Local Setup

This guide walks you through setting up Iris for local development. By the end, you will have the server running on your machine with a Weaviate vector database and at least one LLM configured.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Version	Notes
Python	3.12+	python --version to verify
Poetry	2.x	Installation guide
Docker & Docker Compose	Latest stable	Required for Weaviate
Git	Any recent	For cloning and pre-commit hooks

1. Clone the Repository

Iris lives inside the Edutelligence monorepo:

git clone https://github.com/ls1intum/edutelligence.git
cd edutelligence/iris

All subsequent commands assume you are inside the iris/ directory.

2. Install Dependencies

Iris uses Poetry for dependency management and virtual environments:

poetry install

This creates a virtual environment and installs all production and development dependencies defined in pyproject.toml.

3. Set Up Pre-commit Hooks

The repository uses pre-commit for automated code quality checks. Install the hooks from the monorepo root (one level above iris/):

cd ..  # back to edutelligence root
pre-commit install
cd iris

This ensures linters (black, isort, pylint, etc.) run automatically before each commit.

4. IDE Setup (PyCharm)

If you use PyCharm:

1. Open the iris folder as a new PyCharm project.
2. Go to File > Settings > Project > Python Interpreter.
3. Click the gear icon and select Add....
4. Select Poetry Environment and choose the poetry executable.
5. Click OK and Apply.

You should also configure source roots:

1. Right-click the src folder > Mark Directory as > Sources Root.
2. Right-click the tests folder > Mark Directory as > Test Sources Root.
3. File > Invalidate Caches... and click Invalidate and Restart.

VS Code

If you use VS Code, set "python.defaultInterpreterPath" to the Poetry virtual environment path (find it with poetry env info -p).

5. Create Configuration Files

Iris requires two YAML configuration files:

Application Configuration

cp application.example.yml application.local.yml

The application config defines API keys, Weaviate connection settings, Memiris configuration, and optional LangFuse tracing:

application.local.yml

api_keys:
  - token: "your-secret-token"

weaviate:
  host: "localhost"
  port: "8001"
  grpc_port: "50051"

memiris:
  enabled: true
  sleep_enabled: true

langfuse:
  enabled: false

env_vars:

LLM Configuration

cp llm_config.example.yml llm_config.local.yml

This file defines which LLM models are available. Here is a minimal example using OpenAI directly:

llm_config.local.yml

- id: "oai-gpt-5-mini"
  name: "GPT 5 Mini"
  description: "GPT 5 Mini on OpenAI"
  type: "openai_chat"
  model: "gpt-5-mini"
  api_key: "<your_openai_api_key>"
  tools: []
  cost_per_million_input_token: 0.4
  cost_per_million_output_token: 1.6

For Azure OpenAI, the format looks like:

llm_config.local.yml (Azure)

- id: "azure-gpt-5-mini"
  name: "GPT 5 Mini (Azure)"
  description: "GPT 5 Mini on Azure"
  type: "azure_chat"
  endpoint: "<your-azure-endpoint>"
  api_version: "2025-04-01-preview"
  azure_deployment: "gpt-5-mini"
  model: "gpt-5-mini"
  api_key: "<your_azure_api_key>"
  tools: []
  cost_per_million_input_token: 0.4
  cost_per_million_output_token: 1.6

warning

Most Iris pipelines require specific model versions (e.g., the full GPT model family plus embeddings and a reranker). Watch the server logs for warnings about missing models.

See Configuration for full details on all configuration parameters.

6. Start Weaviate

Iris uses Weaviate as its vector database. Start it with Docker Compose:

docker compose -f docker/weaviate.yml up -d

This starts Weaviate on port 8001 (REST) and 50051 (gRPC) by default.

7. Run the Server

Start the Iris server with the local configuration files:

APPLICATION_YML_PATH=./application.local.yml \
LLM_CONFIG_PATH=./llm_config.local.yml \
uvicorn iris.main:app --reload

Or using Poetry directly:

APPLICATION_YML_PATH=./application.local.yml \
LLM_CONFIG_PATH=./llm_config.local.yml \
poetry run uvicorn iris.main:app --reload

The server starts at http://localhost:8000. The interactive API documentation is available at http://localhost:8000/docs.

8. Docker Development Setup (Alternative)

If you prefer to run everything in Docker:

docker compose -f docker/pyris-dev.yml up --build

This builds the Iris application and starts it alongside Weaviate. Local configuration files are mounted into the container for easy modification.

Troubleshooting

Port Conflicts

If Weaviate or the app fails to start due to port conflicts, change the ports:

export PYRIS_PORT=8080
export WEAVIATE_PORT=8002
export WEAVIATE_GRPC_PORT=50052

Missing Models

If you see warnings like No ChatModel found with model name gpt-5-mini, ensure your llm_config.local.yml has an entry whose model field matches the requested model name.

Weaviate Connection Errors

Ensure Weaviate is running (docker ps) and the host/port in application.local.yml match the Docker Compose configuration.

Import Errors

If imports fail, ensure you have activated the Poetry environment (poetry shell) or are running commands through poetry run.