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Preparing the Local Development Environment

Before contributing to Apache Airflow, we need to prepare the local development environment. In this section, we will install several tools used throughout the workshop:

  • Docker - runs the Airflow development environment in containers
  • mise - manages development runtimes such as Python and uv
  • Python - the programming language used to develop Apache Airflow
  • uv - a fast Python package manager
  • prek - runs code quality checks before committing changes

These tools ensure a consistent environment for developing and contributing to Airflow.

Install Docker

Docker is required to run the Airflow development environment because Breeze uses Docker containers to manage services and dependencies.

Ensure Docker is installed and running on your machine.

Install mise

mise is a runtime manager that helps install and manage development tools such as Python and uv.

Install it using the following command:

curl https://mise.run | sh

Install Python using mise

Apache Airflow requires Python. We use mise to install and manage the Python version used for development.

mise use -g python@3.14.0

Verify the installation:

python --version

Install uv using mise

uv is a fast Python package manager used in the Airflow development workflow.

Install it using mise:

mise use -g uv@0.10.0

Verify the installation:

uv --version

Install prek

prek is a pre-commit runner used in the Airflow project to run code quality checks automatically before committing changes.

Install it with:

uv tool install prek