luigi

Luigi is a Python module that helps you build complex pipelines of batch jobs. It handles dependency resolution, workflow management, visualization etc. It also comes with Hadoop support built in.

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Quick Overview

Luigi is a Python package that helps you build complex pipelines of batch jobs. It handles dependency resolution, workflow management, visualization, and more. Luigi was originally designed and built at Spotify, but has been released as an open-source project.

Pros

Handles complex dependencies and task scheduling efficiently
Provides a clear and intuitive way to define workflows
Offers built-in support for various data sources and file systems
Includes a web-based visualization tool for monitoring task progress

Cons

Steep learning curve for beginners
Limited support for real-time or streaming workflows
Can be overkill for simple data processing tasks
Requires careful design to avoid performance bottlenecks in large pipelines

Code Examples

Defining a simple Luigi task:

import luigi

class MyTask(luigi.Task):
    def requires(self):
        return SomeOtherTask()

    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget("output.txt")

    def run(self):
        with self.output().open("w") as f:
            f.write("Task completed")

Running a Luigi task:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    luigi.run(["MyTask", "--local-scheduler"])

Defining a task with parameters:

class ParameterizedTask(luigi.Task):
    date = luigi.DateParameter()

    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget(f"output-{self.date}.txt")

    def run(self):
        with self.output().open("w") as f:
            f.write(f"Task completed for {self.date}")

Getting Started

To get started with Luigi, follow these steps:

Install Luigi:

pip install luigi

Create a Python file (e.g., my_workflow.py) and define your tasks:

import luigi

class MyTask(luigi.Task):
    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget("output.txt")

    def run(self):
        with self.output().open("w") as f:
            f.write("Hello, Luigi!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    luigi.run(["MyTask", "--local-scheduler"])

Run the workflow:

python my_workflow.py

This will execute the MyTask and create an output.txt file with the content "Hello, Luigi!".

Competitor Comparisons

airflow

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Pros of Airflow

Rich web-based UI for monitoring and managing workflows
Extensive plugin ecosystem and integrations with various services
Dynamic pipeline generation using Python code

Cons of Airflow

Steeper learning curve due to more complex architecture
Higher resource requirements for setup and maintenance
Potential overkill for simpler workflow needs

Code Comparison

Luigi:

class MyTask(luigi.Task):
    def requires(self):
        return SomeOtherTask()

    def run(self):
        # Task logic here
        pass

    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget("output.txt")

Airflow:

def my_task():
    # Task logic here
    pass

with DAG('my_dag', start_date=datetime(2023, 1, 1)) as dag:
    task = PythonOperator(
        task_id='my_task',
        python_callable=my_task
    )

Summary

Airflow offers a more comprehensive solution for complex workflows with its rich UI and extensive integrations. However, it comes with a steeper learning curve and higher resource requirements. Luigi, on the other hand, provides a simpler, lightweight approach that may be more suitable for straightforward task dependencies. The choice between the two depends on the complexity of your workflows and the level of monitoring and management features required.

prefect

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Prefect is a workflow orchestration framework for building resilient data pipelines in Python.

Pros of Prefect

More modern and feature-rich workflow management system
Better support for distributed and parallel execution
Improved observability and monitoring capabilities

Cons of Prefect

Steeper learning curve due to more complex architecture
Requires more setup and configuration compared to Luigi
Potentially overkill for simple workflow needs

Code Comparison

Luigi:

import luigi

class MyTask(luigi.Task):
    def requires(self):
        return SomeOtherTask()

    def run(self):
        # Task logic here

Prefect:

from prefect import task, Flow

@task
def my_task():
    # Task logic here

with Flow("My Flow") as flow:
    task_result = my_task()

Both Luigi and Prefect are workflow management systems, but they differ in their approach and features. Luigi is simpler and easier to get started with, making it suitable for smaller projects or teams new to workflow management. Prefect, on the other hand, offers more advanced features and better scalability, making it a good choice for larger, more complex projects that require distributed execution and advanced monitoring.

