feat(ux): backend management enhancement (#9325)

* feat: add PreferDevelopmentBackends setting, expose isMeta/isDevelopment in API

- Add PreferDevelopmentBackends config field, CLI flag, runtime setting
- Add IsDevelopment() method to GalleryBackend
- Use AvailableBackendsUnfiltered in UI API to show all backends
- Expose isMeta, isDevelopment, preferDevelopmentBackends in backend API response

* feat: upgrade banner with Upgrade All button, detect pre-existing backends

- Add upgrade banner on Backends page showing count and Upgrade All button
- Fix upgrade detection for backends installed before version tracking:
  flag as upgradeable when gallery has a version but installed has none
- Fix OCI digest check to flag backends with no stored digest as upgradeable

Author: mudler

core/application/config_file_watcher.go

@@ -338,6 +338,9 @@ func readRuntimeSettingsJson(startupAppConfig config.ApplicationConfig) fileHand
 			if settings.AutoUpgradeBackends != nil {
 				appConfig.AutoUpgradeBackends = *settings.AutoUpgradeBackends
 			}
+			if settings.PreferDevelopmentBackends != nil {
+				appConfig.PreferDevelopmentBackends = *settings.PreferDevelopmentBackends
+			}
 			if settings.ApiKeys != nil {
 				// API keys from env vars (startup) should be kept, runtime settings keys replace all runtime keys
 				// If runtime_settings.json specifies ApiKeys (even if empty), it replaces all runtime keys

core/cli/run.go

@@ -47,8 +47,9 @@ type RunCMD struct {
 	BackendImagesReleaseTag  string   `env:"LOCALAI_BACKEND_IMAGES_RELEASE_TAG,BACKEND_IMAGES_RELEASE_TAG" help:"Fallback release tag for backend images" group:"backends" default:"latest"`
 	BackendImagesBranchTag   string   `env:"LOCALAI_BACKEND_IMAGES_BRANCH_TAG,BACKEND_IMAGES_BRANCH_TAG" help:"Fallback branch tag for backend images" group:"backends" default:"master"`
 	BackendDevSuffix         string   `env:"LOCALAI_BACKEND_DEV_SUFFIX,BACKEND_DEV_SUFFIX" help:"Development suffix for backend images" group:"backends" default:"development"`
-	AutoUpgradeBackends      bool     `env:"LOCALAI_AUTO_UPGRADE_BACKENDS,AUTO_UPGRADE_BACKENDS" help:"Automatically upgrade backends when new versions are detected" group:"backends" default:"false"`
-	PreloadModels            string   `env:"LOCALAI_PRELOAD_MODELS,PRELOAD_MODELS" help:"A List of models to apply in JSON at start" group:"models"`
+	AutoUpgradeBackends       bool     `env:"LOCALAI_AUTO_UPGRADE_BACKENDS,AUTO_UPGRADE_BACKENDS" help:"Automatically upgrade backends when new versions are detected" group:"backends" default:"false"`
+	PreferDevelopmentBackends bool     `env:"LOCALAI_PREFER_DEV_BACKENDS,PREFER_DEV_BACKENDS" help:"Prefer development backend versions (shows development backends by default in UI)" group:"backends" default:"false"`
+	PreloadModels             string   `env:"LOCALAI_PRELOAD_MODELS,PRELOAD_MODELS" help:"A List of models to apply in JSON at start" group:"models"`
 	Models                   []string `env:"LOCALAI_MODELS,MODELS" help:"A List of model configuration URLs to load" group:"models"`
 	PreloadModelsConfig      string   `env:"LOCALAI_PRELOAD_MODELS_CONFIG,PRELOAD_MODELS_CONFIG" help:"A List of models to apply at startup. Path to a YAML config file" group:"models"`
 
@@ -495,6 +496,10 @@ func (r *RunCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 		opts = append(opts, config.WithAutoUpgradeBackends(r.AutoUpgradeBackends))
 	}
 
+	if r.PreferDevelopmentBackends {
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithPreferDevelopmentBackends(r.PreferDevelopmentBackends))
+	}
+
 	if r.PreloadBackendOnly {
 		_, err := application.New(opts...)
 		return err

core/config/application_config.go

@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ type ApplicationConfig struct {
 
 	AutoloadGalleries, AutoloadBackendGalleries bool
 	AutoUpgradeBackends                         bool
+	PreferDevelopmentBackends                   bool
 
 	SingleBackend           bool // Deprecated: use MaxActiveBackends = 1 instead
 	MaxActiveBackends       int  // Maximum number of active backends (0 = unlimited, 1 = single backend mode)
@@ -395,6 +396,10 @@ func WithAutoUpgradeBackends(v bool) AppOption {
 	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) { o.AutoUpgradeBackends = v }
 }
 
+func WithPreferDevelopmentBackends(v bool) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) { o.PreferDevelopmentBackends = v }
+}
+
 var EnableFederated = func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
 	o.Federated = true
 }
@@ -868,6 +873,7 @@ func (o *ApplicationConfig) ToRuntimeSettings() RuntimeSettings {
 	autoloadGalleries := o.AutoloadGalleries
 	autoloadBackendGalleries := o.AutoloadBackendGalleries
 	autoUpgradeBackends := o.AutoUpgradeBackends
+	preferDevelopmentBackends := o.PreferDevelopmentBackends
 	apiKeys := o.ApiKeys
 	agentJobRetentionDays := o.AgentJobRetentionDays
 
