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Synopsis

syft-flwr bootstrap PROJECT_DIR [OPTIONS]

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Description

The bootstrap command converts an existing Flower project into a syft-flwr project by:
  1. Validating the Flower project structure
  2. Adding syft-flwr configuration to pyproject.toml
  3. Creating a main.py file for running the federated learning workflow
  4. Configuring datasites (data owners) and aggregator (data scientist)
  5. Setting up the communication transport (SyftBox or P2P)
After bootstrapping, your project is ready to run federated learning with file-based communication.

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Arguments

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PROJECT_DIR
path
required
Path to a Flower project directory. Must contain a valid pyproject.toml file.The directory is validated to ensure:
  • The directory exists
  • pyproject.toml exists in the directory
  • main.py does not already exist (to prevent overwriting)

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Options

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--aggregator
string
Datasite email of the Flower Server (aggregator/data scientist).Aliases: -a, --server, -sFormat: Valid email address (e.g., [email protected])If not provided via flag, you’ll be prompted interactively:
Enter the datasite email of the Aggregator (Flower Server):
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--datasites
string
Comma-separated list of datasite emails for Flower Clients (data owners).Aliases: -dFormat: Comma-separated email addresses (e.g., [email protected],[email protected])If not provided via flag, you’ll be prompted interactively:
Enter a comma-separated email of datasites of the Flower Clients:
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--help
flag
Display help information for the bootstrap command.Aliases: -h

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Examples

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Bootstrap with All Flags

syft-flwr bootstrap ./my-fl-project \
  --aggregator [email protected] \
  --datasites [email protected],[email protected]
Output: 
Bootstrapping project at '/path/to/my-fl-project'
Aggregator: [email protected]
Datasites: ['[email protected]', '[email protected]']
Bootstrapped project at '/path/to/my-fl-project'

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Bootstrap with Interactive Prompts

syft-flwr bootstrap ./my-fl-project
Interactive session: 
Enter the datasite email of the Aggregator (Flower Server): [email protected]
Enter a comma-separated email of datasites of the Flower Clients: [email protected],[email protected]
Bootstrapping project at '/path/to/my-fl-project'
Aggregator: [email protected]
Datasites: ['[email protected]', '[email protected]']
Bootstrapped project at '/path/to/my-fl-project'

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Bootstrap with Short Flags

syft-flwr bootstrap ./diabetes-fl \
  -s [email protected] \
  -d [email protected],[email protected],[email protected]

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Bootstrap with Absolute Path

syft-flwr bootstrap ~/projects/federated-learning/diabetes-prediction \
  --aggregator [email protected] \
  --datasites [email protected],[email protected]

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What Gets Modified

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pyproject.toml Changes

The bootstrap command modifies your pyproject.toml file:
  1. Adds syft-flwr dependency: 
    [project]
dependencies = [
    "syft_flwr==0.5.0",
    # ... other dependencies
]
  2. Adds syft-flwr configuration: 
    [tool.syft_flwr]
app_name = "[email protected]_my-project_1735823400"
datasites = ["[email protected]", "[email protected]"]
aggregator = "[email protected]"
transport = "syftbox"
  3. Sets Flower partition config: 
    [tool.flwr.app.config]
partition-id = 0
num-partitions = 1

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main.py Creation

A new main.py file is created from a template to orchestrate the federated learning workflow. This file handles:
  • Loading project configuration
  • Managing client/server communication
  • Coordinating the FL training process

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Transport Types

The transport type is automatically detected:
  • syftbox (default): Local SyftBox with RPC and encryption
    • Used on standard environments
    • Requires SyftBox client installation
  • p2p: Peer-to-peer sync via Google Drive/OneDrive
    • Automatically selected in Google Colab
    • Suitable for distributed environments without SyftBox

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Validation

The command validates:
  1. Project directory exists
  2. pyproject.toml exists in the directory
  3. main.py does not exist (prevents overwriting)
  4. Aggregator email is valid (format validation)
  5. All datasite emails are valid (format validation)

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Error Handling

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Directory Not Found

$ syft-flwr bootstrap ./nonexistent
Error: Directory './nonexistent' not found

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Missing pyproject.toml

$ syft-flwr bootstrap ./empty-dir
Error: File './empty-dir/pyproject.toml' not found

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main.py Already Exists

$ syft-flwr bootstrap ./already-bootstrapped
Error: File './already-bootstrapped/main.py' already exists

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Invalid Email Format

$ syft-flwr bootstrap ./my-project --aggregator invalid-email
Error: 'invalid-email' is not a valid datasite

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Exit Codes

  • 0: Bootstrap succeeded
  • 1: Bootstrap failed (validation error, file system error, etc.)

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Next Steps

After bootstrapping:
  1. Review the configuration in pyproject.toml
  2. Install dependencies: 
    cd my-fl-project
pip install -e .
  3. Run a simulation to test: 
    syft-flwr run . --mock-dataset-paths ./data/client1,./data/client2

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See Also

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