ChainForge/GUIDE.md

# Installation Guide

## For casual users 

The simplest and safest way to install the latest public build of ChainForge is to:
 1. Create a new directory and `cd` into it
 2. (Optional, but recommended!) Create a virtual environment. On Mac, you can do 
    ```bash
    python -m venv venv
    source venv/bin/activate
    ```
 3. Install `chainforge` via `pip`:
    ```bash
    pip install chainforge
    ```
 4. (If you wish to use non-OpenAI models): Make sure you have installed the relevant packages. For more info, see below. You can also come back to do this later.
 4. Run:
    ```bash
    chainforge serve
    ```
 5. Open [localhost:8000](http://localhost:8000/) on a recent version of Google Chrome.

> **Note**
> ChainForge alpha is tested on Google Chrome. It currently does not work in earlier versions of Safari. We recommend you open it in Chrome.

## Install model APIs

Though you can run Chainforge, you can't do anything with it without the ability to call an LLM. 
Currently we support OpenAI models GPT3.5 and GPT4, Anthropic model Claudev1, Google PaLM model `text-bison-001`, and (locally run) [Dalai](https://github.com/cocktailpeanut/dalai)-served Alpaca.7b at port 4000.

To use a specific model, you need to do two things:_
 1. Install the relevant package to your Python environment _(for all non-OpenAI models)_
 2. Set the relevant API key _(for all non-Dalai models)_

### 1. Install packages (Anthropic, Google PaLM, and Dalai-hosted models)

To use Anthropic and Google PaLM models, you need to install the relevant Python package in your Python environment before you can run those models:
 - For [Anthropic](https://github.com/anthropics/anthropic-sdk-python), do `pip install anthropic`.
 - For [Google PaLM](https://github.com/google/generative-ai-python), do `pip install google-generativeai`. (Note that PaLM officially supports Python 3.9+, but there's a minor type error that's easily fixed to make it work in Python 3.8.8.)
 - For Dalai, [install `dalai`](https://github.com/cocktailpeanut/dalai) and follow the instructions to download `alpaca.7b`. When everything is setup, run:
   ```bash
   npx dalai serve 4000
   ```

### 2. Set API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google PaLM)

If you're just messing around, we recommend you input the API keys manually via the Settings button in the top-right corner. If you'd prefer to not be bothered every time you load ChainForge, you can set them as environment keys: 
 - For OpenAI models, you can set an environment variable with your OpenAI key:
   https://help.openai.com/en/articles/5112595-best-practices-for-api-key-safety . For Mac, for instance, follow:
   ```bash
   echo "export OPENAI_API_KEY='yourkey'" >> ~/.zshrc
   source ~/.zshrc
   echo $OPENAI_API_KEY
   ```
   Then, **reopen your terminal**.
 - To set Anthropic's API key on Mac, do the same as above but with `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` replaced for `OpenAI_API_KEY`.
 - To set Google PaLM's API key on Mac, do the same as above but with `PALM_API_KEY` replaced for `PALM_API_KEY`.

---------------------------------
## For developers

Below is a guide to running the alpha version of ChainForge directly, for people who want to modify, develop or extend it. 
Note that these steps may change in the future.

### Install requirements
Before you can run ChainForge, you need to install dependencies. `cd` into `chainforge` and run

```bash
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

to install requirements. (Ideally, you will run this in a `virtualenv`.)

To install Node.js requirements, first make sure you have Node.js installed. Then `cd` into `chainforge/react-server` and run:

```bash
npm install
```

### Serving ChainForge manually

To serve ChainForge manually, you have two options:
 1. Run everything from a single Python script, which requires building the React app to static files, or 
 2. Serve the React front-end separately from the Flask back-end and take advantage of React hot reloading. 

We recommend the former option for end-users, and the latter for developers.

#### Option 1: Build React app as static files (end-users)

`cd` into `react-server` directory and run:

```
npm run build
```

Wait a moment while it builds the React app to static files.

#### Option 2: Serve React front-end with hot reloading (developers)

`cd` into `react-server` directory and run the following to serve the React front-end:

```
npm run start
```

### Serving the backend

Regardless of which option you chose, `cd` into the root ChainForge directory and run:

```bash
python -m chainforge.app serve
```

> **Note**
> You can add the `--dummy-responses` flag in case you're worried about making calls to OpenAI. This will spoof all LLM responses as random strings, and is great for testing the interface without accidentally spending $$.

This script spins up two servers, the main one on port 8000 and a SocketIO server on port 8001 (used for streaming progress updates).

If you built the React app statically, go to `localhost:8000` in a web browser to view the app (ideally in Google Chrome). 
If you served the React app with hot reloading with `npm run start`, go to the server address you ran it on (usually `localhost:3000`).

## Problems?

Open an [Issue](https://github.com/ianarawjo/ChainForge/issues).

# Contributing to ChainForge

If you want to contribute, welcome! Please [fork this repository](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-from-a-fork) and submit a [Pull Request](https://github.com/ianarawjo/ChainForge/pulls) with your changes.

If you have access to the main repository, we request that you add a branch `dev/<your_first_name>` and develop changes from there. When you are ready to push changes, say to address an open Issue, make a Pull Request on the `experimental` repository and assign the main developer (Ian Arawjo) to it.