With these, you can specify

The contact email, repository, social media links, etc.

The ordering and grouping of parameters

parameter tooltip descriptions

parameter display names

Parameter Display

The UI only displays parameters specified in the LatchMetadata object:

from latch.types import LatchParameter, LatchAppearanceType, LatchRule

metadata = LatchMetadata(
    parameters: {
        'param_0': LatchParameter(
            display_name="Parameter 0",
            description="This is parameter 0",
            hidden=False,
        ),
        'param_1': LatchParameter(
            display_name="Parameter 1",
            description="This is parameter 1",
            hidden=True, # parameter is collapsed
        )
    }
)
...

@workflow(metadata)
def wf(
    param_0: int, # any supported type works
    param_1: str,
    ...
)

Each key in metadata.parameters must be the name of one of the parameters of the workflow function. Other keys will be ignored. Parameters without a corresponding key in metadata.parameters will not be displayed.

  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.LatchParameter specifies the metadata associated with each workflow parameter.
  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.LatchAuthor describes information about the workflow author.
  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.LatchRule describes the rule that the parameter input must follow.

Custom Parameter Layout (Flow)

By default, parameters are displayed in a flat list, in the order in which they are declared in the metadata. For more complex workflows it is often better to specify a custom layout, known as a “flow”.

The custom layout is defined using the flow parameter of the {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Metadata specification, which is a list of flow elements. Some flow elements can have child flows. All flow elements can be arbitrarily nested.

Flow Elements

  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Params is the most basic flow element which displays the specified parameter widgets one after another. A parameter can be part of any number of {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Params elements. The default workflow layout is equivalent to flow=[Params("first_param", "second_param", ...)]
  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Title and {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Text are decorative flow elements that display a string of title and body text respectively. These elements have full markdown support. They are most often used to explain a parameter or group parameters without cluttering the UI as much as a {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Section
  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Section displays a child flow in a card with a given title. This is the basic building block of most UIs
  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Spoiler displays a child flow in a collapsible card with a given title. The spoiler is collapsed by default. This is often used for hiding away parts of the UI that will not be useful to the majority of users
  • {class} ~latch.types.metadata.Fork shows a set of mutually-exclusive alternatives. The alternatives are specified as a list of {class} ~latch.types.metadata.ForkBranch, each of which displays a child flow when active and nothing otherwise. Each branch is identified by a unique key. This key is passed to the workflow is a str-typed parameter so the user selection can be used to change runtime behavior

Visit the API docs for an example of how to use each flow element.