Luigi uses a class-based approach to define tasks, while Prefect uses decorators and a more functional style. Prefect's Flow object provides a more explicit way to define task dependencies and execution order.

dagster

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Pros of Dagster

More modern architecture with better support for containerization and cloud-native deployments
Stronger type checking and data validation capabilities
Richer UI for monitoring and debugging workflows

Cons of Dagster

Steeper learning curve due to more complex concepts and abstractions
Less mature ecosystem compared to Luigi's long-standing community and plugins

Code Comparison

Luigi example:

class MyTask(luigi.Task):
    def requires(self):
        return SomeOtherTask()

    def run(self):
        # Task logic here
        with self.output().open('w') as f:
            f.write('Done')

    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget('output.txt')

Dagster example:

@solid
def my_solid(context):
    # Solid logic here
    return 'Done'

@pipeline
def my_pipeline():
    my_solid()

Summary

Dagster offers a more modern and type-safe approach to data orchestration, with better support for cloud-native environments. It provides a richer UI and stronger data validation capabilities. However, it has a steeper learning curve and a less mature ecosystem compared to Luigi.

Luigi, being older and more established, has a larger community and more plugins available. It's simpler to get started with but may lack some of the advanced features and architectural benefits of Dagster.

The choice between the two depends on specific project requirements, team expertise, and the complexity of the data workflows being managed.

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Pros of Great Expectations

Focuses on data quality and validation, providing a comprehensive framework for data testing
Offers a user-friendly interface for creating and managing expectations
Supports integration with various data sources and platforms

Cons of Great Expectations

Steeper learning curve compared to Luigi's simpler task-based approach
May require more setup and configuration for complex data pipelines
Less suitable for general-purpose workflow management

Code Comparison

Luigi:

class MyTask(luigi.Task):
    def requires(self):
        return SomeOtherTask()

    def run(self):
        # Task logic here
        with self.output().open('w') as f:
            f.write('Done')

    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget('output.txt')

Great Expectations:

expectation_suite = context.create_expectation_suite("my_suite")
validator = context.get_validator(
    batch_request=batch_request,
    expectation_suite=expectation_suite
)
validator.expect_column_values_to_be_between(
    "column_name", min_value=0, max_value=100
)

Both Luigi and Great Expectations are valuable tools in the data engineering ecosystem, but they serve different primary purposes. Luigi excels in workflow management and task orchestration, while Great Expectations specializes in data quality and validation. The choice between them depends on the specific needs of your data pipeline and project requirements.

beam

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Apache Beam is a unified programming model for Batch and Streaming data processing.

Pros of Beam

Supports multiple programming languages (Java, Python, Go)
Provides a unified model for batch and streaming data processing
Offers built-in support for various data sources and sinks

Cons of Beam

Steeper learning curve due to more complex concepts and abstractions
Heavier resource requirements for setup and execution
Less suitable for simple, lightweight workflow orchestration tasks

Code Comparison

Beam (Python):

import apache_beam as beam

with beam.Pipeline() as p:
    lines = p | beam.io.ReadFromText('input.txt')
    counts = (lines
              | beam.FlatMap(lambda x: x.split())
              | beam.Map(lambda x: (x, 1))
              | beam.CombinePerKey(sum))
    counts | beam.io.WriteToText('output.txt')

Luigi:

import luigi

class WordCount(luigi.Task):
    def requires(self):
        return ReadInputFile()

    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget('output.txt')

    def run(self):
        word_counts = {}
        with self.input().open('r') as infile, self.output().open('w') as outfile:
            for line in infile:
                for word in line.split():
                    word_counts[word] = word_counts.get(word, 0) + 1
            for word, count in word_counts.items():
                outfile.write(f'{word}\t{count}\n')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    luigi.run()

kedro

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Pros of Kedro

More modern and actively maintained project with frequent updates
Built-in support for data catalogs and pipelines, promoting better organization
Stronger focus on reproducibility and best practices in data science workflows

Cons of Kedro

Steeper learning curve due to more structured approach
Less flexibility compared to Luigi's task-based system
Smaller community and ecosystem of plugins/extensions

Code Comparison

Kedro pipeline definition:

def create_pipeline(**kwargs):
    return Pipeline(
        [
            node(preprocess_data, "raw_data", "preprocessed_data"),
            node(train_model, "preprocessed_data", "model"),
            node(evaluate_model, ["model", "test_data"], "metrics"),
        ]
    )

Luigi task definition:

class TrainModel(luigi.Task):
    def requires(self):
        return PreprocessData()

    def output(self):
        return luigi.LocalTarget("model.pkl")

    def run(self):
        # Load preprocessed data and train model
        model = train_model(self.input().path)
        with self.output().open('w') as f:
            pickle.dump(model, f)

Both Kedro and Luigi are data pipeline frameworks, but they differ in their approach and target use cases. Kedro is more opinionated and focused on data science workflows, while Luigi offers more flexibility for general-purpose task scheduling and execution.

