Setting Up Your Local Environment

ServFlow Pro is a visual backend engine for building and running APIs. This guide walks you through setting up ServFlow Pro on your local machine for development. By the end, you’ll have a fully functional local environment ready to build and test APIs.

ServFlow Pro runs in two modes: Dashboard Mode (with --dashboard) for visual development, and Headless Mode (without --dashboard) for running YAML configurations directly. This guide focuses on Dashboard Mode for local development. See Running Modes to learn more.

Prerequisites

Docker (recommended) or a downloaded ServFlow Pro binary
A terminal or command-line interface

Download Options

Using Docker (Recommended)

Pull the official ServFlow Pro Docker image:

docker pull servflow/servflow-pro

Using the Binary

Download pre-built binaries from the Releases page. Available platforms:

Linux (x86_64, arm64)
macOS (x86_64, arm64)

# Download and extract (example for Linux x86_64)
tar -xzf servflow-pro_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz

# Make executable
chmod +x servflow-pro

Configuration Setup

ServFlow Pro uses a TOML configuration file. Create a config.toml file in your working directory:

[server]
port = "8080"
config_folder = "./configs"
env = "development"

[sqlite]
path = "./data/servflow.db"
master_key = "your-local-dev-master-key"

Next, create the configs directory where your API configurations will be stored:

mkdir configs

The config_folder is the only required configuration. ServFlow will use sensible defaults for everything else.

Port Configuration

ServFlow Pro runs two servers:

Server	Default Port	Purpose
API Server	`8080`	Handles incoming API requests
Dashboard	`3000`	Web UI for building and managing APIs

Customizing Ports

You can change ports in your config.toml:

[server]
port = "9000"

Or use an environment variable:

export SERVFLOW_SERVER_PORT=9000

One port serves the engine, the API, and the dashboard, so changing it moves all three.

Environment variables take precedence over values in the TOML file.

Master Key for Secrets

The master_key encrypts secrets stored by ServFlow, such as API keys and credentials.

[sqlite]
master_key = "your-secure-master-key"

Or set it via environment variable:

export SERVFLOW_SQLITE_MASTER_KEY=your-secure-master-key

Security Best Practices:

Use a strong, unique key (at least 32 characters recommended)
Never commit your master key to version control
Use environment variables in production environments
If you change the master key, previously encrypted secrets cannot be decrypted

If no master key is set, secrets management will be disabled in the dashboard.

Optional: SQLite Storage

SQLite provides persistent storage for additional features. When configured, it enables:

Secrets Management — Encrypted storage for API keys and credentials
OAuth Integrations — OAuth provider configurations and token storage
Metrics Storage — Usage and performance metrics persistence

To enable SQLite, add the following to your config.toml:

[sqlite]
path = "./data/servflow.db"

Make sure to create the data directory:

mkdir data

If SQLite is not configured, ServFlow falls back to file-based storage. This is fine for basic local development but limits available features.

Optional: Tracing with OpenTelemetry

ServFlow Pro supports distributed tracing via OpenTelemetry, which helps you debug and monitor API workflows.

Setting Up a Local Collector

You can run Jaeger locally as a tracing collector:

docker run -d --name jaeger \
  -p 16686:16686 \
  -p 4318:4318 \
  jaegertracing/all-in-one:latest

This starts Jaeger with:

Port 16686 — Jaeger UI for viewing traces
Port 4318 — OTLP HTTP collector endpoint

Configuring Tracing

Add the tracing configuration to your config.toml:

[tracing]
enabled = true
service_name = "servflow-local"
collector_endpoint = "http://localhost:4318"

Or use environment variables:

export SERVFLOW_TRACING_ENABLED=true
export SERVFLOW_TRACING_SERVICE_NAME=servflow-local
export SERVFLOW_TRACING_COLLECTOR_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4318

Once configured, you can view traces at http://localhost:16686.

Running ServFlow Pro

With Docker

docker run -d \
  --name servflow-pro \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.toml:/app/config.toml \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/app/data \
  -v $(pwd)/configs:/app/configs \
  servflow/servflow-pro start --config /app/config.toml --dashboard

With the Binary

./servflow-pro start --config config.toml --dashboard

Command Line Options

Flag	Description
`--config, -c`	Path to TOML configuration file (required)
`--dashboard`	Start the web dashboard interface
`--import-configs`	Import API configs from config folder to SQLite (requires `--dashboard`)

Verifying Your Setup

Test the API Server

curl http://localhost:8080/health

You should receive a response indicating the server is running.

Access the Dashboard

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://localhost:8080/dashboard

The dashboard is served under /dashboard on the same port as the engine. On a fresh instance you’ll be asked to complete setup and create an account before the builder appears — see First run.

You’re all set! Your local ServFlow Pro environment is configured and running.

Getting Started

Concepts

References

Prerequisites

Download Options

Using Docker (Recommended)

Using the Binary

Configuration Setup

Port Configuration

Customizing Ports

Master Key for Secrets

Optional: SQLite Storage

Optional: Tracing with OpenTelemetry

Setting Up a Local Collector

Configuring Tracing

Running ServFlow Pro

With Docker

With the Binary

Command Line Options

Verifying Your Setup

Test the API Server

Access the Dashboard

Next Steps

Create Your First API

Configuration Reference

​Prerequisites

​Download Options

​Using Docker (Recommended)

​Using the Binary

​Configuration Setup

​Port Configuration

​Customizing Ports

​Master Key for Secrets

​Optional: SQLite Storage

​Optional: Tracing with OpenTelemetry

​Setting Up a Local Collector

​Configuring Tracing

​Running ServFlow Pro

​With Docker

​With the Binary

​Command Line Options

​Verifying Your Setup

​Test the API Server

​Access the Dashboard

​Next Steps

Create Your First API

Configuration Reference

Prerequisites

Download Options

Using Docker (Recommended)

Using the Binary

Configuration Setup

Port Configuration

Customizing Ports

Master Key for Secrets

Optional: SQLite Storage

Optional: Tracing with OpenTelemetry

Setting Up a Local Collector

Configuring Tracing

Running ServFlow Pro

With Docker

With the Binary

Command Line Options

Verifying Your Setup

Test the API Server

Access the Dashboard

Next Steps