How to do data persistence?

[t-release]

May I ask a question: I am running on a Docker container and have configured user login authentication? However, why is it that after deleting and restarting my container, all the previously created users and process data are gone? How should I persist the data? Including users, logs, project data created by users, etc

[ismaildasci]

the problem is that docker containers are ephemeral by default. when you delete and recreate container, all data inside is lost.

you need to use docker volumes to persist data. langflow stores data in sqlite by default.

here is how to set it up:

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  langflow:
    image: langflowai/langflow:latest
    ports:
      - "7860:7860"
    volumes:
      - langflow_data:/app/langflow
    environment:
      - LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////app/langflow/langflow.db
      - LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR=/app/langflow

volumes:
  langflow_data:

the key points:

1. langflow_data:/app/langflow - this creates a named volume that persists even when container is deleted

2. set LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL to point to file inside the volume

3. set LANGFLOW_CONFIG_DIR for config persistence

if you prefer to use host directory instead of docker volume:

volumes:
  - ./langflow_data:/app/langflow

this mounts local folder, easier to backup.

for production, consider using postgres instead of sqlite:

environment:
  - LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@db:5432/langflow

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:15
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

after setting up volumes, your users, flows, and logs will persist across container restarts and recreations.

[xXMrNidaXx]

Data loss on container restart means you need to mount persistent volumes.

Solution: Docker volumes

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  langflow:
    image: langflowai/langflow
    volumes:
      - langflow_data:/app/langflow  # Main data
      - ./data:/root/.langflow       # User data
    environment:
      - LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////root/.langflow/langflow.db

volumes:
  langflow_data:

Key paths to persist:

Path	Contains
/root/.langflow/	SQLite DB, user data
/app/langflow/	Flows, components
Logs directory	Execution logs

For production: Use external PostgreSQL

services:
  langflow:
    environment:
      - LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@postgres:5432/langflow
  
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

Backup strategy:

# Backup SQLite
docker cp langflow:/root/.langflow/langflow.db ./backup/

# Or with PostgreSQL
pg_dump langflow > backup.sql

Verify persistence:

docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d
# Check if users and flows still exist

We deploy persistent Langflow at Revolution AI — external PostgreSQL is recommended for production reliability.

[xXMrNidaXx]

Data persistence in Langflow — several options:

1. SQLite (default)

# Already persistent if you mount the volume
volumes:
  - ./langflow_data:/app/langflow

2. PostgreSQL (recommended for production)

environment:
  LANGFLOW_DATABASE_URL: postgresql://user:pass@postgres:5432/langflow

3. Redis for sessions/cache

environment:
  LANGFLOW_CACHE_TYPE: redis
  LANGFLOW_REDIS_URL: redis://redis:6379

What gets persisted:

• Flows (your visual pipelines)
• Components (custom code)
• Credentials (encrypted)
• Chat history
• User settings

Backup strategy:

# SQLite backup
cp langflow.db langflow_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).db

# PostgreSQL
pg_dump langflow > backup.sql

For flow versioning:

• Export flows as JSON
• Store in git
• Use Langflow's API for CI/CD

curl http://localhost:7860/api/v1/flows/export/all > flows.json

We deploy Langflow with full persistence at RevolutionAI. What's your deployment — Docker, K8s, or bare metal?