create one using `uv`:
```bash
uv init my-agent
cd my-agent
```
</Step>
<Step>
### Install LangGraph and AG-UI
Add LangGraph and the required AG-UI packages to your project:
```bash
uv add langgraph copilotkit langchain-openai langchain-core dotenv
```
</Step>
<Step>
### Expose your agent via AG-UI
If you already have a LangChain agent written, just reference the following code. In this step
we create a simple LangChain agent for the sake of demonstration.
<Tabs groupId="deployment_method" items={['LangSmith', 'FastAPI']}>
<Tab value="LangSmith">
First, we'll create a simple LangChain agent:
```python title="main.py"
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from langchain_core.messages import SystemMessage
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langgraph.graph import END, START, MessagesState, StateGraph
load_dotenv()
async def mock_llm(state: MessagesState):
model = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4.1-mini")
system_message = SystemMessage(content="You are a helpful assistant.")
response = await model.ainvoke(
[
system_message,
*state["messages"],
]
)
return {"messages": response}
graph = StateGraph(MessagesState)
graph.add_node(mock_llm)
graph.add_edge(START, "mock_llm")
graph.add_edge("mock_llm", END)
graph = graph.compile()
```
Then to test and deploy with LangSmith, we'll also need a `langgraph.json`
```sh
touch langgraph.json
```
```json title="langgraph.json"
{
"python_version": "3.12",
"dockerfile_lines": [],
"dependencies": ["."],
"package_manager": "uv",
"graphs": {
"sample_agent": "./main.py:graph"
},
"env": ".env"
}
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="FastAPI">
First, add the `ag-ui-langgraph` package to your project:
```bash
uv add ag-ui-langgraph fastapi uvicorn copilotkit
```
Then create a simple LangChain agent, add a FastAPI app, and build attach our agent as an AG-UI endpoint.
```python title="main.py"
# [!code highlight:2]
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from ag_ui_langgraph import add_langgraph_fastapi_endpoint
from copilotkit import LangGraphAGUIAgent
from fastapi import FastAPI
from langgraph.graph import END, START, MessagesState, StateGraph
from langchain_core.messages import SystemMessage
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
import uvicorn
load_dotenv()
async def mock_llm(state: MessagesState):
model = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4.1-mini")
system_message = SystemMessage(content="You are a helpful assistant.")
response = await model.ainvoke(
[
system_message,
*state["messages"],
]
)
return {"messages": response}
graph = StateGraph(MessagesState)
graph.add_node(mock_llm)
graph.add_edge(START, "mock_llm")
graph.add_edge("mock_llm", END)
graph = graph.compile()
app = FastAPI()
# [!code highlight:9]
add_langgraph_fastapi_endpoint(
app=app,
agent=LangGraphAGUIAgent(
name="sample_agent",
description="An example agent to use as a starting point for your own agent.",
graph=graph,
),
path="/",
)
def main():
"""Run the uvicorn server."""
uvicorn.run(
"main:app",
host="0.0.0.0",
port="8123",
reload=True,
)
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>
<Callout type="info" title="What is AG-UI?">
AG-UI is an open protocol for frontend-agent communication.
</Callout>
</Step>
<Step>
### Configure your environment
Create a `.env` file in your agent directory and add your OpenAI API key:
```plaintext title=".env"
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key
```
<Callout type="info" title="What about other models?">
The starter template is configured to use OpenAI's GPT-4o by default, but you can modify it to use any language model supported by LangChain.
</Callout>
</Step>
<Step>
### Create your frontend
CopilotKit works with any React-based frontend. We'll use Next.js for this example.
```bash
npx create-next-app@latest frontend
cd frontend
```
</Step>
<Step>
### Install CopilotKit packages
```npm
npm install @copilotkit/react-ui @copilotkit/react-core @copilotkit/runtime
```
</Step>
<Step>
### Setup Copilot Runtime
Create an API route to connect CopilotKit to your LangChain agent:
```sh
mkdir -p app/api/copilotkit && touch app/api/copilotkit/route.ts
```
<Tabs groupId="deployment_method" items={['LangSmith', 'FastAPI']}>
<Tab value="LangSmith">
```tsx title="app/api/copilotkit/route.ts"
import {
CopilotRuntime,
ExperimentalEmptyAdapter,
copilotRuntimeNextJSAppRouterEndpoint,
} from "@copilotkit/runtime";
import { LangGraphAgent } from "@copilotkit/runtime";
import { NextRequest } from "next/server";
// [!code highlight]
const serviceAdapter = new ExperimentalEmptyAdapter();
const runtime = new CopilotRuntime({
agents: {
// [!code highlight:5]
sample_agent: new LangGraphAgent({
deploymentUrl: process.env.LANGGRAPH_DEPLOYMENT_URL || "http://localhost:8123",
graphId: "sample_agent",
langsmithApiKey: process.env.LANGSMITH_API_KEY || "",
}),
}
});
export const POST = async (req: NextRequest) => {
const { handleRequest } = copilotRuntimeNextJSAppRouterEndpoint({
runtime,
serviceAdapter,
endpoint: "/api/copilotkit",
});
return handleRequest(req);
};
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="FastAPI">
```tsx title="app/api/copilotkit/route.ts"
import {
CopilotRuntime,
ExperimentalEmptyAdapter,
copilotRuntimeNextJSAppRouterEndpoint,
} from "@copilotkit/runtime";
import { LangGraphHttpAgent } from "@copilotkit/runtime";
import { NextRequest } from "next/server";
// [!code highlight]
const serviceAdapter = new ExperimentalEmptyAdapter();
const runtime = new CopilotRuntime({
agents: {
// [!code highlight:3]
sample_agent: new LangGraphHttpAgent({
url: process.env.LANGGRAPH_DEPLOYMENT_URL || "http://localhost:8123",
}),
}
});
export const POST = async (req: NextRequest) => {
const { handleRequest } = copilotRuntimeNextJSAppRouterEndpoint({
runtime,
serviceAdapter,
endpoint: "/api/copilotkit",
});
return handleRequest(req);
};
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>
</Step>
<Step>
### Configure CopilotKit Provider
Wrap your application with the CopilotKit provider:
```tsx title="app/layout.tsx"
import { CopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/react-core/v2"; // [!code highlight]
import "@copilotkit/react-ui/v2/styles.css"; // [!code highlight]
import './globals.css';
// ...