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README

.. figure:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spotify/luigi/master/doc/luigi.png :alt: Luigi Logo :align: center

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/endpoint.svg?url=https%3A%2F%2Factions-badge.atrox.dev%2Fspotify%2Fluigi%2Fbadge&label=build&logo=none&%3Fref%3Dmaster&style=flat :target: https://actions-badge.atrox.dev/spotify/luigi/goto?ref=master

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/spotify/luigi/master.svg?style=flat :target: https://codecov.io/gh/spotify/luigi?branch=master

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/luigi.svg?style=flat :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/luigi

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/l/luigi.svg?style=flat :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/luigi

.. image:: https://readthedocs.org/projects/luigi/badge/?version=stable :target: https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/stable/?badge=stable :alt: Documentation Status

Luigi is a Python (3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12 tested) package that helps you build complex pipelines of batch jobs. It handles dependency resolution, workflow management, visualization, handling failures, command line integration, and much more.

Getting Started

Run pip install luigi to install the latest stable version from PyPI <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/luigi>_. Documentation for the latest release <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/stable/>__ is hosted on readthedocs.

Run pip install luigi[toml] to install Luigi with TOML-based configs <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/stable/configuration.html>__ support.

For the bleeding edge code, pip install git+https://github.com/spotify/luigi.git. Bleeding edge documentation <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>__ is also available.

Background

The purpose of Luigi is to address all the plumbing typically associated with long-running batch processes. You want to chain many tasks, automate them, and failures will happen. These tasks can be anything, but are typically long running things like Hadoop <http://hadoop.apache.org/>_ jobs, dumping data to/from databases, running machine learning algorithms, or anything else.

There are other software packages that focus on lower level aspects of data processing, like Hive <http://hive.apache.org/>, Pig <http://pig.apache.org/>, or Cascading <http://www.cascading.org/>. Luigi is not a framework to replace these. Instead it helps you stitch many tasks together, where each task can be a Hive query <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.hive.html>, a Hadoop job in Java <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.hadoop_jar.html>, a Spark job in Scala or Python <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.spark.html>, a Python snippet, dumping a table <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.sqla.html>_ from a database, or anything else. It's easy to build up long-running pipelines that comprise thousands of tasks and take days or weeks to complete. Luigi takes care of a lot of the workflow management so that you can focus on the tasks themselves and their dependencies.

You can build pretty much any task you want, but Luigi also comes with a toolbox of several common task templates that you use. It includes support for running Python mapreduce jobs <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.hadoop.html>_ in Hadoop, as well as Hive <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.hive.html>, and Pig <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.pig.html>, jobs. It also comes with file system abstractions for HDFS <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.hdfs.html>_, and local files that ensures all file system operations are atomic. This is important because it means your data pipeline will not crash in a state containing partial data.

Visualiser page

The Luigi server comes with a web interface too, so you can search and filter among all your tasks.

.. figure:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spotify/luigi/master/doc/visualiser_front_page.png :alt: Visualiser page

Dependency graph example

Just to give you an idea of what Luigi does, this is a screen shot from something we are running in production. Using Luigi's visualiser, we get a nice visual overview of the dependency graph of the workflow. Each node represents a task which has to be run. Green tasks are already completed whereas yellow tasks are yet to be run. Most of these tasks are Hadoop jobs, but there are also some things that run locally and build up data files.

.. figure:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spotify/luigi/master/doc/user_recs.png :alt: Dependency graph

Philosophy

Conceptually, Luigi is similar to GNU Make <http://www.gnu.org/software/make/>_ where you have certain tasks and these tasks in turn may have dependencies on other tasks. There are also some similarities to Oozie <http://oozie.apache.org/>_ and Azkaban <https://azkaban.github.io/>_. One major difference is that Luigi is not just built specifically for Hadoop, and it's easy to extend it with other kinds of tasks.

