Write Files to local file system when using AutoGPT with Docker

[shuntera]

Duplicates

• [X] I have searched the existing issues

Summary 💡

Currently AutoGPT in Docker writes files to the file system of he Docker container, not to your own host file system.

If you have to terminate AutoGPT because it got itself in a loop of doing nothing you will lose any work done where write_to_file was used, especially as the recommended docker-compose parameter --rm is used which deletes the whole container on termination.

I would suggest a setting in the .env file allowing write_to_file commands to be passed through and written to the user's local host file system.

Examples 🌈

No response

Motivation 🔦

I just spent 20 minutes or so where AutoGTP got hung up in a loop doing he same thing over and over again after a while. I an see that it wrtitten some intermediate work and i would have liked to have seen tat data so that the 20 minutes or so wasn't wasted but that data was deleted along with the container on termination.

[bobisme]

you can just mount the directory you want it to write to. this is my current run command:

docker run --rm -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace -v $PWD/plugins:/app/plugins significantgravitas/auto-gpt

[ColbyLeeCode]

you can just mount the directory you want it to write to. this is my current run command:

docker run --rm -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace -v $PWD/plugins:/app/plugins significantgravitas/auto-gpt

This works for me as well.

[shuntera]

I already had to make numerous changes to the .env file to get this working. Would it be better to have this in an .env file or to run it as an argument to the docker-compose file?

[shuntera]

How does this work for you with no :latest tag on the docker image?

[bobisme]

When I built the image, I just left that off the tag.

On Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 16:52 shuntera @.***> wrote:

How deos this work for you with no :latest tag on the docker image?

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Significant-Gravitas/Auto-GPT/issues/3483#issuecomment-1528079713, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAA2GRUM3Z3K6KJYMXBHCDLXDQUYJANCNFSM6AAAAAAXPQ76I4 . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

[hatgit]

I already had to make numerous changes to the .env file to get this working. Would it be better to have this in an .env file or to run it as an argument to the docker-compose file?

you may also have to create the home/appuser/auto_gpt_workspace if you don't have it already, after enabling the "RESTRICT_TO_WORKSPACE=True" in the .env file. That worked for me to save files in stable version within docker, not running redis.

[jorgpt]

I already had to make numerous changes to the .env file to get this working. Would it be better to have this in an .env file or to run it as an argument to the docker-compose file?

you may also have to create the home/appuser/auto_gpt_workspace if you don't have it already, after enabling the "RESTRICT_TO_WORKSPACE=True" in the .env file. That worked for me to save files in stable version within docker, not running redis.

hi, where do i create this "home/appuser/auto_gpt_workspace"? thanks!

[LucyDH666]

The container stays saved if you run Auto-Gpt with this code:

''docker-compose run auto-gpt''

[bobisme]

this is a docker thing and not an auto-gpt issue. should this be closed?

[theskycow]

One the more prominent features is the ability to save to local files. Improving the user experience and reducing the need for users to go into depth with Docker would be super helpful. Possibly a commented out line in the Dockerfile with an example so people don't have to search for it? Maybe a command line flag to specify where on the local host outside the container files can be saved?

The existence of a workaround, and that this primarily relates to Docker, doesn't mean the experience can't be improved. I'd say keep it open.

[Boostrix]

mounting should work just fine for people familiar with docker, the only other idea that I can come up with is exposing the directory via some sort of network share/mount (NFS/Samba), or provide access to the workspace via something like WebDAV to make it really accessible for all sorts of purposes - that way, people could easily access the workspace

[mb5398]

you can just mount the directory you want it to write to. this is my current run command:

docker run --rm -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace -v $PWD/plugins:/app/plugins significantgravitas/auto-gpt

My problem is I don't see auto-gpt-run in docker, only Redis. When I open the files without Redis, I don't see home/appuser/auto_gpt_workspace, so I can't even find the file in docker. The solution here seems good, but do I need the significant gravitas plugin to run this? Can you run it without?

[LucyDH666]

you can just mount the directory you want it to write to. this is my current run command:

docker run --rm -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace -v $PWD/plugins:/app/plugins significantgravitas/auto-gpt

My problem is I don't see auto-gpt-run in docker, only Redis. When I open the files without Redis, I don't see home/appuser/auto_gpt_workspace, so I can't even find the file in docker. The solution here seems good, but do I need the significant gravitas plugin to run this? Can you run it without?

How do you mount it? I'm completely new to Docker and coding. I'm learning a lot now but haven't figured out how it works to save the output locally.

[aangelinsf]

How does this work for you with no :latest tag on the docker image?

@shuntera I had to set the version to 0.2.2 everywhere. I used the image on Docker Hub.

