Overview

Understand the Flash app development lifecycle.

A Flash app is a collection of endpoints deployed to Runpod.

Build your first app

Create a Flash app, test it locally, and deploy it to production.

Initialize a project

Create boilerplate code for a new Flash project with flash init.

App development workflow

Building a Flash application follows a clear progression from initialization to production deployment:

1. Initialize

   Use flash init to create a new project with example workers:

   flash init PROJECT_NAME
   cd PROJECT_NAME
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

   This gives you a working project structure with GPU and CPU worker examples. Learn more about project initialization.

2. Develop

   Write your application code by defining Endpoint functions that execute on Runpod workers:

   from runpod_flash import Endpoint, GpuType
   
   @Endpoint(
       name="inference-worker",
       gpu=GpuType.NVIDIA_GEFORCE_RTX_4090,
       workers=3,
       dependencies=["torch"]
   )
   def run_inference(prompt: str) -> dict:
       import torch
       # Your inference logic here
       return {"result": "..."}
   

   Learn more about customizing your app.

3. Test locally

   Start a local development server to test your application:

   flash dev
   

   Your app runs locally and updates automatically. When you call an @Endpoint function, Flash sends the latest code to Runpod workers. Learn more about local testing.

4. Deploy

   When ready for production, deploy your application to Runpod Serverless:

   flash deploy
   

   When you deploy an app, Runpod:

   1. Packages your code, dependencies, and deployment manifest into a tarball (max 1.5 GB).
   2. Uploads the tarball to Runpod.
   3. Provisions independent Serverless endpoints based on your endpoint configurations.

   Your entire application—including all worker functions—runs on Runpod infrastructure. Learn more about deployment.

5. Manage

   Use apps and environments to organize and manage your deployments across different stages (dev, staging, production). Learn more about apps and environments.

Apps and environments

Flash uses a two-level organizational structure: apps (project containers) and environments (deployment stages like dev, staging, production). See Apps and environments for complete details.

Next steps

Build your first app

Create a Flash app, test it locally, and deploy it to production.

Initialize a project

Create boilerplate code for a new Flash project with flash init.

Test locally

Use flash dev for local development and testing.

Deploy to Runpod

Deploy your application to production with flash deploy.