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Overview

The bootstrap function prepares a Flower project for use with Syft-Flwr by configuring the project metadata and creating the necessary runtime files.

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Function Signature

def bootstrap(
    flwr_project_dir: Union[str, Path],
    aggregator: str,
    datasites: List[str],
    transport: Optional[str] = None,
) -> None

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Parameters

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flwr_project_dir
Union[str, Path]
required
Path to the Flower project directory. Must contain a pyproject.toml file and not already have a main.py file.
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aggregator
str
required
Email of the aggregator (Data Scientist). Must be a valid datasite email address.
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datasites
List[str]
required
List of datasite emails (Data Owners). Each email must be a valid datasite address.
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transport
Optional[str]
default:"None"
Communication transport to use at runtime:
  • "syftbox": Local SyftBox with RPC/crypto (default for non-Colab environments)
  • "p2p": P2P sync via Google Drive/OneDrive (default for Colab environments)
  • None: Auto-detect based on environment

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Returns

None - The function modifies the project directory in place.

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What It Does

  1. Validates the project directory - Ensures pyproject.toml exists and main.py doesn’t
  2. Updates pyproject.toml with:
    • Unique app name: {aggregator}_{base_app_name}_{timestamp}
    • Datasites and aggregator configuration
    • Transport type configuration
    • Adds syft_flwr as a dependency
  3. Creates main.py - Generates the runtime entrypoint that determines who runs what based on metadata

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Usage Example

From notebooks/fl-diabetes-prediction/local/ds.ipynb:252-260: 
import syft_flwr
from pathlib import Path

SYFT_FLWR_PROJECT_PATH = Path("../fl-diabetes-prediction")
DS = "ds@openmined.org"
DO1 = "do1@openmined.org"
DO2 = "do2@openmined.org"

# Bootstrap the project
syft_flwr.bootstrap(
    SYFT_FLWR_PROJECT_PATH,
    aggregator=DS,
    datasites=[DO1, DO2]
)
print("Bootstrapped project successfully ✅")

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Modified Configuration

After bootstrapping, the pyproject.toml will include: 
[tool.syft_flwr]
app_name = "ds@openmined.org_fl-diabetes-prediction_1753435643"
datasites = [
    "do1@openmined.org",
    "do2@openmined.org",
]
aggregator = "ds@openmined.org"
transport = "syftbox"

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Exceptions

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FileExistsError
Raised if main.py already exists in the project directory.
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FileNotFoundError
Raised if the project directory or pyproject.toml doesn’t exist.
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ValueError
Raised if:
  • Invalid transport type (not "syftbox" or "p2p")
  • Invalid datasite email format for aggregator or any datasite

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Notes

  • The function auto-detects Google Colab environments and defaults to "p2p" transport
  • A unique app name is generated using the current timestamp to avoid conflicts
  • The bootstrapped project maintains the same structure as a standard Flower project

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