deploying_agent

Deploying Agents with ZenML: Document Analysis Pipeline

This example shows how to build and deploy a minimal LLM-powered document analysis agentic workflow as a production HTTP endpoint using ZenML. You'll get structured insights (summary, keywords, sentiment, readability) from text-like inputs via an interactive web UI built directly into your deployment.

🎯 What You'll Build

A deployed ZenML pipeline with an embedded frontend application that:

• Ingests text from direct input, file uploads, or URLs (HTML is lightly cleaned)
• Extracts structured insights: summary, top keywords, sentiment, readability score
• Runs online or offline: uses OpenAI if OPENAI_API_KEY is set, otherwise a rule-based fallback
• Surfaces metrics: word count, latency, analysis method (AI or Rule-Based)
• Provides interactive UI: modern web interface embedded in the deployment
• Returns an HTML report for the ZenML dashboard.

The deployed pipeline application looks like this:

🚀 Get Started

Prerequisites

pip install "zenml[server]"
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxx   # Optional: if absent, the pipeline falls back to a deterministic analyzer

Setup

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/zenml-io/zenml.git
cd zenml/examples/deploying_agent
pip install -r requirements.txt
zenml init
zenml login

Phase 1: Deploy the Analysis Pipeline

Deploy the pipeline as a managed HTTP endpoint:

zenml pipeline deploy pipelines.doc_analyzer.doc_analyzer

Find your endpoint URL:

zenml deployment describe doc_analyzer

Phase 2: Analyze a Document

Use the ZenML CLI

zenml deployment invoke doc_analyzer \
  --content="Artificial Intelligence is transforming how we work..." \
  --filename="ai-overview.txt" \
  --document_type="text"

Call the HTTP endpoint directly

If you prefer curl/requests, send a JSON body with parameters:

ENDPOINT=http://localhost:8000   # replace with your deployment URL
curl -X POST "$ENDPOINT/invoke" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "parameters": {
      "content": "Your text here...",
      "filename": "document.txt",
      "document_type": "text"
    }
  }'

If your deployment requires auth, include:

-H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_KEY>"

Phase 3: Use the Web Interface

Visit the interactive UI at your deployment URL:

http://localhost:8000

The UI provides:

• Direct Content Tab: Paste or write content directly in the interface
• Upload File Tab: Upload text files, markdown, code, or HTML documents
• URL Tab: Provide a URL to analyze web pages or remote documents

Select the input method, review your content, and click the analyze button to get insights.

🤖 How It Works

The pipeline orchestrates three steps:

@pipeline(settings={"docker": docker_settings}, enable_cache=False)
def doc_analyzer(content=None, url=None, path=None, filename=None, document_type="text"):
    document = ingest_document_step(content, url, path, filename, document_type)
    analysis = analyze_document_step(document)          # OpenAI or deterministic fallback
    render_analysis_report_step(analysis)               # HTML report for the dashboard
    return analysis

• LLM path: When OPENAI_API_KEY is present, analyze_document_step calls OpenAI chat completions and parses a structured JSON response.
• Fallback path: A rule‑based analyzer produces a summary, keywords, and readability without external calls.

🌐 Embedded Web UI

The example includes a modern, responsive SPA (Single Page Application) that is automatically embedded in your deployment. Key features:

• Multi-tab interface: Direct content input, file upload, or URL analysis
• Real-time feedback: Loading states and clear error messages
• Metrics display: Word count, processing time, readability score, analysis method
• Rich results: Summary, sentiment analysis, keyword extraction, document metadata
• Responsive design: Works seamlessly on desktop and mobile devices
• Zero configuration: Automatically served at your deployment URL

The UI is defined in ui/index.html and configured via the DeploymentSettings in the pipeline. ZenML automatically serves this interface alongside your API endpoint.

🔧 Production Notes

The pipeline comes pre-configured with Docker and deployment settings in pipelines/doc_analyzer.py:

docker_settings = DockerSettings(
    requirements="requirements.txt",
    environment={"OPENAI_API_KEY": "${OPENAI_API_KEY}"},
)

deployment_settings = DeploymentSettings(
    app_title="Document Analysis Pipeline",
    dashboard_files_path="ui",
    cors=CORSConfig(allow_origins=["*"]),
)

These settings are automatically applied when you deploy:

• Docker: Installs dependencies and passes the OpenAI API key
• Deployment: Configures the UI title, serves files from the ui/ directory, and enables CORS for cross-origin requests

If you need to override settings or add deployer-specific options (like authentication), create a YAML config file:

# my_config.yaml (optional)
settings:
  deployer:
    generate_auth_key: true

Then deploy with:

zenml pipeline deploy pipelines.doc_analyzer.doc_analyzer --config my_config.yaml

Scaling & concurrency options vary by orchestrator/deployment target; consult the ZenML deployment docs for deployment configuration options.

📁 Project Structure

examples/minimal_agent_production/
├── pipelines/
│   └── doc_analyzer.py          # Pipeline definition with DeploymentSettings
├── steps/
│   ├── analyze.py               # LLM analysis + deterministic fallback
│   ├── ingest.py                # Text/URL/path ingestion
│   ├── render.py                # HTML report renderer
│   ├── utils.py                 # Text cleaning & heuristics
│   └── templates/
│       ├── report.css           # Report styling
│       └── report.html          # Report template
├── ui/
│   └── index.html               # Embedded SPA web interface
├── constants.py                  # Tunables & UI constants
├── models.py                     # Pydantic models for I/O
├── prompts.py                    # LLM prompt builder
└── requirements.txt              # Extra deps (OpenAI)

🎯 The Big Picture

This is the same steps → pipeline → artifacts pattern you use for classic ML, now applied to an LLM workflow. You get deployable endpoints, reproducibility, and dashboard artifacts without building a bespoke web service.

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