Development Setup

This guide covers setting up Open Notebook for local development, contributing to the project, and running from source code.

🎯 Who This Guide Is For

This setup is ideal if you want to:

Contribute to Open Notebook - Fix bugs, add features, or improve documentation
Customize the application - Modify the code for your specific needs
Understand the codebase - Learn how Open Notebook works internally
Develop integrations - Build custom plugins or extensions

🛠️ Prerequisites

System Requirements

Python 3.11+ - Required for the application
Node.js 18+ - For frontend development (if contributing to UI)
Git - For version control
Docker - For SurrealDB and optional services

Development Tools

Code editor - VS Code, PyCharm, or your preferred IDE
Terminal - Command line access
Web browser - For testing the application

📥 Installation

Step 1: Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook.git
cd open-notebook

Step 2: Python Environment Setup

Open Notebook uses uv for dependency management:

# Install uv (if not already installed)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Create and activate virtual environment
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
uv sync

Step 3: Database Setup

Option A: Docker SurrealDB (Recommended)

# Start SurrealDB with Docker
docker run -d \
  --name surrealdb-dev \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  surrealdb/surrealdb:v2 \
  start --log trace --user root --pass root memory

Option B: Local SurrealDB Installation

# Install SurrealDB locally
curl -sSf https://install.surrealdb.com | sh

# Start SurrealDB
surreal start --log trace --user root --pass root memory

Step 4: Environment Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root:

# Database Configuration
SURREAL_URL=ws://localhost:8000/rpc
SURREAL_USER=root
SURREAL_PASSWORD=root
SURREAL_NAMESPACE=open_notebook
SURREAL_DATABASE=development

# Required: At least one AI provider
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-openai-key

# Optional: Additional providers for testing
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-anthropic-key
GOOGLE_API_KEY=your-google-key
GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_your-groq-key

# Optional: Development settings
LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
ENABLE_ANALYTICS=false

Step 5: Frontend Setup

Install frontend dependencies:

cd frontend
npm install
cd ..

Note: Database migrations now run automatically when the API starts. No manual migration step is required.

Step 6: Start the Application

Option A: Full Stack with Make

# Start all services (recommended for development)
make start-all

This starts:

SurrealDB (if not already running)
FastAPI backend on port 5055
Background worker for async tasks
React frontend on port 8502

Option B: Individual Services

Start services separately for debugging:

# Terminal 1: Start the API
uv run python api/main.py

# Terminal 2: Start the background worker
uv run python -m open_notebook.worker

# Terminal 3: Start the React frontend
cd frontend && npm run dev

🔧 Development Workflow

Project Structure

open-notebook/
├── api/                    # FastAPI backend
│   ├── routers/           # API routes
│   └── main.py           # API entry point
├── frontend/              # React frontend (Next.js)
│   ├── src/              # React components and pages
│   └── public/           # Static assets
├── open_notebook/         # Core application
│   ├── domain/           # Business logic
│   ├── database/         # Database layer
│   └── graphs/           # LangGraph workflows
├── prompts/              # Jinja2 templates
├── docs/                 # Documentation
└── tests/                # Test files

Development Commands

# Install new dependencies
uv add package-name

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Run linting
uv run ruff check
uv run ruff format

# Type checking
uv run mypy .

# Start development server
make start-dev

Making Changes

Create a branch for your feature/fix:

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

Make your changes in the appropriate files
Test your changes:
```
uv run pytest
```
Format code:
```
uv run ruff format
```

Commit your changes:

git add .
git commit -m "feat: your descriptive commit message"

Push and create a pull request:

git push origin feature/your-feature-name

🧪 Testing

Running Tests

# Run all tests
uv run pytest

# Run specific test file
uv run pytest tests/test_specific.py

# Run with coverage
uv run pytest --cov=open_notebook

# Run integration tests
uv run pytest tests/integration/

Test Structure

tests/
├── unit/               # Unit tests
├── integration/        # Integration tests
├── fixtures/          # Test fixtures
└── conftest.py        # Test configuration

Writing Tests

# Example test file
import pytest
from open_notebook.domain.notebook import Notebook

def test_notebook_creation():
    notebook = Notebook(name="Test Notebook", description="Test")
    assert notebook.name == "Test Notebook"
    assert notebook.description == "Test"

