Relay / Developer documentation

Distribution

Relay v0.0.3 ships as the Python distribution relay-backend, with import relay_backend and console command relay. Native FastAPI integration is the primary consumer path. The wheel and source archive include the compiled UI, fonts and brand assets; consumers need Python 3.11+ and their existing backend, with no frontend tooling.

Install from PyPI with python -m pip install relay-backend. The wheel is also attached to the GitHub release.

from relay_backend import install_relay

install_relay(app)

Start the backend normally and visit /relay on its existing port. Development gating is explicit: install_relay(app, enabled=settings.DEBUG). Framework templates can include this dependency and call for an experience that is already available in a newly created project.

Node distribution

npm install relay-backend installs the published 0.0.3 Node package with bundled assets and TypeScript declarations. Native Express, Fastify and Node HTTP adapters mount /relay on your backend. No Python or consumer build is needed. See Node setup.

npx relay-backend --target http://127.0.0.1:3000 provides a separate local tester for existing OpenAPI backends. Python and npm distributions share the Relay UI and package name, but install into their respective backend environments.

Guides

Native FastAPI integration: lifecycle, configuration, factories, Socket.IO, prefixes and storage.
Portable endpoint reports: .relay and JSON formats, report opening and Windows double-click registration.
Git workflow: manual status, attribution, commit/push/pull synchronization and conflicts.
Release process: build artifacts, checks and PyPI Trusted Publishing setup.
Contributor setup: source builds and clean consumer installation checks.

Standalone OpenAPI backends

For a different framework exposing JSON OpenAPI on a literal loopback origin:

relay --target http://127.0.0.1:8000 --spec-path /openapi.json
# Optionally use a Git repository for shared status metadata:
relay --target http://127.0.0.1:8000 --project /path/to/backend

This mode starts a separate local Relay process. It cannot infer Python handler authors from a remote OpenAPI document. Native FastAPI avoids that extra process and directly maps handlers to available Git history.