Environment:Langchain ai Langgraph Docker Deployment Environment

Knowledge Sources	LangGraph CLI LangGraph CLI Docs
Domains	Infrastructure, Deployment, Docker
Last Updated	2026-02-11 14:00 GMT

Overview

Docker-based deployment environment with Docker Compose, PostgreSQL, and optional Node.js 20+ for running LangGraph applications via the CLI.

Description

This environment provides the infrastructure required to build, test, and deploy LangGraph applications using the `langgraph` CLI commands (`langgraph dev`, `langgraph build`, `langgraph up`). It relies on Docker for containerization, Docker Compose for orchestration, and PostgreSQL as the default checkpoint persistence backend. The CLI generates Dockerfiles from templates, manages Docker Compose configurations, and supports both Python and JavaScript/TypeScript graph runtimes. The default Python version for deployment containers is 3.11 (minimum 3.11), and the default Node.js version is 20 (minimum 20).

Usage

Use this environment when deploying LangGraph applications with the CLI deployment workflow. It is the mandatory prerequisite for running `langgraph build`, `langgraph up`, and `langgraph dev` commands, as well as for connecting via `RemoteGraph`.

System Requirements

Category	Requirement	Notes
OS	Linux or macOS	Windows supported via WSL2
Docker	>= 20.0.0	`healthcheck_start_interval` requires Docker >= 25.0.0
Docker Compose	>= 1.0.0	Plugin or standalone (`docker-compose`) supported
Python (container)	>= 3.11	Minimum for deployment containers; default is 3.11
Node.js (container)	>= 20	Required only for JS/TS graphs; default is 20
Disk	2GB+ SSD	For Docker images and PostgreSQL data
PostgreSQL	>= 14	Default checkpoint backend in Docker Compose

Dependencies

System Packages

`docker` (Docker Engine)
`docker-compose` or Docker Compose plugin
`git` (for fetching repositories)

Python Packages (CLI)

`langgraph-cli` (with `click` >= 8.1.7)
`langgraph-sdk` >= 0.1.0 (requires Python >= 3.11)
`python-dotenv` >= 0.8.0 (for `.env` file loading, optional)

In-Memory Server Extra

`langgraph-api` >= 0.5.35, < 0.8.0 (requires Python >= 3.11)
`langgraph-runtime-inmem` >= 0.7 (requires Python >= 3.11)

Credentials

The following environment variables are used in the Docker deployment:

`LANGGRAPH_API_KEY`: API key for the LangGraph server
`LANGSMITH_API_KEY`: LangSmith API key for tracing and monitoring
`LANGGRAPH_CLOUD_LICENSE_KEY`: Production license key for LangGraph Cloud
`OPENAI_API_KEY`: Example API key passed through to containers (model-specific)
`LANGGRAPH_CLI_NO_ANALYTICS`: Set to `1` to disable CLI analytics

Docker Configuration Variables (JSON format)

`LANGGRAPH_STORE`: Store configuration
`LANGGRAPH_AUTH`: Authentication configuration
`LANGGRAPH_ENCRYPTION`: Encryption configuration
`LANGGRAPH_HTTP`: HTTP configuration
`LANGGRAPH_WEBHOOKS`: Webhooks configuration
`LANGGRAPH_CHECKPOINTER`: Checkpointer configuration
`LANGGRAPH_UI`: UI configuration

Quick Install

# Install CLI (basic)
pip install langgraph-cli

# Install CLI with in-memory development server (Python 3.11+)
pip install "langgraph-cli[inmem]"

# Verify Docker is available
docker info
docker compose version

Code Evidence

Python and Node.js version constants from `libs/cli/langgraph_cli/config.py:13-19`:

MIN_NODE_VERSION = "20"
DEFAULT_NODE_VERSION = "20"

MIN_PYTHON_VERSION = "3.11"
DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSION = "3.11"

DEFAULT_IMAGE_DISTRO = "debian"

Docker capability checking from `libs/cli/langgraph_cli/docker.py:48-90`:

def check_capabilities(runner) -> DockerCapabilities:
    # check docker available
    if shutil.which("docker") is None:
        raise click.UsageError("Docker not installed") from None
    # ...
    return DockerCapabilities(
        version_docker=docker_version,
        version_compose=compose_version,
        healthcheck_start_interval=docker_version >= Version(25, 0, 0),
        compose_type=compose_type,
    )

Default PostgreSQL URI from `libs/cli/langgraph_cli/docker.py:12`:

DEFAULT_POSTGRES_URI = (
    "postgres://postgres:postgres@langgraph-postgres:5432/postgres?sslmode=disable"
)

In-memory server Python version check from `libs/cli/langgraph_cli/cli.py:701-729`:

try:
    from langgraph_api.cli import run_server
except ImportError:
    # Guides users to install with: pip install -U "langgraph-cli[inmem]"
    # Requires Python 3.11+
    raise

Common Errors

Error Message	Cause	Solution
`Docker not installed`	Docker binary not found in PATH	Install Docker Engine from docker.com
`Docker not installed or not running`	Docker daemon is not running	Start Docker with `sudo systemctl start docker` or open Docker Desktop
`Docker Compose not installed`	Neither Compose plugin nor standalone found	Install Docker Compose plugin or standalone `docker-compose`
`ImportError` when running `langgraph dev`	Missing `langgraph-cli[inmem]` extra	`pip install -U "langgraph-cli[inmem]"` (requires Python >= 3.11)

Compatibility Notes

Docker healthcheck_start_interval: Only supported on Docker >= 25.0.0; silently omitted on older versions
Compose types: Supports both Docker Compose plugin (`docker compose`) and standalone (`docker-compose`)
Base images: Auto-selected based on graph language: `langchain/langgraph-api` (Python), `langchain/langgraphjs-api` (JS/TS)
Distros: Default is `debian`; supports `slim`, `alpine`, `wolfi`. Bullseye is no longer supported
Windows: CLI deployment commands require WSL2 or a Docker-compatible Linux environment

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