LangChain Python Tutorial: Complete Guide 2025

Building AI-powered features in your Python applications has never been more accessible. With LangChain, you can integrate OpenAI, Anthropic, and other LLM providers directly into your Django and FastAPI projects without wrestling with complex API integrations.

This comprehensive tutorial walks you through everything you need to build your first AI agent in Python—from installation to production deployment. By the end, you’ll have working code examples and understand how to integrate LangChain into real Python applications.

All code examples in this tutorial are available in our GitHub repository: jetthoughts/langchain-python-examples

Clone and run immediately:

git clone https://github.com/jetthoughts/langchain-python-examples.git
cd langchain-python-examples
pip install -r requirements.txt
python examples/04_qa_bot.py

Table of Contents #

  1. Why LangChain Matters for Python Developers

  2. Installation & Setup

  3. Building Your First LLM App

  4. Django Integration

  5. FastAPI Integration

  6. Testing LangChain Applications

  7. Production Considerations

  8. Troubleshooting Common Issues

  9. Next Steps & Resources

  10. Why LangChain Matters for Python Developers

  11. Installation & Setup

  12. Building Your First LLM App

  13. Django Integration

  14. FastAPI Integration

  15. Production Considerations

  16. Troubleshooting Common Issues

  17. Next Steps & Resources

Why LangChain Matters for Python Developers #

LangChain has become the standard framework for building production-ready LLM applications in Python. Here’s why it’s transforming how Python developers build AI features:

The Problem Before LangChain #

Before LangChain: Python developers had to write custom API clients for each LLM provider, handle rate limiting manually, build conversation management systems from scratch, and maintain complex retry logic across different APIs.

After LangChain: You get a batteries-included framework with:

  • Unified LLM Interface: Switch between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Cohere, and 100+ providers with one line of code
  • Built-in Memory Management: Handle conversation context, token limits, and summarization automatically
  • Tool Integration: Extend AI capabilities with function calling, web search, databases, and custom tools
  • Vector Database Support: Build semantic search and RAG applications with Pinecone, Qdrant, Weaviate, pgvector
  • Production-Ready Patterns: Error handling, retry logic, streaming responses, async support

LangChain for Django vs. FastAPI #

If you’re working with Python web frameworks, here’s what you need to know:

Comparing Frameworks? If you’re evaluating Python vs. Ruby for AI development, read our complete guide to LangChain-Ruby to see how Ruby’s approach differs from Python’s LangChain ecosystem.

FeatureDjango IntegrationFastAPI Integration
Setup ComplexityModerate (ORM integration)Simple (async-first)
Background JobsCelery recommendedBuilt-in async tasks
StreamingDjango Channels requiredNative streaming support
Admin InterfaceBuilt-in admin panelsManual API design
Async SupportDjango 4.1+ requiredNative async support
Best ForFull-stack apps, admin panelsAPIs, microservices

Real-World Use Cases for Python Developers #

LangChain shines in these Python application scenarios:

  1. Django Content Management: Generate blog posts, product descriptions, or email campaigns from your Django admin
  2. FastAPI Chatbot APIs: Build scalable conversational AI endpoints with streaming responses
  3. Customer Support Automation: Create intelligent support ticket analysis and response suggestions
  4. Data Analysis Chatbots: Query your PostgreSQL/MongoDB databases using natural language
  5. Semantic Search: Upgrade your search functionality with vector-based similarity matching
  6. Document Processing: Summarize PDFs, extract key information, generate reports

Installation & Setup #

Let’s get LangChain running in Python with proper virtual environment management and API key security.

Prerequisites #

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • Python 3.8+ (LangChain requires Python 3.8 or higher, 3.11+ recommended for best performance)
  • pip or poetry (package management)
  • An LLM API key (OpenAI or Anthropic recommended)

Check your Python version:

python --version
# Should show: Python 3.8.0 or higher (3.11+ recommended)

Setting Up Virtual Environment #

Best Practice: Always use virtual environments to avoid dependency conflicts.

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv langchain_env

# Activate virtual environment
# On macOS/Linux:
source langchain_env/bin/activate
# On Windows:
langchain_env\Scripts\activate

# Verify activation (should show path to virtual env)
which python

Installing LangChain and Dependencies #

Install LangChain with the OpenAI integration:

# Core LangChain installation
pip install langchain==0.1.0

# OpenAI integration (most popular)
pip install langchain-openai==0.0.2

# Optional: Anthropic integration for Claude
pip install langchain-anthropic==0.0.2

# Optional: Community integrations
pip install langchain-community==0.0.10

Version Note: Use LangChain 0.1.0+ for the latest API patterns. Version 0.3.x introduced breaking changes to the Agents API.

API Key Management (Security Best Practices) #

NEVER hardcode API keys! Use environment variables with python-dotenv.

  1. Install python-dotenv:
pip install python-dotenv==1.0.0
  1. Create .env file (add to .gitignore!):
# .env
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-openai-key-here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-anthropic-key-here
  1. Add .env to .gitignore:
# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
venv/
langchain_env/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
  1. Load environment variables in your code:
# main.py
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

# Load environment variables from .env file
load_dotenv()

# Access API keys securely
openai_key = os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
anthropic_key = os.getenv('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY')

Configuring LLM Providers #

LangChain supports 100+ LLM providers. Here’s how to configure the most popular ones:

OpenAI Configuration #

# configure_openai.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()

# Initialize OpenAI LLM
llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
    temperature=0.7,  # 0 = deterministic, 1 = creative
    max_tokens=1000,
    api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
)

# Test the connection
response = llm.invoke("Say 'Hello from OpenAI!' in exactly 5 words.")
print(response.content)

Anthropic (Claude) Configuration #

# configure_anthropic.py
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()

# Claude is often better for production (lower hallucination rates)
llm = ChatAnthropic(
    model="claude-3-sonnet-20240229",
    max_tokens=1024,
    temperature=0.5,
    api_key=os.getenv('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY')
)

# Test the connection
response = llm.invoke("Say 'Hello from Claude!' in exactly 5 words.")
print(response.content)

Testing Your Setup: “Hello World” Example #

Verify everything works with a complete LangChain application:

# test_langchain.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage, SystemMessage
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()

# Initialize LLM
llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
    api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
)

# Create messages with system context
messages = [
    SystemMessage(content="You are a helpful Python programming assistant."),
    HumanMessage(content="Explain Python in exactly 3 sentences. Be encouraging!")
]

# Make your first AI call
response = llm.invoke(messages)
print(response.content)

Run it:

python test_langchain.py

Expected Output (from GPT-4):

Python is a versatile, beginner-friendly programming language known for its readable syntax and powerful libraries. It’s used everywhere from web development with Django/FastAPI to data science and AI applications. You’ll love how Python makes complex programming concepts simple and approachable!

