Question: Can I deploy this locally and access a local LeRobot format dataset?

[zhanglixuan0720]

Hi,

Is it possible to deploy this project locally and access a dataset in LeRobot format from a local folder (e.g., ~/.cache/huggingface/lerobot/) instead of fetching it from an external URL?

Can you provide guidance on how to configure the app to load the local dataset, especially if using Docker?

Thanks!

[moured]

Did you manage to solve it @zhanglixuan0720 ?

[zhanglixuan0720]

Hi, @moured At the moment, I don’t have a plan to resolve this issue.

[CarolinePascal]

Hi everyone !

I just found out about this issue, sorry - At the moment, the easiest way to visualize a dataset without uploading it on the hub is to run this script from LeRobot library.

Best,

Caroline.

[pprett]

I was able to serve a local dataset by doing the following: 1) serve the local dataset via HTTP npx serve --cors -l 8081 /tmp/lerobot_datasets and 2) apply the following changes (for some reason the env variable DATASET_URL wasnt passed through thus I hard coded it):

diff --git a/src/utils/versionUtils.ts b/src/utils/versionUtils.ts
index 8a5280c..b8698c0 100644
--- a/src/utils/versionUtils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/versionUtils.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  */
 
 const DATASET_URL =
-  process.env.DATASET_URL || "https://huggingface.co/datasets";
+  process.env.DATASET_URL || "http://localhost:8081"; 
 
 /**
  * Dataset information structure from info.json
@@ -73,7 +73,8 @@ export async function getDatasetInfo(repoId: string): Promise<DatasetInfo> {
   console.log(`[perf] getDatasetInfo cache MISS for ${repoId} — fetching`);
 
   try {
-    const testUrl = `${DATASET_URL}/${repoId}/resolve/main/meta/info.json`;
+    const testUrl = `${DATASET_URL}/${repoId}/meta/info.json`;
 
     const controller = new AbortController();
     const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 10000);
@@ -149,5 +150,5 @@ export function buildVersionedUrl(
   version: string,
   path: string,
 ): string {
-  return `${DATASET_URL}/${repoId}/resolve/main/${path}`;
+  return `${DATASET_URL}/${repoId}/${path}`;
 }

[han-xudong]

Hi, I ran into the same local-dataset deployment problem before, and I ended up solving it in my fork: https://github.com/han-xudong/lerobot-dataset-visualizer

What works there is:

• loading a local LeRobot dataset directory directly
• reading meta/info.json, parquet files, and metadata from disk on the server side
• serving local video files through an internal HTTP route with range support, so playback still works
• manual local-path input in the web app, plus a native “Choose Local Directory” flow in the Electron app

A couple of practical constraints:

• the dataset directory has to be readable by the Next.js server process
• for Docker, the dataset needs to be mounted into the container, and the app must use the in-container path
• in the web app, manual path input is still the practical option because browsers do not expose real folder paths cleanly

@CarolinePascal if this looks useful upstream, I can also put together a PR based on the forked implementation.

[CarolinePascal]

Hi @han-xudong,

Glad to read you've mad it work ! PRs are always welcome of course. Let's continue discussing the practical constraints on the PR once you've opened it.

Best,

Caroline.

[han-xudong]

Hi @han-xudong,

Glad to read you've mad it work ! PRs are always welcome of course. Let's continue discussing the practical constraints on the PR once you've opened it.

Best,

Caroline.

Thanks @CarolinePascal , and sounds good. I’ve now opened the PR here: #53

The main practical constraints I ran into are:

• the dataset directory must be readable by the server process
• in Docker, the dataset needs to be mounted and accessed via the in-container path
• local file access is restricted to the selected dataset root
• for the web app, manual path input is still the practical option since browsers do not expose real directory paths cleanly

Happy to discuss tradeoffs and refine the approach on the PR.