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Setup Guide

backend/docs/SETUP.md

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Setup Guide

Quick setup instructions for DeerFlow.

Configuration Setup

DeerFlow uses a YAML configuration file that should be placed in the project root directory.

Steps

  1. Navigate to project root:

    bash
    cd /path/to/deer-flow

  2. Copy example configuration:

    bash
    cp config.example.yaml config.yaml

  3. Edit configuration:

    bash
    # Option A: Set environment variables (recommended)
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key-here"

# Option B: Edit config.yaml directly
vim config.yaml  # or your preferred editor

  4. Verify configuration:

    bash
    cd backend
python -c "from deerflow.config import get_app_config; print('✓ Config loaded:', get_app_config().models[0].name)"

Important Notes

  • Location: config.yaml should be in deer-flow/ (project root), not deer-flow/backend/
  • Git: config.yaml is automatically ignored by git (contains secrets)
  • Priority: If both backend/config.yaml and ../config.yaml exist, backend version takes precedence

Configuration File Locations

The backend searches for config.yaml in this order:

  1. DEER_FLOW_CONFIG_PATH environment variable (if set)
  2. backend/config.yaml (current directory when running from backend/)
  3. deer-flow/config.yaml (parent directory - recommended location)

Recommended: Place config.yaml in project root (deer-flow/config.yaml).

Sandbox Setup (Optional but Recommended)

If you plan to use Docker/Container-based sandbox (configured in config.yaml under sandbox.use: deerflow.community.aio_sandbox:AioSandboxProvider), it's highly recommended to pre-pull the container image:

bash
# From project root
make setup-sandbox

Why pre-pull?

  • The sandbox image (~500MB+) is pulled on first use, causing a long wait
  • Pre-pulling provides clear progress indication
  • Avoids confusion when first using the agent

If you skip this step, the image will be automatically pulled on first agent execution, which may take several minutes depending on your network speed.

Troubleshooting

Config file not found

bash
# Check where the backend is looking
cd deer-flow/backend
python -c "from deerflow.config.app_config import AppConfig; print(AppConfig.resolve_config_path())"

If it can't find the config:

  1. Ensure you've copied config.example.yaml to config.yaml
  2. Verify you're in the correct directory
  3. Check the file exists: ls -la ../config.yaml

Permission denied

bash
chmod 600 ../config.yaml  # Protect sensitive configuration

See Also