If you see output like this, congratulations! LangChain is working.

Building Your First LLM App #

Now let’s build something more sophisticated: a conversational AI assistant that remembers context.

Understanding LangChain Core Concepts #

Before diving into code, understand these key concepts:

ConceptWhat It DoesWhen to Use
LLMBasic text completionSimple prompts, single responses
Chat ModelConversation-aware LLMMulti-turn conversations, context
ChainSequence of LLM callsMulti-step workflows, data transformations
AgentLLM + tools + decision-makingDynamic problem-solving, external API calls
MemoryConversation historyChatbots, multi-turn interactions
RetrieverSemantic searchRAG applications, document QA

Rule of Thumb: Start with Chat Models, use Chains for workflows, use Agents when you need decision-making.

Creating a Simple Question-Answering Bot #

Here’s a complete AI bot that can answer questions about Python:

# python_assistant.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.memory import ConversationBufferMemory
from langchain.chains import ConversationChain
from langchain.prompts import PromptTemplate
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()

class PythonAssistant:
    def __init__(self):
        # Set up LLM
        self.llm = ChatOpenAI(
            model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
            temperature=0.7,
            api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
        )

        # Set up memory to remember conversation context
        self.memory = ConversationBufferMemory(
            return_messages=True,
            memory_key="chat_history"
        )

        # Create custom prompt template
        prompt = PromptTemplate(
            input_variables=["chat_history", "input"],
            template="""You are a helpful Python programming expert.
            Provide clear, practical advice with code examples.
            Be encouraging and reference Python best practices.

            Conversation history: {chat_history}

            Human: {input}
            Assistant:"""
        )

        # Create conversation chain
        self.conversation = ConversationChain(
            llm=self.llm,
            memory=self.memory,
            prompt=prompt,
            verbose=True  # Shows chain execution steps
        )

    def ask(self, question):
        """Ask a question and get AI response"""
        try:
            response = self.conversation.predict(input=question)
            return response
        except Exception as e:
            return f"Error: {str(e)}"

    def get_conversation_history(self):
        """Get conversation history"""
        return self.memory.load_memory_variables({})

# Usage example
if __name__ == "__main__":
    assistant = PythonAssistant()

    # Ask multiple questions - assistant remembers context!
    print("Q: What's a Python decorator?")
    print(assistant.ask("What's a Python decorator? Give a simple example."))
    print("\n---\n")

    print("Q: How do I use it with classes?")
    # Assistant remembers we're talking about decorators!
    print(assistant.ask("How do I use it with classes?"))
    print("\n---\n")

    # Show conversation history
    print("Conversation so far:")
    history = assistant.get_conversation_history()
    print(history['chat_history'])

Key Features in This Example:

  • ✅ Memory management (assistant remembers context)
  • ✅ Error handling (production-ready)
  • ✅ Conversation history tracking
  • ✅ Custom prompt template for consistent behavior
  • ✅ Verbose mode for debugging

Adding Memory Strategies #

LangChain provides multiple memory strategies for different use cases:

1. Buffer Memory (Simple, Fixed Window) #

from langchain.memory import ConversationBufferMemory

# Keep all conversation history
memory = ConversationBufferMemory(
    return_messages=True,
    memory_key="chat_history"
)

Best For: Short conversations, simple chatbots Token Cost: High (keeps all messages)

2. Buffer Window Memory (Recent N Messages) #

from langchain.memory import ConversationBufferWindowMemory

# Keep last N messages only
memory = ConversationBufferWindowMemory(
    k=10,  # Keep last 10 messages
    return_messages=True,
    memory_key="chat_history"
)

Best For: Long conversations with limited token budget Token Cost: Medium (keeps last K messages)

3. Summary Memory (Compressed Context) #

from langchain.memory import ConversationSummaryMemory
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-3.5-turbo")  # Use cheaper model for summaries

# Automatically summarize older messages
memory = ConversationSummaryMemory(
    llm=llm,
    return_messages=True,
    memory_key="chat_history"
)

Best For: Very long conversations, cost optimization Token Cost: Low (summarizes old messages)

4. Token Buffer Memory (Stay Under Token Limits) #

from langchain.memory import ConversationTokenBufferMemory
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview")

# Ensure we never exceed token limits
memory = ConversationTokenBufferMemory(
    llm=llm,
    max_token_limit=4000,  # For GPT-4 Turbo (8K context)
    return_messages=True,
    memory_key="chat_history"
)

Best For: Production apps with strict token budgets Token Cost: Controlled (auto-trims to token limit)

Implementing Tool Use (Function Calling) #

Tools let your AI agent interact with external systems. Here’s how to add a calculator tool:

# calculator_agent.py
from langchain.agents import AgentExecutor, create_openai_functions_agent
from langchain.tools import StructuredTool
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.prompts import ChatPromptTemplate, MessagesPlaceholder
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()

def calculator_tool(expression: str) -> str:
    """
    Evaluate mathematical expressions safely.

    Args:
        expression: Mathematical expression to evaluate (e.g., "2 + 2", "10 * 5")

    Returns:
        Result of the calculation as a string
    """
    try:
        # Safe evaluation (restricted to math operations)
        result = eval(expression, {"__builtins__": {}}, {})
        return str(result)
    except Exception as e:
        return f"Error: {str(e)}"

class CalculatorAgent:
    def __init__(self):
        # Initialize LLM
        self.llm = ChatOpenAI(
            model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
            api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
        )

        # Define calculator tool
        calculator = StructuredTool.from_function(
            func=calculator_tool,
            name="calculator",
            description="Useful for performing mathematical calculations. Input should be a valid mathematical expression."
        )

        # Create agent prompt
        prompt = ChatPromptTemplate.from_messages([
            ("system", "You are a helpful assistant with access to a calculator. Always show your work."),
            MessagesPlaceholder(variable_name="chat_history", optional=True),
            ("human", "{input}"),
            MessagesPlaceholder(variable_name="agent_scratchpad")
        ])