I opened an issue because the instructions are broken as currently written: https://github.com/Significant-Gravitas/Auto-GPT/issues/3592

[aangelinsf]

How do you mount it? I'm completely new to Docker and coding. I'm learning a lot now but haven't figured out how it works to save the output locally.

The mounting is embedded in the command. This bit: -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace

tells docker to mount the local directory <current_directory>/stuff into the container at /app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace.

There is another one for the plugins folder.

[Nexenn]

I'm running auto-GPT on cmd promt on windows in the auto-gpt folder. When using the following command to run it doesn't run at all.

docker run --rm -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace -v $PWD/plugins:/app/plugins significantgravitas/auto-gpt

[LucyDH666]

How do you mount it? I'm completely new to Docker and coding. I'm learning a lot now but haven't figured out how it works to save the output locally.

The mounting is embedded in the command. This bit: -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace

tells docker to mount the local directory <current_directory>/stuff into the container at /app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace.

There is another one for the plugins folder.

Thanks for the help, will try this out!

[markcam1]

I tried running this command. But none of the agent's output was saved to the local directory.

docker run -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/markspace:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace f773667da34a

[gpt-hacker]

I'm also running into this problem (using stable branch). I confirmed that manually writing a file to the workspace location within Docker works as expected, so I know this isn't a problem with my use of Docker.

docker run -it --env-file=.env -v $PWD/auto_gpt_workspace:/app/auto_gpt_workspace --entrypoint /bin/bash autogpt
touch /app/auto_gpt_workspace/test

I then check for the file in another terminal and see it as expected.

[shuntera]

How does this work for you with no :latest tag on the docker image?

@shuntera I had to set the version to 0.2.2 everywhere. I used the image on Docker Hub.

I opened an issue because the instructions are broken as currently written: #3592

Yes I had opened an issue for that too as the version did not have the 'latest' tag. Those that used docker build were not affected by that.

[shuntera]

I have used a couple of the suggestions listed here but still nothing written to my local file system under MacOS

[markcam1]

@ColbyLeeCode: thanks for this. Two questions please.

1. did you need to change your .env or Dockerfile to get this working?
2. how did you derive the container path for the workspace (app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace)?

you can just mount the directory you want it to write to. this is my current run command:

docker run --rm -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/stuff:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace -v $PWD/plugins:/app/plugins significantgravitas/auto-gpt

This works for me as well.

[markcam1]

I finally got this to work. By this is I mean saving Docker generated files to local directory. My steps:

1. Ran a simple test and looked where AutoGPT/Docker was trying to save files. In my case it was '/home/appuser/auto_gpt_workspace'
2. Reviewed Dockerfile and confirmed 'WORKDIR /home/appuser'
3. Ran AutoGPT using the command below.
4. Used a simple test agent that created a 'hello world' python file.
5. Checked local markspace directory and see two files: file_logger.txt and hello_world.py

docker run -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/markspace:/home/appuser/auto_gpt_workspace significantgravitas/auto-gpt:0.2.2

[gpt-hacker]

I asked for Auto-GPT to list files in the workspace: System: Command list_files returned: ['auto-gpt.json', 'file_logger.txt']

I verified there's definitely no file_logger.txt file anywhere so unsure of where that result is coming from.

[gpt-hacker]

Ok, after doing some debugging, I see that the workspace for the stable branch (latest) is actually /app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace.

So this command results in correct behavior docker run -it --env-file=./.env -v $PWD/auto_gpt_workspace:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace autogpt

[OlliSagi]

There are SO many steps that are not being explained here. Running the docker command wont work out of the box, especially not if you followed the instructions on the auto-gpt github repository.

[redfort1987]

I'm a complete noob with Docker, but I can't find the .env file to modify using docker. Can anyone explain where the image is put on my computer so I can open the file and modify the .env file?

[TomDF47]

Worth noting that I found a band-aid fix for this which was just to tell the bot not to use docker, just use the Python command from the shell.

[likwidtek]

Running this command works for me as well,

docker run --rm -it --name auto-gpt --env-file=.env -v $PWD/auto_gpt_workspace:/app/autogpt/auto_gpt_workspace -v $PWD/plugins:/app/plugins -v $PWD/data:/app/data -v $PWD/logs:/app/logs significantgravitas/auto-gpt

But this seems like a bandaid. How do I get this into the docker-compose.yml? I've tried adding the path numerous ways to the volume section but it refuses to build. Would anyone be able to supply a sample yml file that shows how to build the container while still mapping data, workspace, and logs to my home directory on windows?

[Boostrix]

Also see: #3434