Everything in Luigi is in Python. Instead of XML configuration or similar external data files, the dependency graph is specified within Python. This makes it easy to build up complex dependency graphs of tasks, where the dependencies can involve date algebra or recursive references to other versions of the same task. However, the workflow can trigger things not in Python, such as running Pig scripts <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.pig.html>_ or scp'ing files <https://luigi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/luigi.contrib.ssh.html>_.

Who uses Luigi?

We use Luigi internally at Spotify <https://www.spotify.com>_ to run thousands of tasks every day, organized in complex dependency graphs. Most of these tasks are Hadoop jobs. Luigi provides an infrastructure that powers all kinds of stuff including recommendations, toplists, A/B test analysis, external reports, internal dashboards, etc.

Since Luigi is open source and without any registration walls, the exact number of Luigi users is unknown. But based on the number of unique contributors, we expect hundreds of enterprises to use it. Some users have written blog posts or held presentations about Luigi:

Spotify <https://www.spotify.com>_ (presentation, 2014) <http://www.slideshare.net/erikbern/luigi-presentation-nyc-data-science>__
Foursquare <https://foursquare.com/>_ (presentation, 2013) <http://www.slideshare.net/OpenAnayticsMeetup/luigi-presentation-17-23199897>__
Mortar Data (Datadog) <https://www.datadoghq.com/>_ (documentation / tutorial) <http://help.mortardata.com/technologies/luigi>__
Stripe <https://stripe.com/>_ (presentation, 2014) <http://www.slideshare.net/PyData/python-as-part-of-a-production-machine-learning-stack-by-michael-manapat-pydata-sv-2014>__
Buffer <https://buffer.com/>_ (blog, 2014) <https://buffer.com/resources/buffers-new-data-architecture/>__
SeatGeek <https://seatgeek.com/>_ (blog, 2015) <http://chairnerd.seatgeek.com/building-out-the-seatgeek-data-pipeline/>__
Treasure Data <https://www.treasuredata.com/>_ (blog, 2015) <http://blog.treasuredata.com/blog/2015/02/25/managing-the-data-pipeline-with-git-luigi/>__
Growth Intelligence <http://growthintel.com/>_ (presentation, 2015) <http://www.slideshare.net/growthintel/a-beginners-guide-to-building-data-pipelines-with-luigi>__
AdRoll <https://www.adroll.com/>_ (blog, 2015) <http://tech.adroll.com/blog/data/2015/09/22/data-pipelines-docker.html>__
17zuoye (presentation, 2015) <https://speakerdeck.com/mvj3/luiti-an-offline-task-management-framework>__
Custobar <https://www.custobar.com/>_ (presentation, 2016) <http://www.slideshare.net/teemukurppa/managing-data-workflows-with-luigi>__
Blendle <https://launch.blendle.com/>_ (presentation) <http://www.anneschuth.nl/wp-content/uploads/sea-anneschuth-streamingblendle.pdf#page=126>__
TrustYou <http://www.trustyou.com/>_ (presentation, 2015) <https://speakerdeck.com/mfcabrera/pydata-berlin-2015-processing-hotel-reviews-with-python>__
Groupon <https://www.groupon.com/>_ / OrderUp <https://orderup.com>_ (alternative implementation) <https://github.com/groupon/luigi-warehouse>__
Red Hat - Marketing Operations <https://www.redhat.com>_ (blog, 2017) <https://github.com/rh-marketingops/rh-mo-scc-luigi>__
GetNinjas <https://www.getninjas.com.br/>_ (blog, 2017) <https://labs.getninjas.com.br/using-luigi-to-create-and-monitor-pipelines-of-batch-jobs-eb8b3cd2a574>__
voyages-sncf.com <https://www.voyages-sncf.com/>_ (presentation, 2017) <https://github.com/voyages-sncf-technologies/meetup-afpy-nantes-luigi>__
Open Targets <https://www.opentargets.org/>_ (blog, 2017) <https://blog.opentargets.org/using-containers-with-luigi>__
Leipzig University Library <https://ub.uni-leipzig.de>_ (presentation, 2016) <https://de.slideshare.net/MartinCzygan/build-your-own-discovery-index-of-scholary-eresources>__ / (project) <https://finc.info/de/datenquellen>__
Synetiq <https://synetiq.net/>_ (presentation, 2017) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4xUQXogSfo>__
Glossier <https://www.glossier.com/>_ (blog, 2018) <https://medium.com/glossier/how-to-build-a-data-warehouse-what-weve-learned-so-far-at-glossier-6ff1e1783e31>__
Data Revenue <https://www.datarevenue.com/>_ (blog, 2018) <https://www.datarevenue.com/en/blog/how-to-scale-your-machine-learning-pipeline>_
Uppsala University <http://pharmb.io>_ (tutorial) <http://uppnex.se/twiki/do/view/Courses/EinfraMPS2015/Luigi.html>_ / (presentation, 2015) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26PqSXZdWM>_ / (slides, 2015) <https://www.slideshare.net/SamuelLampa/building-workflows-with-spotifys-luigi>_ / (poster, 2015) <https://pharmb.io/poster/2015-sciluigi/>_ / (paper, 2016) <https://doi.org/10.1186/s13321-016-0179-6>_ / (project) <https://github.com/pharmbio/sciluigi>_
GIPHY <https://giphy.com/>_ (blog, 2019) <https://engineering.giphy.com/luigi-the-10x-plumber-containerizing-scaling-luigi-in-kubernetes/>__
xtream <https://xtreamers.io/>__ (blog, 2019) <https://towardsdatascience.com/lessons-from-a-real-machine-learning-project-part-1-from-jupyter-to-luigi-bdfd0b050ca5>__
CIAN <https://cian.ru/>__ (presentation, 2019) <https://www.highload.ru/moscow/2019/abstracts/6030>__