        # Create agent with tools
        agent = create_openai_functions_agent(
            llm=self.llm,
            tools=[calculator],
            prompt=prompt
        )

        # Create agent executor
        self.agent_executor = AgentExecutor(
            agent=agent,
            tools=[calculator],
            verbose=True
        )

    def calculate(self, problem):
        """Solve a mathematical problem"""
        response = self.agent_executor.invoke({"input": problem})
        return response['output']

# Usage
if __name__ == "__main__":
    calc_agent = CalculatorAgent()

    result = calc_agent.calculate("What's 1,234 * 567 + 89?")
    print(result)
    # Agent will:
    # 1. Recognize it needs to calculate
    # 2. Use the calculator tool: (1234 * 567) + 89
    # 3. Return: "The answer is 699,667"

Available Built-In Tools:

  • langchain.tools.WikipediaQueryRun - Wikipedia lookups
  • langchain.tools.DuckDuckGoSearchRun - Web search
  • langchain.tools.PythonREPLTool - Execute Python code safely
  • langchain.tools.FileManagementTool - File operations
  • langchain.tools.ShellTool - Execute shell commands (use with caution!)

Django Integration #

Let’s integrate LangChain into a Django application with proper architecture patterns.

Django Architecture Patterns for AI #

Follow these patterns to keep your Django app clean:

myproject/
├── ai_assistant/          # Django app for AI features
│   ├── models.py         # Store conversations, messages
│   ├── services.py       # Business logic with LangChain
│   ├── tasks.py          # Celery tasks for async AI processing
│   ├── views.py          # API endpoints for AI chat
│   └── admin.py          # Admin interface for monitoring
├── manage.py
└── requirements.txt

Install Django-specific dependencies (including security):

pip install django>=4.2.0
pip install celery redis
pip install bleach  # For input sanitization (XSS prevention)

Django Models for AI Conversations #

# ai_assistant/models.py
from django.db import models
from django.contrib.auth.models import User

class Conversation(models.Model):
    user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='conversations')
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
    status = models.CharField(
        max_length=20,
        choices=[
            ('active', 'Active'),
            ('processing', 'Processing'),
            ('completed', 'Completed'),
            ('error', 'Error')
        ],
        default='active'
    )

    class Meta:
        ordering = ['-updated_at']

    def __str__(self):
        return f"{self.user.username} - {self.title}"

class AIMessage(models.Model):
    conversation = models.ForeignKey(Conversation, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='messages')
    role = models.CharField(
        max_length=20,
        choices=[
            ('user', 'User'),
            ('assistant', 'Assistant'),
            ('system', 'System')
        ]
    )
    content = models.TextField()
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    token_count = models.IntegerField(null=True, blank=True)

    class Meta:
        ordering = ['created_at']

    def __str__(self):
        return f"{self.role}: {self.content[:50]}"

class TokenUsage(models.Model):
    conversation = models.ForeignKey(Conversation, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='token_usage')
    prompt_tokens = models.IntegerField()
    completion_tokens = models.IntegerField()
    total_tokens = models.IntegerField()
    estimated_cost_usd = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=6)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

    def __str__(self):
        return f"Conversation {self.conversation.id}: {self.total_tokens} tokens (${self.estimated_cost_usd})"

Django View Integration #

Here’s a production-ready Django view for an AI chatbot:

Django Architecture Patterns: For more patterns on keeping Django views clean and maintainable, check out our guide on cleaning up views with view objects —the same principles apply to Django class-based views.

# ai_assistant/views.py
from django.http import JsonResponse
from django.views.decorators.http import require_http_methods
from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
import json
import bleach  # For input sanitization
from .models import Conversation, AIMessage
from .tasks import generate_ai_response_task

@login_required
@require_http_methods(["POST"])
@csrf_exempt  # Use proper CSRF protection in production
def chat(request):
    """Handle AI chat requests"""
    try:
        data = json.loads(request.body)
        user_message = data.get('message')
        conversation_id = data.get('conversation_id')

        if not user_message:
            return JsonResponse({'error': 'Message is required'}, status=400)

        # Sanitize user input to prevent XSS and prompt injection
        # Allow only safe HTML tags, strip everything else
        user_message = bleach.clean(
            user_message,
            tags=[],  # No HTML tags allowed
            strip=True  # Strip disallowed tags instead of escaping
        ).strip()

        # Additional validation after sanitization
        if not user_message:
            return JsonResponse({'error': 'Message cannot be empty after sanitization'}, status=400)

        # Rate limiting (prevent abuse)
        user_messages_today = AIMessage.objects.filter(
            conversation__user=request.user,
            role='user',
            created_at__date=timezone.now().date()
        ).count()

        if user_messages_today >= 50:
            return JsonResponse({
                'error': 'Daily AI message limit reached (50/day)'
            }, status=429)

        # Get or create conversation
        if conversation_id:
            conversation = Conversation.objects.get(
                id=conversation_id,
                user=request.user
            )
        else:
            conversation = Conversation.objects.create(
                user=request.user,
                title=user_message[:50]  # Use first message as title
            )

        # Store user's message
        AIMessage.objects.create(
            conversation=conversation,
            role='user',
            content=user_message
        )

        # Process with AI asynchronously (recommended for production)
        generate_ai_response_task.delay(
            conversation_id=conversation.id,
            user_message=user_message
        )

        return JsonResponse({
            'status': 'processing',
            'conversation_id': conversation.id,
            'message': 'AI is thinking...'
        }, status=202)

    except Conversation.DoesNotExist:
        return JsonResponse({'error': 'Conversation not found'}, status=404)
    except Exception as e:
        return JsonResponse({'error': str(e)}, status=500)

@login_required
@require_http_methods(["GET"])
def get_conversation(request, conversation_id):
    """Get conversation history"""
    try:
        conversation = Conversation.objects.get(
            id=conversation_id,
            user=request.user
        )

        messages = conversation.messages.all().values('role', 'content', 'created_at')

        return JsonResponse({
            'conversation_id': conversation.id,
            'title': conversation.title,
            'status': conversation.status,
            'messages': list(messages)
        })

    except Conversation.DoesNotExist:
        return JsonResponse({'error': 'Conversation not found'}, status=404)

Background Job Processing with Celery #

Process AI requests asynchronously to keep your Django app responsive:

# ai_assistant/tasks.py
from celery import shared_task
from .models import Conversation, AIMessage, TokenUsage
from .services import AiAssistantService
import logging

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

@shared_task(bind=True, max_retries=3)
def generate_ai_response_task(self, conversation_id, user_message):
    """
    Generate AI response asynchronously.

