In this tutorial, we will build a simple code assistant workflow using langgraph and LangChain. We will demonstrate how to:
Load and parse documentation from a URL using RecursiveUrlLoader.
Create a Pydantic model (code) to structure code-generation responses.
Use an LLM (Anthropic’s Claude) with a specialized prompt to generate code solutions.
Integrate a custom parsing function to handle raw and structured outputs.
Construct a state machine with langgraph to:
Generate code (generate node)
Check imports and execution (check_code node)
Reflect and retry if needed (reflect node)
Visualize the workflow graph and finally display the generated code in a clean Markdown format.
By the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to set up a multi-step code assistant pipeline that can iteratively generate, validate, and reflect on generated code.
Setting up your environment is the first step. See the Environment Setup guide for more details.
[Note]
The langchain-opentutorial is a package of easy-to-use environment setup guidance, useful functions and utilities for tutorials.
Check out the langchain-opentutorial for more details.
You can set API keys in a .env file or set them manually.
[Note] If you’re not using the .env file, no worries! Just enter the keys directly in the cell below, and you’re good to go.
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from langchain_opentutorial import set_env
# Attempt to load environment variables from a .env file; if unsuccessful, set them manually.
if not load_dotenv():
set_env(
{
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "",
"LANGCHAIN_API_KEY": "",
"LANGCHAIN_TRACING_V2": "true",
"LANGCHAIN_ENDPOINT": "https://api.smith.langchain.com",
"LANGCHAIN_PROJECT": "11-LangGraph-Code-Assistant",
}
)
Building the Code Assistant Workflow
Below, we will build a code assistant workflow using langgraph. This workflow can:
Load documentation with a custom loader.
Use a large language model (Anthropic’s Claude) with a structured output format.
Check generated code for errors and prompt for a retry if needed.
Reflect on errors and regenerate code.
We will demonstrate each step with a combination of Markdown explanations and code cells.
Loading and Preparing Documentation
We use the RecursiveUrlLoader (from langchain_community) to fetch and parse documentation. We’ll store the documents in docs, sort them, and then concatenate the page content into a single string for use in our prompt.
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup as Soup
from langchain_community.document_loaders.recursive_url_loader import RecursiveUrlLoader
# LCEL docs
url = "https://python.langchain.com/v0.2/docs/tutorials/rag/"
loader = RecursiveUrlLoader(
url=url, max_depth=20, extractor=lambda x: Soup(x, "html.parser").text
)
docs = loader.load()
# Sort the list based on the URLs and get the text
d_sorted = sorted(docs, key=lambda x: x.metadata["source"])
d_reversed = list(reversed(d_sorted))
concatenated_content = "\n\n\n --- \n\n\n".join(
[doc.page_content for doc in d_reversed]
)
Defining a Pydantic Model for Code
We define a Pydantic model named code to capture structured outputs for code generation. This model enforces a specific schema with fields for prefix, imports, and code.
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
# Data model
class code(BaseModel):
"""Schema for code solutions to questions about LCEL."""
prefix: str = Field(description="Description of the problem and approach")
imports: str = Field(description="Code block import statements")
code: str = Field(description="Code block not including import statements")
Setting Up the Prompt and LLM Chain
We construct a prompt that instructs the LLM (Anthropic’s Claude) to produce answers in our specified code format.
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
from langchain_core.prompts import ChatPromptTemplate
# Prompt to enforce tool use
code_gen_prompt_claude = ChatPromptTemplate.from_messages(
[
(
"system",
"""<instructions> You are a coding assistant with expertise in LCEL, LangChain expression language. \n
Here is the LCEL documentation: \n ------- \n {context} \n ------- \n Answer the user question based on the \n
above provided documentation. Ensure any code you provide can be executed with all required imports and variables \n
defined. Structure your answer: 1) a prefix describing the code solution, 2) the imports, 3) the functioning code block. \n
Invoke the code tool to structure the output correctly. </instructions> \n Here is the user question:""",
),
("placeholder", "{messages}"),
]
)
# LLM
expt_llm = "claude-3-opus-20240229"
llm = ChatAnthropic(
model=expt_llm,
default_headers={"anthropic-beta": "tools-2024-04-04"},
)
Next, we wrap this language model with with_structured_output to ensure it returns data that can be parsed into our code Pydantic model:
Finally, we define a function parse_output to extract the parsed solution from the LLM’s raw response, and then we combine everything into a single chain:
def parse_output(solution):
"""When we add 'include_raw=True' to structured output,
it will return a dict w 'raw', 'parsed', 'parsing_error'."""
return solution["parsed"]
code_gen_chain = code_gen_prompt_claude | structured_llm_claude | parse_output
Parsing the LLM Output
We run a quick test by asking a sample question. The chain returns a structured code object with prefix, imports, and code.
