windmill/backend

Windmill Backend

This folder holds all backend components, the src/ folder only contains files used to build the "root" binary.

Components

name	description
windmill-api	The API server, exposing functionality to other components and the frontend
windmill-audit	Contains audit functionality, allowing different components to record important actions
windmill-common	Common code shared by all crates
windmill-queue	Contains job & flow queuing functionality, commonly written to by the API server and read from by workers
windmill-worker	The worker. Used to process and execute flows & jobs.
parsers	Contains code to parse signatures in different langauges.

Features

Embedded PostgreSQL (pg_embed)

The pg_embed feature allows Windmill to run with an embedded PostgreSQL database, eliminating the need for a separate PostgreSQL instance. This is useful for local development, testing, or single-machine deployments.

Building with pg_embed:

cargo build --features pg_embed

System Dependencies:

The embedded PostgreSQL requires certain system libraries to be installed:

• Arch Linux:

  sudo pacman -S libxml2 icu openssl
  

• Ubuntu/Debian:

  sudo apt-get install libxml2 libicu-dev libssl-dev
  

• RHEL/Fedora:

  sudo dnf install libxml2 libicu openssl-libs
  

Usage:

When the pg_embed feature is enabled, if DATABASE_URL is not set, Windmill will automatically start an embedded PostgreSQL instance.

You can customize the embedded PostgreSQL behavior with these environment variables:

• PG_EMBED_DATA_DIR: Directory for PostgreSQL data (default: ./postgresql_data)
• PG_EMBED_PORT: Port for PostgreSQL (default: 5432)
• PG_EMBED_DATABASE: Database name (default: windmill)
• PG_EMBED: Set to any value to force embedded PostgreSQL even if DATABASE_URL exists

Example:

# Run with default embedded PostgreSQL
./windmill

# Or with custom settings
PG_EMBED_DATA_DIR=/my/data PG_EMBED_PORT=5433 ./windmill

Compile sqlx for offline ci

cargo sqlx prepare --workspace -- --bin windmill --features enterprise