    Args:
        conversation_id: ID of the conversation
        user_message: User's message content
    """
    try:
        conversation = Conversation.objects.get(id=conversation_id)
        conversation.status = 'processing'
        conversation.save()

        # Generate AI response using LangChain service
        service = AiAssistantService(conversation)
        ai_response, usage = service.respond_to(user_message)

        # Store AI response
        AIMessage.objects.create(
            conversation=conversation,
            role='assistant',
            content=ai_response,
            token_count=usage.get('completion_tokens')
        )

        # Track token usage for billing
        TokenUsage.objects.create(
            conversation=conversation,
            prompt_tokens=usage.get('prompt_tokens', 0),
            completion_tokens=usage.get('completion_tokens', 0),
            total_tokens=usage.get('total_tokens', 0),
            estimated_cost_usd=calculate_cost(usage)
        )

        # Update conversation status
        conversation.status = 'completed'
        conversation.save()

        logger.info(f"AI response generated for conversation {conversation_id}")

    except Conversation.DoesNotExist:
        logger.error(f"Conversation {conversation_id} not found")
        raise
    except Exception as e:
        logger.error(f"Error generating AI response: {str(e)}")
        # Retry with exponential backoff
        raise self.retry(exc=e, countdown=2 ** self.request.retries)

def calculate_cost(usage):
    """Calculate estimated cost in USD"""
    # GPT-4 Turbo pricing (as of 2025)
    prompt_cost = usage.get('prompt_tokens', 0) * 0.00001    # $0.01 per 1K tokens
    completion_cost = usage.get('completion_tokens', 0) * 0.00003  # $0.03 per 1K tokens
    return prompt_cost + completion_cost

Caching Strategies for LLM Responses #

LLM calls are expensive. Cache intelligently:

# ai_assistant/services.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.memory import ConversationBufferMemory
from langchain.chains import ConversationChain
from django.core.cache import cache
from django.conf import settings
import hashlib
import os

class AiAssistantService:
    def __init__(self, conversation):
        self.conversation = conversation
        self.llm = ChatOpenAI(
            model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
            temperature=0.7,
            api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
        )

    def respond_to(self, message):
        """Generate AI response with caching"""
        # Cache identical questions (exact match)
        cache_key = f"ai_response:{hashlib.sha256(message.encode()).hexdigest()}"

        cached_response = cache.get(cache_key)
        if cached_response:
            return cached_response, {'prompt_tokens': 0, 'completion_tokens': 0, 'total_tokens': 0}

        # Generate response only if not cached
        response, usage = self._generate_response(message)

        # Cache for 24 hours
        cache.set(cache_key, response, timeout=60*60*24)

        return response, usage

    def _generate_response(self, message):
        """Generate response using LangChain"""
        # Load conversation history for context
        memory = self._build_memory_from_conversation()

        conversation = ConversationChain(
            llm=self.llm,
            memory=memory,
            verbose=settings.DEBUG
        )

        try:
            response = conversation.predict(input=message)

            # Extract token usage (if available)
            usage = {
                'prompt_tokens': getattr(self.llm, 'prompt_tokens', 0),
                'completion_tokens': getattr(self.llm, 'completion_tokens', 0),
                'total_tokens': getattr(self.llm, 'total_tokens', 0)
            }

            return response, usage

        except Exception as e:
            raise Exception(f"AI generation error: {str(e)}")

    def _build_memory_from_conversation(self):
        """Build LangChain memory from Django conversation history"""
        memory = ConversationBufferMemory(
            return_messages=True,
            memory_key="chat_history"
        )

        # Load last 20 messages from database
        messages = self.conversation.messages.all()[:20]
        for msg in messages:
            if msg.role == 'user':
                memory.chat_memory.add_user_message(msg.content)
            elif msg.role == 'assistant':
                memory.chat_memory.add_ai_message(msg.content)

        return memory

FastAPI Integration #

FastAPI is perfect for building AI-powered APIs with native async support and automatic API documentation.

API Architecture Patterns: For scalable API design patterns including rate limiting, versioning, and documentation strategies, explore our guide on building scalable Rails APIs —these architecture principles are framework-agnostic.

FastAPI Project Structure #

fastapi_ai/
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── main.py           # FastAPI app and routes
│   ├── models.py         # Pydantic models
│   ├── services.py       # LangChain business logic
│   ├── config.py         # Configuration
│   └── dependencies.py   # Dependency injection
├── requirements.txt
└── .env

FastAPI with Streaming Responses #

# app/main.py
from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Depends
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse
from pydantic import BaseModel
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.callbacks.streaming_stdout import StreamingStdOutCallbackHandler
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage
from typing import AsyncIterator
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

app = FastAPI(title="LangChain FastAPI Demo")

class ChatRequest(BaseModel):
    message: str
    stream: bool = False

class ChatResponse(BaseModel):
    response: str
    tokens_used: int

# Initialize LLM with streaming support
llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
    temperature=0.7,
    streaming=True,
    api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
)

@app.post("/chat", response_model=ChatResponse)
async def chat(request: ChatRequest):
    """
    Non-streaming chat endpoint.

    Example request:
    ```
    POST /chat
    {
        "message": "Explain async Python in 2 sentences",
        "stream": false
    }
    ```
    """
    try:
        response = llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content=request.message)])

        return ChatResponse(
            response=response.content,
            tokens_used=response.response_metadata.get('token_usage', {}).get('total_tokens', 0)
        )
    except Exception as e:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(e))

@app.post("/chat/stream")
async def chat_stream(request: ChatRequest):
    """
    Streaming chat endpoint with Server-Sent Events.

