LibreChatProject Architecture
Overview of LibreChat's monorepo workspace structure and package boundaries.
Archived documentation
You are reading the frozen documentation for v0.8.7, which is no longer maintained. Go to the latest docs.
Monorepo Structure
LibreChat is organized as a monorepo with clearly defined workspace boundaries:
| Workspace | Language | Side | Dependency | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
/api | JS (legacy) | Backend | packages/api, packages/data-schemas, packages/data-provider, @librechat/agents | Express server — minimize changes here |
/packages/api | TypeScript | Backend | packages/data-schemas, packages/data-provider | New backend code lives here (TS only, consumed by /api) |
/packages/data-schemas | TypeScript | Backend | packages/data-provider | Database models/schemas, shareable across backend projects |
/packages/data-provider | TypeScript | Shared | — | Shared API types, endpoints, data-service — used by both frontend and backend |
/client | TypeScript/React | Frontend | packages/data-provider, packages/client | Frontend SPA |
/packages/client | TypeScript | Frontend | packages/data-provider | Shared frontend utilities |
Key Principles
- All new backend code must be TypeScript in
/packages/api. - Keep
/apichanges to the absolute minimum — thin JS wrappers calling into/packages/api. - Database-specific shared logic belongs in
/packages/data-schemas. - Frontend/backend shared API logic (endpoints, types, data-service) belongs in
/packages/data-provider.
Build and Install
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
npm run smart-reinstall | Install deps (if lockfile changed) + build via Turborepo |
npm run reinstall | Clean install after changing Node/npm versions or when dependency state is suspect |
npm run build | Build all compiled code via Turborepo (parallel, cached) |
npm run frontend | Build all compiled code sequentially (legacy fallback) |
npm run build:data-provider | Rebuild packages/data-provider after changes |
npm run backend | Start the backend server |
npm run backend:dev | Start backend with file watching (development) |
npm run frontend:dev | Start frontend dev server with HMR (port 3090, requires backend running) |
- Node.js:
v24.16.0 - npm:
v11.16.0 - Database: MongoDB
- Backend runs on
http://localhost:3080/; frontend dev server onhttp://localhost:3090/
Note
For the full set of coding standards and conventions, see Code Standards and Conventions.