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When you develop with BAML, the BAML VSCode extension generates a baml_client directory (on every save) with all the generated code you need to use your AI functions in your application. We recommend you add baml_client to your .gitignore file to avoid committing generated code to your repository, and re-generate the client code when you build and deploy your application.
You could commit the generated code if you’re starting out to not deal with this, just make sure the VSCode extension version matches your baml package dependency version (e.g. baml-py for Python and @boundaryml/baml for TypeScript) so there are no compatibility issues.

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Generating the BAML Client

To build your client in a Docker container, use the baml-cli generate command. See also baml-cli generate. 
# Generate BAML client for Python
RUN baml-cli generate --from path-to-baml_src
For production builds, add the --no-tests flag to reduce the generated client size by excluding test blocks:
baml-cli generate --from path-to-baml_src --no-tests

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Go: Multi-stage Docker Builds

When using Go, the baml-cli generate command downloads the libbaml-cffi native library that BAML needs at runtime. This library is cached to avoid downloading it every time your container runs.

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Single-stage Builds

For single-stage builds, running baml-cli generate (as shown above) will automatically download and cache libbaml-cffi in your Docker image.

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Multi-stage Builds

For multi-stage Docker builds, you need to ensure libbaml-cffi is available in your final image. You have two options: Option 1: Copy the Cache Directory Set the BAML_CACHE_DIR environment variable in both stages and copy it to your final image: 
# Build stage
FROM golang:1.21 AS builder
ENV BAML_CACHE_DIR=/baml-cache
WORKDIR /app
COPY go.mod go.sum ./
RUN go mod download
COPY . .
RUN go install github.com/boundaryml/baml/baml-cli@latest
RUN baml-cli generate --from baml_src
RUN go build -o myapp

# Runtime stage
FROM debian:bookworm-slim
ENV BAML_CACHE_DIR=/baml-cache
COPY --from=builder /app/myapp /myapp
COPY --from=builder /baml-cache /baml-cache
CMD ["/myapp"]
Option 2: Regenerate in the Final Stage Install baml-cli in your final image and run baml-cli --version (or baml-cli generate) to download libbaml-cffi: 
# Build stage
FROM golang:1.21 AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY go.mod go.sum ./
RUN go mod download
COPY . .
RUN go install github.com/boundaryml/baml/baml-cli@latest
RUN baml-cli generate --from baml_src
RUN go build -o myapp

# Runtime stage
FROM debian:bookworm-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /app/myapp /myapp
COPY --from=builder /go/bin/baml-cli /usr/local/bin/baml-cli
# Download libbaml-cffi into the runtime image
RUN baml-cli --version
CMD ["/myapp"]

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Customizing the Cache Directory

By default, BAML downloads libbaml-cffi to a system-specific cache directory. You can control this location using the BAML_CACHE_DIR environment variable: 
ENV BAML_CACHE_DIR=/custom/cache/path
This is particularly useful when you want to explicitly control where the native library is stored in your container.

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BAML-over-HTTP with Docker

You can deploy BAML as a RESTful API using Docker. This is useful when you want to run BAML functions as a separate service.

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Creating the Dockerfile

In the directory containing your baml_src/ directory, create a baml.Dockerfile: 
FROM node:20

WORKDIR /app
COPY baml_src/ .

# If you want to pin to a specific version (which we recommend):
# RUN npm install -g @boundaryml/baml@VERSION
RUN npm install -g @boundaryml/baml

CMD baml-cli serve --preview --port 2024

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Running with Docker Compose

We recommend using docker-compose to run your app and BAML-over-HTTP side-by-side:
docker-compose.yaml
services:
  baml-over-http:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: baml.Dockerfile
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:2024/_debug/ping"]
      interval: 1s
      timeout: 100ms
      retries: 3
    ports:
      - "2024:2024"

  my-app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: my-app.Dockerfile
    depends_on:
      baml-over-http:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      - BAML_ENDPOINT=http://baml-over-http:2024
Start the services: 
docker compose up --build --force-recreate
To call the BAML server from your laptop (i.e. the host machine), you must use localhost:2024. You may only reach it as baml-over-http:2024 from within another Docker container.
Verify the server is running: 
curl http://localhost:2024/_debug/ping

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Securing Your BAML Server

You can set a password on the BAML server using the BAML_PASSWORD environment variable: 
FROM node:20

WORKDIR /app
RUN npm install -g @boundaryml/baml
COPY baml_src/ .

ENV BAML_PASSWORD=sk-baml-your-secret-password
CMD baml-cli serve --preview --port 2024
This will require incoming requests to attach your specified password. You can attach it using HTTP basic auth or the X-BAML-API-KEY header: 
export BAML_PASSWORD=sk-baml-your-secret-password
curl "http://baml:${BAML_PASSWORD}@localhost:2024/_debug/status"
BAML_PASSWORD will secure all endpoints except /_debug/ping, so that you can always debug the reachability of your BAML server.

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