    Example request:
    ```
    POST /chat/stream
    {
        "message": "Write a Python function to calculate Fibonacci"
    }
    ```

    Response streams token-by-token for real-time UX.
    """
    async def generate() -> AsyncIterator[str]:
        try:
            async for chunk in llm.astream([HumanMessage(content=request.message)]):
                if chunk.content:
                    yield f"data: {chunk.content}\n\n"
            yield "data: [DONE]\n\n"
        except Exception as e:
            yield f"data: Error: {str(e)}\n\n"

    return StreamingResponse(
        generate(),
        media_type="text/event-stream",
        headers={
            "Cache-Control": "no-cache",
            "X-Accel-Buffering": "no"  # Disable nginx buffering
        }
    )

@app.get("/health")
async def health_check():
    """Health check endpoint"""
    return {"status": "healthy", "service": "langchain-fastapi"}

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import uvicorn
    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=8000)

FastAPI Background Tasks with Celery #

For heavy AI processing, use Celery with FastAPI:

# app/tasks.py
from celery import Celery
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage
import os

celery_app = Celery(
    'fastapi_ai',
    broker=os.getenv('REDIS_URL', 'redis://localhost:6379/0'),
    backend=os.getenv('REDIS_URL', 'redis://localhost:6379/0')
)

@celery_app.task
def process_ai_request(message: str, user_id: str):
    """Process AI request in background"""
    llm = ChatOpenAI(
        model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
        api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
    )

    response = llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content=message)])

    # Store result in database or cache
    # ... (implementation depends on your storage layer)

    return {
        'user_id': user_id,
        'response': response.content,
        'status': 'completed'
    }

# app/main.py (add background task endpoint)
from app.tasks import process_ai_request as ai_task

@app.post("/chat/async")
async def chat_async(request: ChatRequest, background_tasks: BackgroundTasks):
    """
    Submit AI request for background processing.
    Returns task ID immediately, process result asynchronously.
    """
    task = ai_task.delay(request.message, user_id="example_user")

    return {
        "task_id": task.id,
        "status": "processing",
        "message": "Your request is being processed"
    }

@app.get("/chat/async/{task_id}")
async def get_task_status(task_id: str):
    """Check status of background AI task"""
    task = ai_task.AsyncResult(task_id)

    if task.ready():
        return {
            "task_id": task_id,
            "status": "completed",
            "result": task.result
        }
    else:
        return {
            "task_id": task_id,
            "status": "processing"
        }

Error Handling and Rate Limiting #

Production FastAPI apps need robust error handling and rate limiting:

# app/dependencies.py
from fastapi import HTTPException, Request
from slowapi import Limiter, _rate_limit_exceeded_handler
from slowapi.util import get_remote_address
from slowapi.errors import RateLimitExceeded
from langchain.schema import LLMResult
from typing import Optional
import logging

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

# Rate limiter
limiter = Limiter(key_func=get_remote_address)

# app/main.py (add rate limiting)
app.state.limiter = limiter
app.add_exception_handler(RateLimitExceeded, _rate_limit_exceeded_handler)

@app.post("/chat")
@limiter.limit("10/minute")  # 10 requests per minute per IP
async def chat(request: Request, chat_request: ChatRequest):
    """Rate-limited chat endpoint"""
    try:
        response = llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content=chat_request.message)])
        return ChatResponse(
            response=response.content,
            tokens_used=response.response_metadata.get('token_usage', {}).get('total_tokens', 0)
        )
    except Exception as e:
        logger.error(f"Chat error: {str(e)}")
        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail="AI service unavailable")

Production Considerations #

Running LangChain in production requires careful planning around costs, performance, and reliability.

Cost Optimization Strategies #

LLM calls are your biggest expense. Optimize aggressively:

Performance Optimization: For broader Python/Django performance strategies including database optimization and caching patterns, read our guide on optimizing Rails performance —many principles translate directly to Django applications.

1. Use Cheaper Models When Possible #

# model_selector.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

class ModelSelector:
    @staticmethod
    def select_for_task(task_complexity: str) -> ChatOpenAI:
        """Select most cost-effective model for task"""
        if task_complexity == "simple":
            # Grammar fixing, simple classification
            return ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-3.5-turbo", max_tokens=500)
        elif task_complexity == "moderate":
            # Summaries, basic reasoning
            return ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview", max_tokens=1000)
        elif task_complexity == "complex":
            # Advanced reasoning, code generation
            return ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4", max_tokens=2000)
        else:
            # Default to balanced option
            return ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview", max_tokens=1000)

# Usage
llm = ModelSelector.select_for_task("simple")  # Use GPT-3.5-Turbo for simple tasks

Savings: GPT-3.5-Turbo costs 10x less than GPT-4!

2. Implement Aggressive Caching #

# semantic_cache.py
from langchain.cache import RedisCache
from langchain.globals import set_llm_cache
import redis

# Set up Redis cache for LangChain
redis_client = redis.Redis(host='localhost', port=6379, db=0)
set_llm_cache(RedisCache(redis_client))

# Now all LLM calls are automatically cached!
# Identical inputs return cached results instantly (0 cost)

3. Set Strict Token Limits #

# token_limiter.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.callbacks import get_openai_callback

def generate_with_budget(prompt: str, max_cost_usd: float = 0.10):
    """Generate response with strict budget limit"""
    llm = ChatOpenAI(
        model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
        max_tokens=1500  # Hard limit
    )

    with get_openai_callback() as cb:
        response = llm.invoke(prompt)

        # Check if we exceeded budget
        if cb.total_cost > max_cost_usd:
            raise Exception(f"Cost ${cb.total_cost:.4f} exceeded budget ${max_cost_usd}")

        return response.content, cb.total_cost

# Usage
try:
    response, cost = generate_with_budget("Explain quantum physics", max_cost_usd=0.05)
    print(f"Response: {response}")
    print(f"Cost: ${cost:.4f}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Budget exceeded: {e}")

Response Time Optimization #

Users expect fast responses. Optimize for speed:

1. Streaming Responses (Real-Time) #

# streaming_example.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage

llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview", streaming=True)

# Stream response token-by-token
for chunk in llm.stream([HumanMessage(content="Write a Python function")]):
    print(chunk.content, end="", flush=True)

2. Parallel Processing for Multiple Requests #

# parallel_processing.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage
import asyncio

llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview")

async def process_batch(messages: list[str]):
    """Process multiple AI requests concurrently"""
    tasks = [
        llm.ainvoke([HumanMessage(content=msg)])
        for msg in messages
    ]

    # Wait for all to complete
    responses = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
    return [r.content for r in responses]

# Usage
messages = [
    "Summarize Python decorators",
    "Explain async/await",
    "What is FastAPI?"
]

responses = asyncio.run(process_batch(messages))
for i, response in enumerate(responses):
    print(f"Response {i+1}: {response}\n")

Error Handling and Fallbacks #

Never let AI failures break your app:

