Developer Setup

Last Updated: May 13, 2025

For local development, engineers will need to walk through the basic setup steps to set up Vets-API locally and choose one of three options for running the app. All documentation related to setup and running Vets-API are available in https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-api/tree/master/docs

Base Setup

This is a required step regardless of running options.

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-api/blob/master/README.md

Native Setup

The native setup is commonly used by engineers who regularly work in the vets-api repo.

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-api/blob/master/docs/setup/native.md

Docker Setup

The docker setup is commonly used by engineers who use vets-api for testing, but don’t develop in vets-api.

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-api/blob/master/docs/setup/docker.md

Hybrid Setup

The hybrid setup involves using docker for dependencies like redis or postgres, but want to run vets-api natively. This option is the least commonly used. It requires performing native and docker setups.

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-api/blob/master/docs/setup/hybrid.md

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