# Test
question = "How do I build a RAG chain in LCEL?"
solution = code_gen_chain.invoke(
{"context": concatenated_content, "messages": [("user", question)]}
)
solution
code(prefix='Here is how you can build a RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) chain in LCEL (LangChain Expression Language):', imports='from langchain_chroma import Chroma\nfrom langchain_openai import OpenAIEmbeddings\nfrom langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter\nfrom langchain import hub\nfrom langchain_core.output_parsers import StrOutputParser\nfrom langchain_core.runnables import RunnablePassthrough', code='text_splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000, chunk_overlap=200)\nsplits = text_splitter.split_documents(docs)\n\nvectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(documents=splits, embedding=OpenAIEmbeddings())\n\nretriever = vectorstore.as_retriever()\nprompt = hub.pull("rlm/rag-prompt")\n\ndef format_docs(docs):\n return "\\\\n\\\\n".join(doc.page_content for doc in docs)\n\nrag_chain = (\n {"context": retriever | format_docs, "question": RunnablePassthrough()}\n | prompt\n | llm \n | StrOutputParser()\n)')
Constructing the State Machine
To handle multiple steps—generating code, checking it, and reflecting on errors—we can use a langgraph state machine.
First, we create a TypedDict called GraphState to store our pipeline’s state. We also define some global parameters:
from typing import List
from typing_extensions import TypedDict
class GraphState(TypedDict):
"""
Represents the state of our graph.
Attributes:
error : Binary flag for control flow to indicate whether test error was tripped
messages : With user question, error messages, reasoning
generation : Code solution
iterations : Number of tries
"""
error: str
messages: List
generation: str
iterations: int
1. Define the Nodes
We have three main nodes in our state machine:
generate: Calls the LLM chain to produce code.
code_check: Attempts to exec the code. If it fails, we raise a flag.
reflect: Optionally reflect on errors and refine the solution.
We’ll define each one in its own cell for clarity.
1.1 generate Node
This node invokes the code_gen_chain to generate a new code solution. If there was a previous error, it adds a user message instructing the LLM to try again.
### Parameter
# Max tries
max_iterations = 5
# Reflect
flag = "reflect"
# flag = "do not reflect"
### Nodes
def generate(state: GraphState):
"""
Generate a code solution
Args:
state (dict): The current graph state
Returns:
state (dict): New key added to state, generation
"""
print("---GENERATING CODE SOLUTION---")
# State
messages = state["messages"]
iterations = state["iterations"]
error = state["error"]
# We have been routed back to generation with an error
if error == "yes":
messages += [
(
"user",
"Now, try again. Invoke the code tool to structure the output with a prefix, imports, and code block:",
)
]
# Solution
code_solution = code_gen_chain.invoke(
{"context": concatenated_content, "messages": messages}
)
messages += [
(
"assistant",
f"{code_solution.prefix} \n Imports: {code_solution.imports} \n Code: {code_solution.code}",
)
]
# Increment
iterations = iterations + 1
return {"generation": code_solution, "messages": messages, "iterations": iterations}
1.2 code_check Node
This node checks the generated code by attempting to exec the imports and the main code block. If anything fails, it appends an error message and flags the state.
def code_check(state: GraphState):
"""
Check code
Args:
state (dict): The current graph state
Returns:
state (dict): New key added to state, error
"""
print("---CHECKING CODE---")
# State
messages = state["messages"]
code_solution = state["generation"]
iterations = state["iterations"]
# Get solution components
imports = code_solution.imports
code = code_solution.code
# Check imports
try:
exec(imports)
except Exception as e:
print("---CODE IMPORT CHECK: FAILED---")
print(e)
error_message = [("user", f"Your solution failed the import test: {e}")]
messages += error_message
return {
"generation": code_solution,
"messages": messages,
"iterations": iterations,
"error": "yes",
}
# Check execution
try:
exec(imports + "\n" + code)
except Exception as e:
print("---CODE BLOCK CHECK: FAILED---")
error_message = [("user", f"Your solution failed the code execution test: {e}")]
messages += error_message
return {
"generation": code_solution,
"messages": messages,
"iterations": iterations,
"error": "yes",
}
# No errors
print("---NO CODE TEST FAILURES---")
return {
"generation": code_solution,
"messages": messages,
"iterations": iterations,
"error": "no",
}
1.3 reflect Node
If code checking fails, we can optionally reflect on errors and refine the solution. This node prompts the LLM for additional insights and attaches them to the current message list.