# robust_ai_service.py
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage
import logging

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

class RobustAiService:
    def __init__(self):
        # Primary provider: OpenAI
        self.primary_llm = ChatOpenAI(
            model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
            api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
        )

        # Fallback provider: Anthropic Claude
        self.fallback_llm = ChatAnthropic(
            model="claude-3-sonnet-20240229",
            api_key=os.getenv('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY')
        )

    def generate_with_fallback(self, message: str) -> str:
        """Generate response with automatic fallback"""
        # Try primary AI provider
        try:
            response = self.primary_llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content=message)])
            return response.content
        except Exception as e:
            logger.warning(f"Primary AI failed: {str(e)}, falling back to Anthropic")

            # Fallback to secondary provider
            try:
                response = self.fallback_llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content=message)])
                return response.content
            except Exception as e:
                logger.error(f"All AI providers failed: {str(e)}")

                # Ultimate fallback: return helpful error message
                return (
                    "I'm temporarily unavailable. Our team has been notified. "
                    "Please try again in a few minutes."
                )

# Usage
service = RobustAiService()
response = service.generate_with_fallback("Explain Python async")
print(response)

Monitoring and Logging #

Track AI performance religiously:

# monitoring.py
from langchain.callbacks.base import BaseCallbackHandler
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage
import logging
import time

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

class MonitoringCallback(BaseCallbackHandler):
    """Custom callback for monitoring LangChain operations"""

    def __init__(self):
        self.start_time = None
        self.tokens_used = 0
        self.cost = 0

    def on_llm_start(self, serialized, prompts, **kwargs):
        """Called when LLM starts"""
        self.start_time = time.time()
        logger.info(f"LLM started with {len(prompts)} prompts")

    def on_llm_end(self, response, **kwargs):
        """Called when LLM completes"""
        duration = time.time() - self.start_time

        # Extract token usage
        if hasattr(response, 'llm_output') and response.llm_output:
            token_usage = response.llm_output.get('token_usage', {})
            self.tokens_used = token_usage.get('total_tokens', 0)

            # Calculate cost (GPT-4 Turbo pricing)
            prompt_tokens = token_usage.get('prompt_tokens', 0)
            completion_tokens = token_usage.get('completion_tokens', 0)
            self.cost = (prompt_tokens * 0.00001) + (completion_tokens * 0.00003)

        logger.info(f"LLM completed in {duration:.2f}s, {self.tokens_used} tokens, ${self.cost:.4f}")

        # Alert if costs spike
        if self.cost > 0.50:
            logger.warning(f"High-cost AI request: ${self.cost:.4f}")

# Usage
llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
    callbacks=[MonitoringCallback()]
)

response = llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content="Explain Python async in detail")])
print(response.content)

Security Best Practices #

Protect your AI integration:

# security.py
import re
import os
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage

class SecureAiService:
    def __init__(self):
        # API Key Management - NEVER commit keys
        # Use environment variables
        self.llm = ChatOpenAI(
            model="gpt-4-turbo-preview",
            api_key=os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')
        )

    def sanitize_user_input(self, input_text: str) -> str:
        """
        Prevent prompt injection attacks.

        Common injection patterns:
        - "Ignore previous instructions"
        - "You are now..."
        - "Forget everything and..."
        """
        # Remove potential prompt injection attempts
        cleaned = re.sub(r'ignore previous instructions', '', input_text, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
        cleaned = re.sub(r'you are now', '', cleaned, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
        cleaned = re.sub(r'forget everything', '', cleaned, flags=re.IGNORECASE)

        # Limit length to prevent token exhaustion
        return cleaned[:500]

    def filter_ai_response(self, response: str) -> str:
        """Filter inappropriate content from AI responses"""
        # Check for inappropriate content (implement based on your needs)
        if self._contains_inappropriate_content(response):
            logger.warning("AI generated inappropriate content")
            return "I can't provide that information."

        return response

    def _contains_inappropriate_content(self, text: str) -> bool:
        """Check for inappropriate content (simplified example)"""
        # Implement your content filtering logic
        # Consider using moderation APIs (OpenAI Moderation API)
        banned_words = ['offensive_word1', 'offensive_word2']  # Example
        return any(word in text.lower() for word in banned_words)

    def generate_safe_response(self, user_input: str) -> str:
        """Generate AI response with security filters"""
        # Sanitize input
        clean_input = self.sanitize_user_input(user_input)

        # Generate response
        response = self.llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content=clean_input)])

        # Filter output
        safe_response = self.filter_ai_response(response.content)

        return safe_response

Testing LangChain Applications with pytest #

Testing AI applications is crucial for production reliability. LangChain applications can be tested without making expensive API calls by mocking LLM responses.

Setting Up pytest #

Install testing dependencies:

pip install pytest pytest-asyncio pytest-mock pytest-cov

Create a tests/ directory for your test files:

mkdir tests
touch tests/__init__.py
touch tests/test_qa_bot.py

Mocking LLM Calls #

The key to testing LangChain applications is mocking the LLM responses so you don’t make actual API calls during tests.

Example: Testing a QA Bot (tests/test_qa_bot.py):

"""
Unit tests for Question-Answering Bot
Demonstrates mocking LangChain LLM calls
"""
import pytest
from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
from examples.qa_bot import PythonAssistant

class TestPythonAssistant:
    """Test suite for PythonAssistant class"""

    @pytest.fixture
    def mock_llm_response(self):
        """Fixture for mocked LLM response"""
        return "A decorator is a function that modifies another function..."

    @patch('examples.qa_bot.ChatOpenAI')
    def test_assistant_initialization(self, mock_chatgpt):
        """Test that PythonAssistant initializes correctly"""
        # Arrange
        mock_llm = MagicMock()
        mock_chatgpt.return_value = mock_llm

        # Act
        assistant = PythonAssistant()

        # Assert
        assert assistant.llm is not None
        assert assistant.memory is not None
        assert assistant.conversation is not None
        mock_chatgpt.assert_called_once()

    @patch('examples.qa_bot.ChatOpenAI')
    def test_ask_question_success(self, mock_chatgpt, mock_llm_response):
        """Test successful question-answer interaction"""
        # Arrange
        mock_llm = MagicMock()
        mock_chatgpt.return_value = mock_llm

        # Mock the conversation chain's predict method
        mock_predict = MagicMock(return_value=mock_llm_response)

        assistant = PythonAssistant()
        assistant.conversation.predict = mock_predict

        # Act
        question = "What is a Python decorator?"
        response = assistant.ask(question)

        # Assert
        assert response == mock_llm_response
        mock_predict.assert_called_once_with(input=question)
        assert "decorator" in response.lower()

    @patch('examples.qa_bot.ChatOpenAI')
    def test_ask_question_with_context(self, mock_chatgpt):
        """Test that assistant remembers conversation context"""
        # Arrange
        mock_llm = MagicMock()
        mock_chatgpt.return_value = mock_llm

        assistant = PythonAssistant()

        # Mock responses for two questions
        responses = [
            "A decorator is a function...",
            "To use decorators with classes, use @property..."
        ]

        mock_predict = MagicMock(side_effect=responses)
        assistant.conversation.predict = mock_predict

        # Act
        response1 = assistant.ask("What is a Python decorator?")
        response2 = assistant.ask("How do I use it with classes?")

