Files
AutoGPT/autogpt_platform
Zamil Majdy 4bfeddc03d feat(platform/docker): add frontend service to docker-compose with env config improvements (#10615)
## Summary
This PR adds the frontend service to the Docker Compose configuration,
enabling `docker compose up` to run the complete stack, including the
frontend. It also implements comprehensive environment variable
improvements, unified .env file support, and fixes Docker networking
issues.

## Key Changes

### 🐳 Docker Compose Improvements
- **Added frontend service** to `docker-compose.yml` and
`docker-compose.platform.yml`
- **Production build**: Uses `pnpm build + serve` instead of dev server
for better stability and lower memory usage
- **Service dependencies**: Frontend now waits for backend services
(`rest_server`, `websocket_server`) to be ready
- **YAML anchors**: Implemented DRY configuration to avoid duplicating
environment values

### 📁 Unified .env File Support
- **Frontend .env loading**: Automatically loads `.env` file during
Docker build and runtime
- **Backend .env loading**: Optional `.env` file support with fallback
to sensible defaults in `settings.py`
- **Single source of truth**: All `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` and API keys can be
defined in respective `.env` files
- **Docker integration**: Updated `.dockerignore` to include `.env`
files in build context
- **Git tracking**: Frontend and backend `.env` files are now trackable
(removed from gitignore)

### 🔧 Environment Variable Architecture
- **Dual environment strategy**: 
- Server-side code uses Docker service names
(`http://rest_server:8006/api`)
  - Client-side code uses localhost URLs (`http://localhost:8006/api`)
- **Comprehensive config**: Added build args and runtime environment
variables
- **Network compatibility**: Fixes connection issues between frontend
and backend containers
- **Shared backend variables**: Common environment variables (service
hosts, auth settings) centralized using YAML anchors

### 🛠️ Code Improvements
- **Centralized env-config helper** (`/frontend/src/lib/env-config.ts`)
with server-side priority
- **Updated all frontend code** to use shared environment helpers
instead of direct `process.env` access
- **Consistent API**: All environment variable access now goes through
helper functions
- **Settings.py improvements**: Better defaults for CORS origins and
optional .env file loading

### 🔗 Files Changed
- `docker-compose.yml` & `docker-compose.platform.yml` - Added frontend
service and shared backend env vars
- `frontend/Dockerfile` - Simplified build process to use .env files
directly
- `backend/settings.py` - Optional .env loading and better defaults
- `frontend/src/lib/env-config.ts` - New centralized environment
configuration
- `.dockerignore` - Allow .env files in build context
- `.gitignore` - Updated to allow frontend/backend .env files
- Multiple frontend files - Updated to use env helpers
- Updates to both auto installer scripts to work with the latest setup!

## Benefits
-  **Single command deployment**: `docker compose up` now runs
everything
-  **Better reliability**: Production build reduces memory usage and
crashes
-  **Network compatibility**: Proper container-to-container
communication
-  **Maintainable config**: Centralized environment variable management
with .env files
-  **Development friendly**: Works in both Docker and local development
-  **API key management**: Easy configuration through .env files for
all services
-  **No more manual env vars**: Frontend and backend automatically load
their respective .env files

## Testing
-  Verified Docker service communication works correctly
-  Frontend responds and serves content properly  
-  Environment variables are correctly resolved in both server and
client contexts
-  No connection errors after implementing service dependencies
-  .env file loading works correctly in both build and runtime phases
-  Backend services work with and without .env files present

### Checklist 📋

#### For configuration changes:
- [x] `.env.default` is updated or already compatible with my changes
- [x] `docker-compose.yml` is updated or already compatible with my
changes
- [x] I have included a list of my configuration changes in the PR
description (under **Changes**)

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

---------

Co-authored-by: Lluis Agusti <hi@llu.lu>
Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Nicholas Tindle <nicholas.tindle@agpt.co>
Co-authored-by: Claude <claude@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Bentlybro <Github@bentlybro.com>
2025-08-14 03:28:18 +00:00
..

