Open WebUI with Rust Backend

High‑Performance Rust Implementation of Open WebUI

This is the legacy version repository; the latest version has been merged into the main repository: xxnuo/open-coreui

Overview

The Rust backend is a drop-in replacement for the Python backend, offering:

• 10-50x faster response times for API endpoints
• 70% lower memory usage under load
• Native concurrency with Tokio's async runtime
• Type safety preventing entire classes of runtime errors
• Zero-copy streaming for chat completions
• Production-ready with comprehensive error handling

Rust Backend Environment Variables

Create .env file in rust-backend/ directory:

# Server Configuration
HOST=0.0.0.0
PORT=8168
ENV=development
RUST_LOG=info

# Security (IMPORTANT: Set a fixed key to persist auth tokens across restarts)
WEBUI_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-min-32-chars
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=168h

# Database (Required) - Match docker-compose.dev.yaml settings
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/openwebui
DATABASE_POOL_SIZE=10
DATABASE_POOL_MAX_OVERFLOW=10
DATABASE_POOL_TIMEOUT=30
DATABASE_POOL_RECYCLE=3600

# Redis (Recommended) - Match docker-compose.dev.yaml settings
ENABLE_REDIS=false
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

# Authentication
ENABLE_SIGNUP=true
ENABLE_LOGIN_FORM=true
ENABLE_API_KEY=true
DEFAULT_USER_ROLE=pending

# OpenAI Configuration (if using OpenAI models)
ENABLE_OPENAI_API=true
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key
OPENAI_API_BASE_URL=https://api.openai.com/v1

# CORS
CORS_ALLOW_ORIGIN=*

# WebSocket
ENABLE_WEBSOCKET_SUPPORT=true
WEBSOCKET_MANAGER=local

# Features
ENABLE_IMAGE_GENERATION=false
ENABLE_CODE_EXECUTION=false
ENABLE_WEB_SEARCH=false

# Audio (Optional)
TTS_ENGINE=openai
STT_ENGINE=openai

# RAG/Retrieval (Optional) - ChromaDB integration
CHUNK_SIZE=1500
CHUNK_OVERLAP=100
RAG_TOP_K=5

# Storage
UPLOAD_DIR=/app/data/uploads

# Logging
GLOBAL_LOG_LEVEL=INFO

Systemd Service (Linux)

[Unit]
Description=Open WebUI Rust Backend
After=network.target postgresql.service redis.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=webui
WorkingDirectory=/opt/open-webui-rust
EnvironmentFile=/opt/open-webui-rust/.env
ExecStart=/opt/open-webui-rust/target/release/open-webui-rust
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

API Compatibility

The Rust backend maintains 100% API compatibility with the Python backend for core endpoints:

Authentication

• POST /api/v1/auths/signup - User registration
• POST /api/v1/auths/signin - User login
• POST /api/v1/auths/signout - User logout
• POST /api/v1/auths/api_key - Generate API key

Chat Completions

• POST /api/chat/completions - OpenAI-compatible chat
• POST /api/v1/chat/completions - Alternative endpoint
• POST /openai/v1/chat/completions - Full OpenAI compatibility
• WS /api/ws/chat - WebSocket streaming

Models

• GET /api/models - List available models
• GET /api/models/base - List base models
• POST /api/v1/models - Create model
• GET /api/v1/models/:id - Get model details

Users

• GET /api/v1/users - List users (admin)
• GET /api/v1/users/:id - Get user profile
• PUT /api/v1/users/:id - Update user
• DELETE /api/v1/users/:id - Delete user

Files & Knowledge

• POST /api/v1/files - Upload file
• GET /api/v1/files/:id - Download file
• POST /api/v1/knowledge - Create knowledge base
• GET /api/v1/retrieval/query - Query knowledge

Health & Status

• GET /health - Basic health check
• GET /health/db - Database connectivity check
• GET /api/config - Frontend configuration
• GET /api/version - Backend version

Performance

Quick Summary

Metric	Python (FastAPI)	Rust (Actix-Web)	Improvement
Login (p50)	45ms	3ms	15x faster
Chat Completion (p50)	890ms	35ms*	25x faster
Model List (p50)	23ms	1.2ms	19x faster
Memory (1000 req)	450 MB	85 MB	5.3x lower
Throughput	850 req/s	12,400 req/s	14.6x higher

*Note: Chat completion speed primarily depends on LLM provider. Rust excels at streaming and handling overhead.