def reflect(state: GraphState):
"""
Reflect on errors
Args:
state (dict): The current graph state
Returns:
state (dict): New key added to state, generation
"""
print("---GENERATING CODE SOLUTION (reflect)---")
# State
messages = state["messages"]
iterations = state["iterations"]
code_solution = state["generation"]
# Prompt reflection
# Add reflection
reflections = code_gen_chain.invoke(
{"context": concatenated_content, "messages": messages}
)
messages += [("assistant", f"Here are reflections on the error: {reflections}")]
return {"generation": code_solution, "messages": messages, "iterations": iterations}
2. Defining the Workflow
Next, we tie these nodes together with langgraph to create our state machine. We also define a helper function decide_to_finish that determines whether we have encountered an error or exceeded our iteration limit.
from langgraph.graph import END, StateGraph, START
def decide_to_finish(state: GraphState):
"""
Determines whether to finish.
Args:
state (dict): The current graph state
Returns:
str: Next node to call
"""
error = state["error"]
iterations = state["iterations"]
if error == "no" or iterations == max_iterations:
print("---DECISION: FINISH---")
return "end"
else:
print("---DECISION: RE-TRY SOLUTION---")
if flag == "reflect":
return "reflect"
else:
return "generate"
# Build the state machine
workflow = StateGraph(GraphState)
workflow.add_node("generate", generate)
workflow.add_node("check_code", code_check)
workflow.add_node("reflect", reflect)
# Sequence:
# 1. START -> generate
# 2. generate -> check_code
# 3. check_code -> either "end" or "reflect" or "generate"
workflow.add_edge(START, "generate")
workflow.add_edge("generate", "check_code")
workflow.add_conditional_edges(
"check_code",
decide_to_finish,
{
"end": END,
"reflect": "reflect",
"generate": "generate",
},
)
workflow.add_edge("reflect", "generate")
app = workflow.compile()
3. Visualizing the Workflow
We can visualize the state machine using the visualize_graph function from langchain_opentutorial.graphs.
from langchain_opentutorial.graphs import visualize_graph
visualize_graph(app)
Final Invocation and Display
Finally, we pass a user question into our compiled state machine. The pipeline will:
Generate code.
Check it.
Reflect if there’s an error.
Repeat until success or until we reach our maximum number of attempts.
question = "How can I directly pass a string to a runnable and use it to construct the input needed for my prompt?"
solution = app.invoke({"messages": [("user", question)], "iterations": 0, "error": ""})
solution["generation"]
code(prefix='To pass a string directly through to a prompt, you can use the RunnablePassthrough class. This will take the input string and pass it through unchanged to be used in constructing the prompt input.', imports='from langchain_core.prompts import PromptTemplate\nfrom langchain_core.runnables import RunnablePassthrough\nfrom langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI\nfrom langchain_core.output_parsers import StrOutputParser', code='template = """Answer the following question.\n\nQuestion: {input}\n\nAnswer:"""\n\nprompt = PromptTemplate.from_template(template)\n\nllm = ChatOpenAI()\n\nchain = (\n RunnablePassthrough()\n | prompt \n | llm\n | StrOutputParser()\n)\n\nchain.invoke("What is the capital of France?")')
We define a helper function to display the resulting code in a Markdown cell:
from IPython.display import Markdown, display
def display_markdown_code(solution):
"""
Render the final solution (Structured Output) as a Markdown code block.
"""
md_text = f"""
**{solution.prefix}**
```python
# Imports
{solution.imports}
# Code
{solution.code}
"""
display(Markdown(md_text))
The final output is displayed in Markdown, allowing you to immediately see the generated code solution
display_markdown_code(solution["generation"])
To pass a string directly through to a prompt, you can use the RunnablePassthrough class. This will take the input string and pass it through unchanged to be used in constructing the prompt input.
# Imports
from langchain_core.prompts import PromptTemplate
from langchain_core.runnables import RunnablePassthrough
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain_core.output_parsers import StrOutputParser
# Code
template = """Answer the following question.
Question: {input}
Answer:"""
prompt = PromptTemplate.from_template(template)
llm = ChatOpenAI()
chain = (
RunnablePassthrough()
| prompt
| llm
| StrOutputParser()
)
chain.invoke("What is the capital of France?")