🚀 Building and Deployment

Local Docker Build

# Build multi-container version
make docker-build-dev

# Build single-container version
make docker-build-single-dev

# Test the built image
docker run -p 8502:8502 \
  -v ./notebook_data:/app/data \
  -v ./surreal_data:/mydata \
  open_notebook:v1-latest

Production Build

# Build with multi-platform support
make docker-build

# Build and push to registry
make docker-push

🔍 Debugging

Common Development Issues

Database Connection Errors

# Check if SurrealDB is running
docker ps | grep surrealdb

# Check SurrealDB logs
docker logs surrealdb-dev

# Test connection
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/sql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sql": "SELECT * FROM VERSION"}'

API Not Starting

# Check Python environment
uv run python --version

# Check dependencies
uv run pip list | grep fastapi

# Start with debug mode
uv run python api/main.py --debug

Frontend Issues

# Check Node.js and npm versions
node --version
npm --version

# Reinstall frontend dependencies
cd frontend
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

# Start frontend in development mode
npm run dev

Debugging Tools

VS Code Configuration

Create .vscode/launch.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "FastAPI",
      "type": "python",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "api/main.py",
      "console": "integratedTerminal",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "env": {
        "PYTHONPATH": "${workspaceFolder}"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "React Frontend",
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/frontend",
      "runtimeExecutable": "npm",
      "runtimeArgs": ["run", "dev"],
      "console": "integratedTerminal"
    }
  ]
}

Python Debugging

# Add breakpoints in code
import pdb; pdb.set_trace()

# Or use debugger
import debugpy
debugpy.listen(5678)
debugpy.wait_for_client()

📝 Code Style and Standards

Python Style Guide

Formatting: Use ruff format for code formatting
Linting: Use ruff check for linting
Type hints: Use type hints for all functions
Docstrings: Document all public functions and classes

Example Code Style

from typing import List, Optional
from pydantic import BaseModel

class Notebook(BaseModel):
    """A notebook for organizing research sources."""
    
    name: str
    description: Optional[str] = None
    sources: List[str] = []
    
    def add_source(self, source_id: str) -> None:
        """Add a source to the notebook.
        
        Args:
            source_id: The ID of the source to add
        """
        if source_id not in self.sources:
            self.sources.append(source_id)

Commit Message Format

Follow conventional commits:

feat: add new podcast generation feature
fix: resolve database connection issue
docs: update deployment guide
refactor: improve source processing logic
test: add tests for notebook creation

🤝 Contributing

Before Contributing

Read the contribution guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md
Join the Discord for discussion: discord.gg/37XJPXfz2w
Check existing issues to avoid duplicates
Discuss major changes before implementing

Contribution Process

Fork the repository on GitHub
Create a feature branch from main
Make your changes following the coding standards
Add tests for new functionality
Update documentation as needed
Submit a pull request with a clear description

Areas for Contribution

Frontend Development - Modern React/Next.js UI improvements
Backend Features - API endpoints, new functionality
AI Integrations - New model providers, better prompts
Documentation - Guides, tutorials, API docs
Testing - Unit tests, integration tests
Bug Fixes - Resolve existing issues

📚 Development Resources

Documentation

API Documentation - REST API reference
Architecture Guide - System architecture
Plugin Development - Creating custom plugins

External Resources

SurrealDB Documentation - Database queries and schema
FastAPI Documentation - API framework
Next.js Documentation - React framework
LangChain Documentation - AI workflows

Getting Help

Discord Server - Real-time development help
GitHub Discussions - Design discussions
GitHub Issues - Bug reports and feature requests

🔄 Maintenance

Keeping Your Fork Updated

# Add upstream remote
git remote add upstream https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook.git

# Fetch upstream changes
git fetch upstream

# Merge upstream changes
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main

Dependency Updates

# Update dependencies
uv sync --upgrade

# Check for security issues
uv audit

# Update pre-commit hooks
pre-commit autoupdate

Database Migrations

Database migrations now run automatically when the API starts. When you need to create new migrations:

# Create new migration file
# Add your migration to migrations/ folder with incremental number

# Migrations are automatically applied on API startup
uv run python api/main.py

Ready to contribute? Start by forking the repository and following the installation steps above. Join our Discord for real-time help and discussion!

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