Self-hosted LangSmith on GCP

When running LangSmith on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), self-hosted mode deploys a complete LangSmith platform with observability functionality. This page provides:

• Initial setup steps for deploying to GKE, configuring managed services, and setting up authentication.
• GCP-specific architecture patterns and reference diagrams.
• Service recommendations and best practices.
• Google Cloud Well-Architected best practices for operational excellence, security, and reliability.

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Initial setup

After completing these initial setup steps, you can review the complete GCP architecture and best practices below.

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Reference architecture

We recommend leveraging GCP’s managed services to provide a scalable, secure, and resilient platform. The following architecture applies to both self-hosted and hybrid and aligns with the Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework:

• Ingress & networking: Requests enter via Cloud Load Balancing within your VPC, secured using Cloud Armor and IAM-based authentication.
• Frontend & backend services: Containers run on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), orchestrated behind the load balancer. Routes requests to other services within the cluster as necessary.
• Storage & databases:
  • Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL: metadata, projects, users, and short-term and long-term memory for deployed agents. LangSmith supports PostgreSQL version 14 or higher.
  • Memorystore (Redis or Valkey): caching and job queues. Memorystore can be in single-instance or cluster mode. LangSmith requires Redis OSS version 6.2 or higher, or Valkey 8.
  • ClickHouse + Persistent Disks: analytics and trace storage.
    • We recommend using an externally managed ClickHouse solution unless security or compliance reasons prevent you from doing so.
    • ClickHouse is not required for hybrid deployments.
  • Cloud Storage: object storage for trace artifacts and telemetry.
• LLM integration: Optionally proxy requests to Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform for LLM inference.
• Monitoring & observability: Integrate with Cloud Monitoring and Cloud Logging

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Compute options

LangSmith supports multiple compute options depending on your requirements:

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Google cloud Well-Architected best practices

This reference is designed to align with the six pillars of the Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework:

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Operational excellence

• Automate deployments with IaC (Terraform / Deployment Manager).
• Use Secret Manager for configuration and sensitive data.
• Configure your LangSmith instance to export telemetry data and continuously monitor via Cloud Logging.
• The preferred method to manage LangSmith deployments is to create a CI process that builds Agent Server images and pushes them to Artifact Registry. Create a test deployment for pull requests before deploying a new revision to staging or production upon PR merge.

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Security

• Use IAM roles with least-privilege policies and Workload Identity for secure pod-to-GCP-service authentication.
• Enable encryption at rest (Cloud SQL, Cloud Storage, Persistent Disks) and in transit (TLS 1.2+).
• Integrate with Secret Manager for credentials.
• Use Identity Platform or Workload Identity Federation as an IDP in conjunction with LangSmith’s built-in authentication and authorization features to secure access to agents and their tools.

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Reliability

• Replicate the LangSmith data plane across regions: Deploy identical data planes to Kubernetes clusters in different regions for LangSmith Deployment. Deploy Cloud SQL and GKE services across multiple zones.
• Implement autoscaling for backend workers using Horizontal Pod Autoscaler and Cluster Autoscaler.
• Use Cloud DNS health checks and failover policies.

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Performance optimization

• Leverage Compute Engine instances for optimized compute with machine type selection.
• Use Cloud Storage lifecycle policies for infrequently accessed trace data, moving to Nearline or Coldline storage classes.

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Cost optimization

• Right-size GKE clusters using Committed Use Discounts and Sustained Use Discounts.
• Monitor cost KPIs using Cloud Billing dashboards and Cost Management tools.

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Sustainability

• Minimize idle workloads with on-demand compute and autoscaling.
• Store telemetry in low-latency, low-cost tiers using Cloud Storage lifecycle policies.
• Enable auto-shutdown for non-prod environments using scheduled actions.

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Security and compliance

LangSmith can be configured for:

• Private Service Connect-only access (no public internet exposure, besides egress necessary for billing).
• Cloud KMS-based encryption keys for Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL, and Persistent Disks.
• Audit logging to Cloud Logging and Cloud Audit Logs.

Customers can deploy in Assured Workloads regions for compliance with ISO, HIPAA, or other regulatory requirements as needed.

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Monitoring and evals

Use LangSmith to:

• Capture traces from LLM apps running on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform.
• Evaluate model outputs via LangSmith datasets.
• Track latency, token usage, and success rates.

Integrate with:

• Cloud Monitoring dashboards.
• OpenTelemetry and Prometheus exporters.

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