Configuration

LakeFlow uses a .env file in the repo root. Copy from env.example (or .env.example) then edit.

Environment variables

Variable	Description
`HOST_LAKE_PATH`	Required (Docker). Host path for volume bind mount. Maps to /data in container. Must exist before running docker compose up.
`LAKE_ROOT`	Data Lake root path in container/process. Docker: /data. Local: path you choose (e.g. /Users/me/datalake).
`QDRANT_HOST`	Qdrant host. Docker Compose: lakeflow-qdrant. Local: localhost. Portainer: qdrant.
`QDRANT_PORT`	Qdrant port. Default 6333.
`API_BASE_URL`	Backend URL for Frontend. Docker: http://lakeflow-backend:8011. Local: http://localhost:8011. Frontend calls API via this URL.
`LAKEFLOW_MODE`	DEV = show Pipeline Runner in UI, default password in login form. Omit or other = hide (production).
`LLM_BASE_URL`	Ollama URL for Q&A, Admission agent, embedding (step3). E.g. http://host:11434. Backend must be able to reach it.
`LLM_MODEL`	LLM model. Default qwen3:8b. Used for Q&A, Admission Agent.
`EMBED_MODEL`	Ollama embed model for step3 and Search API. Default qwen3-embedding:8b. Must match model used in step3 for search to work.
`EMBED_MODEL_OPTIONS`	Model list for step3 dropdown. Format: qwen3-embedding:8b,nomic-embed-text,mxbai-embed-large.
`OLLAMA_EMBED_URL`	Ollama embed API URL. Default: $LLM_BASE_URL/api/embed.
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	If set, Q&A uses OpenAI instead of Ollama. Need OPENAI_BASE_URL, OPENAI_MODEL for custom endpoint.
`LAKEFLOW_MOUNT_DESCRIPTION`	Description shown in System Settings (e.g. "Volume bind from /datalake/research").
`QDRANT_SERVICES`	Add Qdrant instances to UI dropdown. Format: URL or Label\|URL, comma-separated.
`LAKEFLOW_PIPELINE_BASE_URL`	Backend URL for Inbox when auto-running pipeline (after upload). Default http://127.0.0.1:8011. In Docker Inbox runs from backend container so use localhost.
`LAKEFLOW_DATA_PATH`	Used in deploy: Data Lake path on server. Overrides HOST_LAKE_PATH when using docker-compose.deploy.yml.
`JWT_SECRET_KEY`	Secret for JWT. Production: set a secure value. Default dev-only.
`QDRANT_API_KEY`	Qdrant API key (if Qdrant Cloud or auth required).

Docker default values

In docker-compose.yml, backend/frontend receive:

LAKE_ROOT=/data
QDRANT_HOST=lakeflow-qdrant
QDRANT_PORT=6333
API_BASE_URL=http://lakeflow-backend:8011 (frontend)

Volume lakeflow_data uses device: $HOST_LAKE_PATH — from .env.

Create zones

If zones don't exist, create them in the Data Lake directory:

Docker: Docker: Create under HOST_LAKE_PATH (maps to /data in container)
Local: Local: Create under LAKE_ROOT

# Replace $DATA_DIR with HOST_LAKE_PATH (Docker) or LAKE_ROOT (local)
mkdir -p $DATA_DIR/000_inbox $DATA_DIR/100_raw $DATA_DIR/200_staging \
  $DATA_DIR/300_processed $DATA_DIR/400_embeddings $DATA_DIR/500_catalog

Example .env

# Docker dev (Ollama on host Mac/Win: use host.docker.internal)
HOST_LAKE_PATH=/Users/you/lakeflow_data
LAKE_ROOT=/data
QDRANT_HOST=lakeflow-qdrant
API_BASE_URL=http://lakeflow-backend:8011
LAKEFLOW_MODE=DEV
LLM_BASE_URL=http://host.docker.internal:11434
EMBED_MODEL=qwen3-embedding:8b

# Local dev
LAKE_ROOT=/Users/you/lakeflow_data
QDRANT_HOST=localhost
API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8011
LAKEFLOW_MODE=DEV
LLM_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434

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