Quick Start¶

This guide will help you get started with ExpOps using the built-in template.

Step 1: Create a Workspace¶

First, create a workspace directory for your ExpOps projects:

mkdir -p ~/expops-workspace && cd ~/expops-workspace

Step 2: Create a Project from Template¶

Use the sklearn-basic template to create your first project:

expops create sklearn-basic --template sklearn-basic

This creates a new project at projects/sklearn-basic/ with:

Configuration files
Model code
Chart generation scripts
Requirements files
Example data structure

Step 3: Run the Project¶

Run the project locally:

expops run sklearn-basic --local

This will:

Set up the virtual environment
Install dependencies
Execute the pipeline
Generate artifacts and charts

Step 4: View Results¶

The project configuration is located at:

projects/sklearn-basic/configs/project_config.yaml

By default, the template uses a local-first cache backend. To enable cross-process live metrics (web UI) or remote backends, update model.parameters.cache.backend in the project config.

Important: Caching and Web UI Requirements¶

For local development with persistent caching and web UI support, you need to configure a persistent KV backend. The default in-memory KV backend does not support:

Persistent caching across runs (cache metadata is lost when the process restarts)
Web UI metrics and charts

To enable both features, configure a GCP KV backend (Firestore) in your project_config.yaml:

model:
  parameters:
    cache:
      backend: local  # or gcs
      kv_backend: firestore  # Required for persistent caching and web UI

Setup steps:

Create a Firestore database in Google Cloud
Add credentials to projects/sklearn-basic/keys/firestore.json
Configure the KV backend in your project config

See the Backends documentation for more details on KV backends and setup instructions.

Running on a Cluster¶

To run on a distributed cluster (e.g., SLURM):

Add a cluster_config.yaml under configs/
Remove the --local flag when running:

expops run sklearn-basic