Installation | New Python Project

While Compose is designed to help you build internal apps on top of your existing codebase, you can always create a fresh project if you prefer to start from scratch.

This guide will walk you through creating a new Python project with the Compose SDK installed in ~3 minutes.

Quick Install

1. Clone the starter repo

The Python starter repo is a barebones Python project that comes with the Compose SDK installed.

git clone https://github.com/compose-dev/compose-python-starter.git
cd compose-python-starter

2. Create a virtual environment

python -m venv .venv

3. Activate the virtual environment

# Mac/Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

# Windows (Command Prompt)
.venv\Scripts\Activate.bat

# Windows (PowerShell)
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

4. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Add your API key

Replace API_KEY_HERE in app.py with your Compose API key. Create a free account on Compose to get an API key.

6. Run the app

# Use py-mon to enable auto-reload on code changes
pymon app.py

# Or, use python directly
python app.py

You should see your apps come online in the Compose web dashboard.

Manual Install

Prefer to install manually without the starter repo? Read here.

Create a project directory

mkdir compose && cd compose

Create a virtual environment

python -m venv .venv

Activate the virtual environment

# macOS/Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

# Windows command prompt
.venv\Scripts\Activate.bat

# Windows PowerShell
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Install the Compose SDK

pip install compose-sdk

Optionally, install py-mon, a lightweight file watcher that will automatically restart your app when you make code changes.

pip install py-mon

Create a new file called app.py and paste the following starter code:

import compose_sdk as c

# For demo purposes. In a real app, you'd use your actual database.
db_users = [
    { "name": "John Doe", "email": "john@doe.com" },
    { "name": "Jane Smith", "email": "jane@smith.com" },
]

def view_users_handler(page: c.Page, ui: c.UI):
    page.add(lambda: ui.header("View Users", size="lg"))
    users = [*db_users] # fake database call
    page.add(lambda: ui.table("users-table", users))

def create_user_handler(page: c.Page, ui: c.UI):
    def on_submit(form):
        db_users.append({ "name": form["name"], "email": form["email"] })
        page.toast("User created successfully", appearance="success")
        page.link("view-users")

    page.add(lambda: ui.header("Create User", size="lg"))
    page.add(lambda: ui.form(
        "create-user-form",
        [
            ui.text_input("name"),
            ui.email_input("email")
        ],
        on_submit=on_submit
    ))

nav = c.Navigation(["view-users", "create-user"])

client = c.Client(
    api_key="API_KEY_HERE", # replace with your own API key
    apps=[
        c.App(route="view-users", navigation=nav, handler=view_users_handler),
        c.App(route="create-user", navigation=nav, handler=create_user_handler)
    ]
)

client.connect()

Replace API_KEY_HERE with your Compose API key. Create a free account on Compose to get an API key.

Finally, run your project's dev command, e.g:

# Use py-mon to enable auto-reload on code changes
pymon app.py

# Or, use python directly
python app.py

You should see your apps come online in the Compose web dashboard.

Next Steps

1. Replace dbUsers with real database calls.
2. Go through Compose's core concepts to quickly become productive with the SDK.
3. Join the Discord community to ask questions and talk to the core team.