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Install OpenRAG with TUI

Install OpenRAG and then run the OpenRAG Terminal User Interface(TUI) to start your OpenRAG deployment with a guided setup process.

The OpenRAG Terminal User Interface (TUI) allows you to set up, configure, and monitor your OpenRAG deployment directly from the terminal.

OpenRAG TUI Interface

Instead of starting OpenRAG using Docker commands and manually editing values in the .env file, the TUI walks you through the setup. It prompts for variables where required, creates a .env file for you, and then starts OpenRAG.

Once OpenRAG is running, use the TUI to monitor your application, control your containers, and retrieve logs.

If you prefer running Podman or Docker containers and manually editing .env files, see Install OpenRAG Containers.

Prerequisites​

  • Install Python Version 3.10 to 3.13
  • Install uv
  • Install Podman (recommended) or Docker
  • Install Docker Compose. If using Podman, use podman-compose or alias Docker compose commands to Podman commands.
  • Create an OpenAI API key. This key is required to start OpenRAG, but you can choose a different model provider during Application Onboarding.
  • Optional: Install GPU support with an NVIDIA GPU, CUDA support, and compatible NVIDIA drivers on the OpenRAG host machine. If you don't have GPU capabilities, OpenRAG provides an alternate CPU-only deployment.

Install OpenRAG​

Windows users

To use OpenRAG on Windows, use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

To set up a project and install OpenRAG as a dependency, do the following:

  1. Create a new project with a virtual environment using uv init.

    uv init YOUR_PROJECT_NAME
    cd YOUR_PROJECT_NAME

    The (venv) prompt doesn't change, but uv commands will automatically use the project's virtual environment. For more information on virtual environments, see the uv documentation.

  2. Add OpenRAG to your project.

    uv add openrag

    To add a specific version of OpenRAG:

    uv add openrag==0.1.25

  3. Start the OpenRAG TUI.

    uv run openrag
    Install a local wheel

    If you downloaded the OpenRAG wheel to your local machine, follow these steps:

    1. Add the wheel to your project's virtual environment.

      uv add PATH/TO/openrag-VERSION-py3-none-any.whl

      Replace PATH/TO/ and VERSION with the path and version of your downloaded OpenRAG .whl file.

      For example, if your .whl file is in the ~/Downloads directory:

      uv add ~/Downloads/openrag-0.1.8-py3-none-any.whl

    2. Run OpenRAG.

      uv run openrag

  4. Continue with Set up OpenRAG with the TUI.

Set up OpenRAG with the TUI​

The TUI creates a .env file in your OpenRAG directory root and starts OpenRAG. If the TUI detects a .env file in the OpenRAG root directory, it sources any variables from the .env file. If the TUI detects OAuth credentials, it enforces the Advanced Setup path.

Basic Setup generates all of the required values for OpenRAG except the OpenAI API key. Basic Setup does not set up OAuth connections for ingestion from cloud providers. For OAuth setup, use Advanced Setup. For information about the difference between basic (no auth) and OAuth in OpenRAG, see Authentication and document access.

  1. To install OpenRAG with Basic Setup, click Basic Setup or press 1.

  2. Click Generate Passwords to generate passwords for OpenSearch and Langflow.

    The OpenSearch password is required. The Langflow admin password is optional. If no Langflow admin password is generated, Langflow runs in autologin mode with no password required.

  3. Paste your OpenAI API key in the OpenAI API key field.

  4. Click Save Configuration. Your passwords are saved in the .env file used to start OpenRAG.

  5. To start OpenRAG, click Start All Services. Startup pulls container images and runs them, so it can take some time. When startup is complete, the TUI displays the following:

    Services started successfully
    Command completed successfully

  6. To open the OpenRAG application, click Open App.

  7. Continue with Application Onboarding.

Application onboarding​

The first time you start OpenRAG, whether using the TUI or a .env file, it's recommended that you complete application onboarding.

To skip onboarding, click Skip onboarding.

Values from onboarding can be changed later in the OpenRAG Settings page.

Choose one LLM provider and complete only those steps:

  1. Enable Get API key from environment variable to automatically enter your key from the TUI-generated .env file. Alternatively, paste an OpenAI API key into the field.
  2. Under Advanced settings, select your Embedding Model and Language Model.
  3. To load 2 sample PDFs, enable Sample dataset. This is recommended, but not required.
  4. Click Complete.
  5. To complete the onboarding tasks, click What is OpenRAG, and then click Add a Document.
  6. Continue with the Quickstart.

Close the OpenRAG TUI​

To close the OpenRAG TUI, press q. The OpenRAG containers will continue to be served until the containers are stopped. For more information, see Manage OpenRAG containers with the TUI .

To start the TUI again, run uv run openrag.

Manage OpenRAG containers with the TUI​

After installation, the TUI can deploy, manage, and upgrade your OpenRAG containers.

Start all services​

Click Start All Services to start the OpenRAG containers. The TUI automatically detects your container runtime, and then checks if your machine has compatible GPU support by checking for CUDA, NVIDIA_SMI, and Docker/Podman runtime support. This check determines which Docker Compose file OpenRAG uses. The TUI then pulls the images and deploys the containers with the following command.

docker compose up -d

If images are missing, the TUI runs docker compose pull, then runs docker compose up -d.

Status​

The Status menu displays information on your container deployment. Here you can check container health, find your service ports, view logs, and upgrade your containers.

To view streaming logs, select the container you want to view, and press l. To copy your logs, click Copy to Clipboard.

To upgrade your containers, click Upgrade. Upgrade runs docker compose pull and then docker compose up -d --force-recreate. The first command pulls the latest images of OpenRAG. The second command recreates the containers with your data persisted.

To reset your containers, click Reset. Reset gives you a completely fresh start. Reset deletes all of your data, including OpenSearch data, uploaded documents, and authentication. Reset runs two commands. It first stops and removes all containers, volumes, and local images.

docker compose down --volumes --remove-orphans --rmi local

When the first command is complete, OpenRAG removes any additional Docker objects with prune.

docker system prune -f

Native services status​

A native service in OpenRAG refers to a service run locally on your machine, and not within a container. The docling serve process is a native service in OpenRAG, because it's a document processing service that is run on your local machine, and controlled separately from the containers.

To start or stop docling serve or any other native services, in the TUI Status menu, click Stop or Restart.

To view the status, port, or PID of a native service, in the TUI main menu, click Status.

Diagnostics​

The Diagnostics menu provides health monitoring for your container runtimes and monitoring of your OpenSearch security.