        # Assert
        assert "decorator" in response1.lower()
        assert "class" in response2.lower()
        assert mock_predict.call_count == 2

    @patch('examples.qa_bot.ChatOpenAI')
    def test_ask_question_error_handling(self, mock_chatgpt):
        """Test error handling when LLM call fails"""
        # Arrange
        mock_llm = MagicMock()
        mock_chatgpt.return_value = mock_llm

        assistant = PythonAssistant()

        # Mock exception during prediction
        mock_predict = MagicMock(
            side_effect=Exception("API connection failed")
        )
        assistant.conversation.predict = mock_predict

        # Act
        response = assistant.ask("What is Python?")

        # Assert
        assert "Error" in response
        assert "API connection failed" in response

Key Testing Patterns:

  1. @patch decorator: Mocks the ChatOpenAI class to avoid real API calls
  2. MagicMock: Creates mock objects with configurable behavior
  3. side_effect: Simulates multiple responses for conversation context
  4. assert_called_once(): Verifies method was called exactly once

Testing Async LangChain Code #

Many LangChain operations support async/await. Use pytest-asyncio for async tests:

import pytest
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_async_streaming():
    """Test async streaming responses"""
    # Mock async LLM
    llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview")

    # Mock astream method
    async def mock_astream(messages):
        """Mock async stream generator"""
        for chunk in ["Hello", " ", "World"]:
            yield type('Chunk', (), {'content': chunk})()

    llm.astream = mock_astream

    # Collect streamed chunks
    chunks = []
    async for chunk in llm.astream([HumanMessage(content="test")]):
        chunks.append(chunk.content)

    assert chunks == ["Hello", " ", "World"]

Integration Tests with Real API #

For critical paths, run integration tests with real API keys (optional):

import pytest
import os

class TestPythonAssistantIntegration:
    """Integration tests (require actual API keys)"""

    @pytest.mark.integration
    @pytest.mark.skipif(
        not os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY'),
        reason="Requires OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable"
    )
    def test_real_api_call(self):
        """Test with real OpenAI API (integration test)"""
        assistant = PythonAssistant()

        question = "What is 2 + 2? Answer with just the number."
        response = assistant.ask(question)

        assert response is not None
        assert len(response) > 0
        # Note: We don't assert exact response since AI output varies

Running Integration Tests:

# Run unit tests only (fast, no API calls)
pytest tests/

# Run integration tests (slow, requires API keys)
pytest tests/ -m integration

# Skip integration tests
pytest tests/ -m "not integration"

Coverage Reporting #

Track test coverage to ensure comprehensive testing:

# Generate coverage report
pytest tests/ --cov=examples --cov-report=html

# View coverage in browser
open htmlcov/index.html

# Set minimum coverage threshold
pytest tests/ --cov=examples --cov-fail-under=90

Example coverage output:

tests/test_qa_bot.py ........ [100%]

---------- coverage: platform darwin, python 3.11.5 -----------
Name                    Stmts   Miss  Cover
-------------------------------------------
examples/__init__.py        0      0   100%
examples/qa_bot.py         45      2    96%
-------------------------------------------
TOTAL                      45      2    96%

Testing Django Views #

For Django integration, use pytest-django:

JavaScript Testing: If you need to test JavaScript interactions in your Django AI app, see our guide on collecting JavaScript code coverage with Capybara for frontend testing strategies.

import pytest
from django.test import Client
from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock

@pytest.mark.django_db
def test_chat_endpoint():
    """Test Django chat endpoint"""
    client = Client()

    # Mock Celery task
    with patch('myapp.tasks.process_llm_request.delay') as mock_task:
        mock_task.return_value.id = 'test-task-id'

        response = client.post(
            '/api/chat/',
            {'message': 'What is Python?'},
            content_type='application/json'
        )

        assert response.status_code == 202
        assert response.json()['task_id'] == 'test-task-id'
        mock_task.assert_called_once()

Testing FastAPI Endpoints #

For FastAPI, use TestClient:

from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
from main import app
from unittest.mock import patch, AsyncMock

client = TestClient(app)

def test_fastapi_chat_endpoint():
    """Test FastAPI chat endpoint"""
    with patch('main.llm') as mock_llm:
        # Mock async LLM response
        mock_llm.ainvoke = AsyncMock(
            return_value=type('Response', (), {'content': 'Test response'})()
        )

        response = client.post(
            "/chat",
            json={"message": "Hello"}
        )

        assert response.status_code == 200
        assert "Test response" in response.json()["response"]

Best Practices for Testing LangChain Applications #

1. Mock External Dependencies

  • Always mock LLM API calls in unit tests
  • Use real APIs only for critical integration tests
  • Mock Redis, Celery, and database calls in unit tests

2. Test Business Logic, Not LangChain Internals

  • Test YOUR code’s behavior (error handling, validation, workflows)
  • Don’t test LangChain library internals (they have their own tests)
  • Focus on integration points and edge cases

3. Use Fixtures for Common Test Data

@pytest.fixture
def sample_questions():
    """Sample questions for testing"""
    return [
        "What is a Python decorator?",
        "How do I use async/await?",
        "Explain list comprehensions"
    ]

@pytest.fixture
def mock_llm():
    """Mock LLM for testing"""
    with patch('langchain_openai.ChatOpenAI') as mock:
        yield mock

4. Test Error Scenarios

  • API timeouts
  • Rate limiting
  • Invalid API keys
  • Malformed responses
  • Token limit errors

5. Maintain Fast Test Suites

  • Unit tests should run in <1 second each
  • Use pytest-xdist for parallel test execution:
    pip install pytest-xdist
    pytest tests/ -n auto  # Use all CPU cores
    

Running Tests in CI/CD #

GitHub Actions example (.github/workflows/test.yml):

name: Tests

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install -r requirements.txt
          pip install pytest pytest-cov pytest-asyncio
      - name: Run tests
        run: pytest tests/ --cov=examples --cov-report=xml
      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3

Testing checklist before deploying:

  • ✅ All unit tests pass (pytest tests/)
  • ✅ Coverage ≥90% (pytest –cov)
  • ✅ Integration tests pass with real API (pytest -m integration)
  • ✅ No test warnings or deprecations
  • ✅ Tests run in CI/CD pipeline

Testing LangChain applications doesn’t have to be expensive or slow. With proper mocking and test structure, you can achieve high confidence and fast feedback cycles.