@@ -942,6 +948,7 @@ func (o *ApplicationConfig) ToRuntimeSettings() RuntimeSettings {
 		AutoloadGalleries:         &autoloadGalleries,
 		AutoloadBackendGalleries:  &autoloadBackendGalleries,
 		AutoUpgradeBackends:       &autoUpgradeBackends,
+		PreferDevelopmentBackends: &preferDevelopmentBackends,
 		ApiKeys:                   &apiKeys,
 		AgentJobRetentionDays:     &agentJobRetentionDays,
 		OpenResponsesStoreTTL:     &openResponsesStoreTTL,
@@ -1093,6 +1100,9 @@ func (o *ApplicationConfig) ApplyRuntimeSettings(settings *RuntimeSettings) (req
 	if settings.AutoUpgradeBackends != nil {
 		o.AutoUpgradeBackends = *settings.AutoUpgradeBackends
 	}
+	if settings.PreferDevelopmentBackends != nil {
+		o.PreferDevelopmentBackends = *settings.PreferDevelopmentBackends
+	}
 	if settings.AgentJobRetentionDays != nil {
 		o.AgentJobRetentionDays = *settings.AgentJobRetentionDays
 	}

core/config/runtime_settings.go

@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ type RuntimeSettings struct {
 	// Backend management
 	SingleBackend           *bool `json:"single_backend,omitempty"`      // Deprecated: use MaxActiveBackends = 1 instead
 	MaxActiveBackends       *int  `json:"max_active_backends,omitempty"` // Maximum number of active backends (0 = unlimited, 1 = single backend mode)
-	AutoUpgradeBackends     *bool `json:"auto_upgrade_backends,omitempty"` // Automatically upgrade backends when new versions are detected
+	AutoUpgradeBackends       *bool `json:"auto_upgrade_backends,omitempty"`       // Automatically upgrade backends when new versions are detected
+	PreferDevelopmentBackends *bool `json:"prefer_development_backends,omitempty"` // Prefer development backend versions by default in UI
 	// Memory Reclaimer settings (works with GPU if available, otherwise RAM)
 	MemoryReclaimerEnabled   *bool    `json:"memory_reclaimer_enabled,omitempty"`   // Enable memory threshold monitoring
 	MemoryReclaimerThreshold *float64 `json:"memory_reclaimer_threshold,omitempty"` // Threshold 0.0-1.0 (e.g., 0.95 = 95%)

core/gallery/backend_types.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package gallery
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/system"
@@ -70,6 +71,13 @@ func (m *GalleryBackend) IsMeta() bool {
 	return len(m.CapabilitiesMap) > 0 && m.URI == ""
 }
 
+func (m *GalleryBackend) IsDevelopment(devSuffix string) bool {
+	if devSuffix == "" {
+		devSuffix = defaultDevSuffix
+	}
+	return strings.HasSuffix(m.Name, "-"+devSuffix)
+}
+
 // IsCompatibleWith checks if the backend is compatible with the current system capability.
 // For meta backends, it checks if any of the capabilities in the map match the system capability.
 // For concrete backends, it delegates to SystemState.IsBackendCompatible.

core/gallery/upgrade.go

@@ -72,22 +72,36 @@ func CheckBackendUpgrades(ctx context.Context, galleries []config.Gallery, syste
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// If either version is empty, fall back to OCI digest comparison
-		if installed.Metadata.Digest != "" && downloader.URI(galleryEntry.URI).LooksLikeOCI() {
+		// Gallery has a version but installed doesn't — this happens for backends
+		// installed before version tracking was added. Flag as upgradeable so
+		// users can re-install to pick up version metadata.
+		if galleryVersion != "" && installedVersion == "" {
+			result[installed.Metadata.Name] = UpgradeInfo{
+				BackendName:      installed.Metadata.Name,
+				InstalledVersion: "",
+				AvailableVersion: galleryVersion,
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// Fall back to OCI digest comparison when versions are unavailable
+		if downloader.URI(galleryEntry.URI).LooksLikeOCI() {
 			remoteDigest, err := oci.GetImageDigest(galleryEntry.URI, "", nil, nil)
 			if err != nil {
 				xlog.Warn("Failed to get remote OCI digest for upgrade check", "backend", installed.Metadata.Name, "error", err)
 				continue
 			}
-			if remoteDigest != installed.Metadata.Digest {
+			// If we have a stored digest, compare; otherwise any remote digest
+			// means we can't confirm we're up to date — flag as upgradeable
+			if installed.Metadata.Digest == "" || remoteDigest != installed.Metadata.Digest {
 				result[installed.Metadata.Name] = UpgradeInfo{
 					BackendName:     installed.Metadata.Name,
 					InstalledDigest: installed.Metadata.Digest,
 					AvailableDigest: remoteDigest,
 				}
 			}
 		}
-		// No version info and no digest to compare — skip
+		// No version info and non-OCI URI — cannot determine, skip
 	}
 
 	return result, nil