export default function RootLayout({ children }: {children: React.ReactNode}) {
return (
<html lang="en">
<body>
<CopilotKit runtimeUrl="/api/copilotkit" agent="sample_agent">
{children}
</CopilotKit>
</body>
</html>
);
}
```
</Step>
<Step>
### Add the chat interface
Add the CopilotSidebar component to your page:
```tsx title="app/page.tsx"
import { CopilotSidebar } from "@copilotkit/react-core/v2"; // [!code highlight]
export default function Page() {
return (
<main>
<h1>Your App</h1>
<CopilotSidebar />
</main>
);
}
```
</Step>
<Step>
### Start your agent
From your agent directory, start the agent server:
<Tabs groupId="deployment_method" items={['LangSmith', 'FastAPI']}>
<Tab value="LangSmith">
```bash
cd ..
npx @langchain/langgraph-cli dev --port 8123 --no-browser
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="FastAPI">
```bash
cd ..
uv run main.py
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>
Your agent will be available at `http://localhost:8123`.
</Step>
<Step>
### Start your UI
In a separate terminal, navigate to your frontend directory and start the development server:
<Tabs groupId="package-manager" items={['npm', 'pnpm', 'yarn', 'bun']}>
<Tab value="npm">
```bash
cd frontend
npm run dev
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="pnpm">
```bash
cd frontend
pnpm dev
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="yarn">
```bash
cd frontend
yarn dev
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="bun">
```bash
cd frontend
bun dev
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>
</Step>
</TailoredContentOption>
</TailoredContent>
<Step>
### 🎉 Start chatting!
Your AI agent is now ready to use! Try asking it some questions:
```
Can you tell me a joke?
```
```
Can you help me understand AI?
```
```
What do you think about React?
```
<Accordions className="mb-4">
<Accordion title="Troubleshooting">
- If you're having connection issues, try using `0.0.0.0` or `127.0.0.1` instead of `localhost`
- Make sure your agent folder contains a `langgraph.json` file
- In the `langgraph.json` file, reference the path to a `.env` file
- Check that your OpenAI API key is correctly set in the `.env` file
- If using an existing agent, ensure your LangSmith API key is also configured
- Make sure you're in the same folder as your `langgraph.json` file when running the `langgraph dev` command
- **"graph is nullish" error (JavaScript starters):** This means the LangGraph CLI couldn't load your graph. Ensure the export name in your `langgraph.json` matches your code (e.g., `"starterAgent": "./src/agent.ts:graph"` requires `export const graph = ...` in `agent.ts`). Also verify all dependencies are installed with `npm install` in your agent directory.
- Make sure the runtime endpoint path matches the `runtimeUrl` in your CopilotKit provider
</Accordion>
</Accordions>
</Step>
If you're planning to deploy your LangGraph agent to AWS Bedrock AgentCore, see the AgentCore deploy guide.
Now that you have your basic agent setup, explore these advanced features:
<Cards> <Card title="Implement Human in the Loop" description="Allow your users and agents to collaborate together on tasks." href="/langgraph/human-in-the-loop" icon={<UserIcon />} /> <Card title="Utilize Shared State" description="Learn how to synchronize your agent's state with your UI's state, and vice versa." href="/langgraph/shared-state" icon={<RepeatIcon />} /> <Card title="Add some generative UI" description="Render your agent's progress and output in the UI." href="/langgraph/generative-ui/tool-rendering" icon={<PaintbrushIcon />} /> <Card title="Setup frontend actions" description="Give your agent the ability to call frontend tools, directly updating your application." href="/langgraph/frontend-tools" icon={<WrenchIcon />} /> </Cards>