Troubleshooting Common Issues #

Connection Errors #

Problem: openai.error.APIConnectionError: Connection error

Solutions:

# 1. Check API key is set correctly
import os
print(os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY'))  # Should not be None or empty

# 2. Verify network connectivity
import requests
try:
    response = requests.get('https://api.openai.com/v1/models', timeout=5)
    print(f"API reachable: {response.status_code}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Connection error: {e}")

# 3. Check for proxy settings
# If behind corporate firewall, set proxy
os.environ['HTTP_PROXY'] = 'http://your-proxy:8080'
os.environ['HTTPS_PROXY'] = 'http://your-proxy:8080'

Rate Limiting #

Problem: openai.error.RateLimitError: Rate limit exceeded

Solutions:

# 1. Implement exponential backoff
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain.schema import HumanMessage
import time

def complete_with_retry(prompt: str, max_attempts: int = 3):
    """Complete with exponential backoff retry"""
    llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview")

    for attempt in range(max_attempts):
        try:
            response = llm.invoke([HumanMessage(content=prompt)])
            return response.content
        except Exception as e:
            if 'rate limit' in str(e).lower() and attempt < max_attempts - 1:
                sleep_time = 2 ** attempt  # Exponential backoff
                print(f"Rate limited, retrying in {sleep_time}s...")
                time.sleep(sleep_time)
            else:
                raise e

# 2. Use Celery/queue systems to throttle requests
# See Django/FastAPI integration sections above

Token Limit Errors #

Problem: openai.error.InvalidRequestError: This model's maximum context length is 8192 tokens

Solutions:

# 1. Use token-aware memory
from langchain.memory import ConversationTokenBufferMemory
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4-turbo-preview")

memory = ConversationTokenBufferMemory(
    llm=llm,
    max_token_limit=4000,  # Stay well under 8K limit
    return_messages=True
)

# 2. Truncate long inputs
import tiktoken

def count_tokens(text: str, model: str = "gpt-4") -> int:
    """Count tokens in text"""
    encoding = tiktoken.encoding_for_model(model)
    return len(encoding.encode(text))

def truncate_to_tokens(text: str, max_tokens: int = 3000) -> str:
    """Truncate text to maximum token count"""
    encoding = tiktoken.encoding_for_model("gpt-4")
    tokens = encoding.encode(text)

    if len(tokens) > max_tokens:
        truncated_tokens = tokens[:max_tokens]
        return encoding.decode(truncated_tokens)

    return text

# Usage
long_text = "..." * 10000
safe_text = truncate_to_tokens(long_text, max_tokens=3000)

Dependency Conflicts #

Problem: ImportError: cannot import name 'ChatOpenAI' from 'langchain'

Solutions:

# 1. Verify installation
pip show langchain langchain-openai
# Should show installed versions

# 2. Check Python version compatibility
python --version
# Needs Python 3.8+ (3.11+ recommended)

# 3. Update packages and resolve conflicts
pip install --upgrade langchain langchain-openai langchain-community

# 4. Use virtual environment (recommended)
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On macOS/Linux
pip install langchain langchain-openai

# 5. Check for version conflicts
pip list | grep langchain

Next Steps & Resources #

You’ve built your first AI application with LangChain Python! Here’s where to go next:

Advanced Tutorials #

Explore deeper topics:

  1. Vector Databases with pgvector: Build semantic search in Django
  2. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation): Create context-aware AI with your data
  3. Multi-Agent Systems: Coordinate multiple AI agents with CrewAI
  4. Fine-Tuning Models: Customize LLMs for your domain
  5. LangGraph: Build complex AI workflows with state machines

Compare with Ruby Implementation #

If you’re considering Ruby on Rails for your AI project, check out our comprehensive Ruby guide:

Getting Started with LangChain-Ruby: A Complete Guide

Why compare Python vs Ruby for AI?

  • Python: Larger AI ecosystem, more LLM providers, extensive data science libraries
  • Ruby: Cleaner syntax, Rails ecosystem, excellent for full-stack AI apps

Community Resources #

Get involved:

  • GitHub: langchain-ai/langchain - Official repository (70k+ stars)
  • Discord: Join the LangChain Discord community
  • Twitter: Follow @LangChainAI for updates
  • Stack Overflow: Tag questions with langchain and python

Official Documentation #

Reference materials:

Production Deployment Resources #

Ready for production?

  • Docker containerization examples
  • Kubernetes deployment patterns
  • AWS/GCP/Azure deployment guides
  • Cost optimization strategies
  • Monitoring and logging setup

Need Expert Help? #

Building production AI features is complex. JetThoughts specializes in Python/Django/FastAPI AI integration with:

  • ✅ LangChain expertise (Python & Ruby)
  • ✅ Production-ready architectures
  • ✅ Cost optimization strategies (35-50% savings)
  • ✅ Security best practices

Ready to add AI to your Python app? Schedule a free consultation and let’s discuss your project.


What to Read Next:

Have questions about LangChain Python? Drop a comment below or reach out on Twitter !


SEO Metadata #

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  • LangChain architecture diagram
  • Django project structure
  • FastAPI streaming example
  • Memory strategies comparison
  • Production deployment flowchart

Featured Snippet Optimization:

  • Definition paragraph (60 words) in “Why LangChain Matters” section
  • Step-by-step installation (7 steps)
  • Comparison table (Django vs FastAPI)
  • Memory strategies table (4 types)

Target Rankings:

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Competition Assessment: MEDIUM-HIGH (7/10) Estimated Monthly Traffic: 5,000-8,000 organic sessions (months 3-6)