vellum-ai
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you are building production AI applications and want a structured SDK for orchestration and observability. The Workflows SDK alone justifies installation for control-flow definition without vendor lock-in. MIT licensing, active maintenance, and low install friction make it a low-risk addition. A Vellum account is required to unlock full platform features (prompt management, deployment, managed retrieval), so evaluate whether the free tier meets your needs before committing to paid features.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or later.
- Most features require a Vellum account and API key; however, the Workflows SDK can be used without an account to define control flow.
- Low install friction with a pure Python wheel distribution.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license (permissive) allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions. No license-based barriers to adoption.
last release 2026-03-05 (162 days) · last repo commit 2026-04-06 · 82 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 119,781 downloads/mo, #12,055 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install vellum-ai
from vellum.workflows import Workflow, Node
# Define a workflow with nodes and relationships
workflow = Workflow(name="my_ai_app")
node = Node(name="example_node")
workflow.add_node(node)- Whether the 17 runtime dependencies introduce any transitive security concerns beyond the direct package.
- Performance characteristics and scalability limits for the workflow engine with large or complex graphs.
- Specific integrations or LLM providers supported by the orchestration layer.
What it is and what it does
Vellum is a Python SDK for building and managing production AI applications. It provides two main layers: a low-level Client SDK for direct interaction with the Vellum API, and a high-level Workflows SDK for defining the control flow and structure of AI systems as declarative graphs. The package includes built-in support for prompt management, evaluation frameworks, retrieval services, deployment, and real-time observability.
The Workflows SDK can be used independently without a Vellum account to define and debug AI system control flow, though a paid account unlocks additional features like UI-based editing, managed retrieval, and deployment integration. The package is actively maintained, supports Python 3.9 through 3.12, and has low installation friction with a pure Python wheel distribution.
Use it for
- Define and orchestrate multi-step AI workflows with declarative graph syntax without requiring a Vellum account.
- Iterate on and compare prompts across different LLM providers using the built-in prompt playground.
- Measure and evaluate the quality of AI system outputs at scale with the evaluations framework.
- Monitor and debug production AI applications in real-time with detailed logs, metrics, and user feedback.
- Deploy AI system updates independently from application code using one-click deployment.
- Transform unstructured content into context-aware retrieval solutions optimized for AI systems.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you are building production AI applications and want a structured SDK for orchestration and observability.
The Workflows SDK alone justifies installation for control-flow definition without vendor lock-in. MIT licensing, active maintenance, and low install friction make it a low-risk addition. A Vellum account is required to unlock full platform features (prompt management, deployment, managed retrieval), so evaluate whether the free tier meets your needs before committing to paid features.
Install
vellum-ai on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure Python wheel distribution. Active maintenance with recent commits (2026-04-06) and steady releases. Requires Python 3.9 or later and brings in 17 runtime dependencies including common utilities like pydantic, httpx, and pyyaml.
Requires Python 3.9 or later. Most features require a Vellum account and API key; however, the Workflows SDK can be used without an account to define control flow.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive) allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions. No license-based barriers to adoption.
Quickstart
pip install vellum-ai
from vellum.workflows import Workflow, Node
# Define a workflow with nodes and relationships
workflow = Workflow(name="my_ai_app")
node = Node(name="example_node")
workflow.add_node(node)Verify before relying
- Whether the 17 runtime dependencies introduce any transitive security concerns beyond the direct package.
- Performance characteristics and scalability limits for the workflow engine with large or complex graphs.
- Specific integrations or LLM providers supported by the orchestration layer.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <4.0,>=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 17 packagesJinja2clickdockerhttpxjsonschemaorderly-setpublicationpydanticpydantic-corepydashpython-dateutilpython-dotenvpytzpyyamlrequeststomlityping_extensions |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 162 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 119,781 / month, #12,055 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: OS IndependentOperating System :: POSIXOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: vellum_ai-1.14.7-py3-none-any.whl
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See also promptflow · inspect-ai · promptflow-devkit · mistralai-workflows · deepeval · opik · langflow · embedchain · poml · mlflow