AutoGPT Platform

Welcome to the AutoGPT Platform - a powerful system for creating and running AI agents to solve business problems. This platform enables you to harness the power of artificial intelligence to automate tasks, analyze data, and generate insights for your organization.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Docker
  • Docker Compose V2 (comes with Docker Desktop, or can be installed separately)

Running the System

To run the AutoGPT Platform, follow these steps:

  1. Clone this repository to your local machine and navigate to the autogpt_platform directory within the repository:

    git clone <https://github.com/Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT.git | git@github.com:Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT.git>
    cd AutoGPT/autogpt_platform
    
  2. Run the following command:

    cp .env.default .env
    

    This command will copy the .env.default file to .env. You can modify the .env file to add your own environment variables.

  3. Run the following command:

    docker compose up -d
    

    This command will start all the necessary backend services defined in the docker-compose.yml file in detached mode.

  4. After all the services are in ready state, open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 to access the AutoGPT Platform frontend.

Docker Compose Commands

Here are some useful Docker Compose commands for managing your AutoGPT Platform:

  • docker compose up -d: Start the services in detached mode.
  • docker compose stop: Stop the running services without removing them.
  • docker compose rm: Remove stopped service containers.
  • docker compose build: Build or rebuild services.
  • docker compose down: Stop and remove containers, networks, and volumes.
  • docker compose watch: Watch for changes in your services and automatically update them.

Sample Scenarios

Here are some common scenarios where you might use multiple Docker Compose commands:

  1. Updating and restarting a specific service:

    docker compose build api_srv
    docker compose up -d --no-deps api_srv
    

    This rebuilds the api_srv service and restarts it without affecting other services.

  2. Viewing logs for troubleshooting:

    docker compose logs -f api_srv ws_srv
    

    This shows and follows the logs for both api_srv and ws_srv services.

  3. Scaling a service for increased load:

    docker compose up -d --scale executor=3
    

    This scales the executor service to 3 instances to handle increased load.

  4. Stopping the entire system for maintenance:

    docker compose stop
    docker compose rm -f
    docker compose pull
    docker compose up -d
    

    This stops all services, removes containers, pulls the latest images, and restarts the system.

  5. Developing with live updates:

    docker compose watch
    

    This watches for changes in your code and automatically updates the relevant services.

  6. Checking the status of services:

    docker compose ps
    

    This shows the current status of all services defined in your docker-compose.yml file.

These scenarios demonstrate how to use Docker Compose commands in combination to manage your AutoGPT Platform effectively.

Persisting Data

To persist data for PostgreSQL and Redis, you can modify the docker-compose.yml file to add volumes. Here's how:

  1. Open the docker-compose.yml file in a text editor.

  2. Add volume configurations for PostgreSQL and Redis services:

    services:
      postgres:
        # ... other configurations ...
        volumes:
          - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    
      redis:
        # ... other configurations ...
        volumes:
          - redis_data:/data
    
    volumes:
      postgres_data:
      redis_data:
    
  3. Save the file and run docker compose up -d to apply the changes.

This configuration will create named volumes for PostgreSQL and Redis, ensuring that your data persists across container restarts.

API Client Generation

The platform includes scripts for generating and managing the API client:

  • pnpm fetch:openapi: Fetches the OpenAPI specification from the backend service (requires backend to be running on port 8006)
  • pnpm generate:api-client: Generates the TypeScript API client from the OpenAPI specification using Orval
  • pnpm generate:api-all: Runs both fetch and generate commands in sequence

Manual API Client Updates

If you need to update the API client after making changes to the backend API:

  1. Ensure the backend services are running:

    docker compose up -d
    
  2. Generate the updated API client:

    pnpm generate:api-all
    

This will fetch the latest OpenAPI specification and regenerate the TypeScript client code.