Run modes
Flyte supports three execution modes, letting you choose the right trade-off between speed and fidelity at each stage of development:
Local
Run tasks and apps directly in your local Python process with no K8s cluster or Docker required. Ideal for rapid iteration and debugging.Devbox
Run tasks and apps in a lightweight Flyte cluster using Docker. Get the full Flyte UI and backend experience on your machine.Remote
Run tasks and apps on a remote Flyte or Union cluster with full production capabilities including GPUs, distributed compute, and cloud-scale resources.| Aspect | Local (--local) |
Devbox | Remote |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⚡️ Execution | In-process Python | Containerized, local Docker | Containerized, cloud |
| 🐳 Docker required | No | Yes | No (remote build) |
| 💻 Flyte UI | No (TUI only) | Yes (localhost:30080) |
Yes |
| 📦 Container images | Ignored | Built locally | Built locally or remotely |
| 🔀 Parallelism | Sequential | Cluster-level | Cluster-level |
| ⭐️ Best for | Fast iteration, debugging | Testing container builds, full Flyte features | Production, GPUs, scale |
The same task code runs unchanged across all three modes. Start local for fast feedback, move to the devbox to validate containerized execution, then deploy to a remote cluster for production.