JanJan
API reference
Installation

Prerequisites

Jan Server requires the following tools installed on your system:

  • Docker: For building container images
  • minikube: Local Kubernetes cluster for development
  • Helm: Package manager for Kubernetes applications
  • kubectl: Kubernetes command-line tool (installed with minikube)

Jan Server currently supports minikube for local development. Production Kubernetes deployments are planned for future releases.

Quick Start

  1. Clone the repository


    git clone https://github.com/menloresearch/jan-server
    cd jan-server

  2. Start minikube


    minikube start

  3. Configure Docker environment


    eval $(minikube docker-env)
    alias kubectl="minikube kubectl --"

  4. Deploy Jan Server


    ./scripts/run.sh

  5. Access the API

    The script automatically forwards port 8080. Access the Swagger UI at:


    http://localhost:8080/api/swagger/index.html#/

Manual Installation

Build Docker Images

Build both required Docker images:


# Build API Gateway
docker build -t jan-api-gateway:latest ./apps/jan-api-gateway
# Build Inference Model
docker build -t jan-inference-model:latest ./apps/jan-inference-model

The inference model image downloads the Jan-v1-4B model from Hugging Face during build. This requires an internet connection and several GB of download.

Deploy with Helm

Install the Helm chart:


# Update Helm dependencies
helm dependency update ./charts/umbrella-chart
# Install Jan Server
helm install jan-server ./charts/umbrella-chart

Port Forwarding

Forward the API gateway port to access from your local machine:


kubectl port-forward svc/jan-server-jan-api-gateway 8080:8080

Verify Installation

Check that all pods are running:


kubectl get pods

Expected output:


NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS
jan-server-jan-api-gateway-xxx 1/1 Running 0
jan-server-jan-inference-model-xxx 1/1 Running 0
jan-server-postgresql-0 1/1 Running 0

Test the API gateway:


curl http://localhost:8080/health

Uninstalling

To remove Jan Server:


helm uninstall jan-server

To stop minikube:


minikube stop

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Pods in ImagePullBackOff state

  • Ensure Docker images were built in the minikube environment
  • Run eval $(minikube docker-env) before building images

Port forwarding connection refused

  • Verify the service is running: kubectl get svc
  • Check pod status: kubectl get pods
  • Review logs: kubectl logs deployment/jan-server-jan-api-gateway

Inference model download fails

  • Ensure internet connectivity during Docker build
  • The Jan-v1-4B model is approximately 2.4GB

Resource Requirements

Minimum System Requirements:

  • 8GB RAM
  • 20GB free disk space
  • 4 CPU cores

Recommended System Requirements:

  • 16GB RAM
  • 50GB free disk space
  • 8 CPU cores
  • GPU support (for faster inference)

The inference model requires significant memory. Ensure your minikube cluster has adequate resources allocated.

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