Some more companies are using Luigi but haven't had a chance yet to write about it:

Schibsted <http://www.schibsted.com/>_
enbrite.ly <http://enbrite.ly/>_
Dow Jones / The Wall Street Journal <http://wsj.com>_
Hotels.com <https://hotels.com>_
Newsela <https://newsela.com>_
Squarespace <https://www.squarespace.com/>_
OAO <https://adops.com/>_
Grovo <https://grovo.com/>_
Weebly <https://www.weebly.com/>_
Deloitte <https://www.Deloitte.co.uk/>_
Stacktome <https://stacktome.com/>_
LINX+Neemu+Chaordic <https://www.chaordic.com.br/>_
Foxberry <https://www.foxberry.com/>_
Okko <https://okko.tv/>_
ISVWorld <http://isvworld.com/>_
Big Data <https://bigdata.com.br/>_
Movio <https://movio.co.nz/>_
Bonnier News <https://www.bonniernews.se/>_
Starsky Robotics <https://www.starsky.io/>_
BaseTIS <https://www.basetis.com/>_
Hopper <https://www.hopper.com/>_
VOYAGE GROUP/Zucks <https://zucks.co.jp/en/>_
Textpert <https://www.textpert.ai/>_
Tracktics <https://www.tracktics.com/>_
Whizar <https://www.whizar.com/>_
xtream <https://www.xtreamers.io/>__
Skyscanner <https://www.skyscanner.net/>_
Jodel <https://www.jodel.com/>_
Mekar <https://mekar.id/en/>_
M3 <https://corporate.m3.com/en/>_
Assist Digital <https://www.assistdigital.com/>_
Meltwater <https://www.meltwater.com/>_
DevSamurai <https://www.devsamurai.com/>_
Veridas <https://veridas.com/>_

We're more than happy to have your company added here. Just send a PR on GitHub.

External links

Mailing List <https://groups.google.com/d/forum/luigi-user/>_ for discussions and asking questions. (Google Groups)
Releases <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/luigi>_ (PyPI)
Source code <https://github.com/spotify/luigi>_ (GitHub)
Hubot Integration <https://github.com/houzz/hubot-luigi>_ plugin for Slack, Hipchat, etc (GitHub)

Authors

Luigi was built at Spotify <https://www.spotify.com>, mainly by Erik Bernhardsson <https://github.com/erikbern> and Elias Freider <https://github.com/freider>. Many other people <https://github.com/spotify/luigi/graphs/contributors> have contributed since open sourcing in late 2012. Arash Rouhani <https://github.com/tarrasch>_ was the chief maintainer from 2015 to 2019, and now Spotify's Data Team maintains Luigi.

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