roboflow-inference

name: roboflow-inference description: Deployment option comparison (serverless, dedicated, self-hosted, batch) and Workflow execution patterns. For raw API URL patterns, auth, and request/response formats, see roboflow-api-reference.

For agents — source-of-truth: This skill is authored in roboflow/computer-vision-skills and shipped with the Roboflow plugin. If your client has loaded the plugin (you'll see roboflow:<name> skills in your available skills list), use those local skills — they're read fresh from disk every session. The same content served as MCP resources at roboflow://skills/<name>/... is a fallback for clients without the plugin and may lag this repo. Don't call ReadMcpResourceTool for roboflow://skills/... URIs when a local roboflow:<name> skill is available.

Tip: If you're connected to the Roboflow MCP server, prefer its inference tools over raw HTTP — auth is handled. For workflows the headline tool is workflows_run (run a saved workflow by workflow_id — the workflow URL slug; workspace is inferred from the API key — see Finding your workspace slug). For single-model calls use models_infer. workflow_specs_run and workflow_specs_validate exist for narrow inline-spec exceptions described under "Authoring Workflows" below.

Inference & Deployment

Prefer Workflows for integration code. Unlike a direct models_infer call, a workflow composes model + visualization + logic in one deployable unit, benefits from server-side optimizations, and keeps active learning and post-processing as a zero-friction addition — similar to the extensibility benefits of a microservice over a point-to-point call. Recommend a workflow by default; use models_infer when the user explicitly asks for direct inference or needs a quick one-off check. See workflows and workflow-templates.

Authoring Workflows — don't paste JSON into chat or scripts. Workflows are authored on the Roboflow platform (storage, versioning, and retrieval go through the platform) and run from code by identifier. Two authoring modes — propose / infer the right one from session context, never silently pick:

• Mode A — Agent-driven (MCP, in-session) — for demos, previews, or when the user is committed to in-session "vibe coding". Agent designs the blocks, uses MCP authoring tools to create+save the workflow on the platform during the session (ground the design with workflow_blocks_list / workflow_blocks_get_schema; validate with workflow_specs_validate), then runs it.
• Mode B — Platform-driven (Roboflow app + in-app agent) — better default for non-trivial / sophisticated cases, when the user prefers visual iteration, when they aren't committed to agent-driven authoring this session, or as the fallback when Mode A hits an issue. Agent proposes the block design and hands the user a link to the Workflows builder; the user builds (manually or with the more context-grounded in-app agent), tests in the preview, saves, and shares the workspace + workflow URL slugs back (both visible in the builder URL: app.roboflow.com/<workspace-slug>/workflows/<workflow-slug>).

Either mode lands at the same run path: workflows_run (MCP) or client.run_workflow(workspace_name=..., workflow_id=...) (SDK). Inline specs (workflow_specs_run) are an exception, not a default — only when the user explicitly asks for a throwaway run, and validate the spec first with workflow_specs_validate. See workflows "Authoring & Deployment" for the full flow.

For live video (webcam, RTSP, file): the MCP workflows_run tool only handles single static images. For live video, present the user with three options (don't pick one silently): (A) WebRTC → serverless GPU, (B) WebRTC → local inference server, or (C) in-process InferencePipeline. They have different setup costs, dep sizes, and latency characteristics — surface a brief 1-line summary of each and let the user choose. See roboflow://skills/inference/workflows ("Video Stream" section) for full code and the comparison table.

Deployment Options

When to Use Which

• Serverless -- default choice. Zero setup, auto-scales, 20MB upload limit. Use models_infer or workflows_run MCP tools.

• Dedicated -- need consistent latency, large models (Florence 2), or high throughput. Development and production tiers available. Subdomain: <name>.roboflow.cloud.

• Self-hosted -- deploy Roboflow Inference via Docker on your own hardware (Jetson, cloud VMs, RPi). Same API surface as serverless -- just change api_url.

• Batch Processing -- runs a Workflow on uploaded images/videos asynchronously. No real-time requirement. Results delivered as JSON.

• Real-time video (webcam/RTSP/file) -- three deployment options; ask the user which one before writing code:

  • (A) Serverless GPU + WebRTC — zero setup, just an API key; per-minute credits, plan-tiered (webrtc-gpu-small/medium/large).
  • (B) Local inference server + WebRTC — pip install inference-cli && inference server start (Docker recommended); lowest latency, isolates the heavy CV/model deps inside the server.
  • (C) InferencePipeline in-process — pip install inference in a venv (prefer uv); runs the workflow loop directly in the user's Python process, no separate server. Heavy deps (torch, opencv, onnxruntime) install locally.

  All three have a slower first run (model download / warmup) before subsequent runs hit cached state — tell the user this so they don't think the script is hung.

  • See roboflow://skills/inference/workflows ("Video Stream" section) for full code and a comparison table.

MCP Tools for Inference

Local tooling: when MCP isn't enough

For most operations, prefer the Roboflow MCP tools above — they handle auth and need nothing installed locally. Reach for local Python packages only for the gaps: integration scripts (inference-sdk), Batch Processing / Data Staging (inference-cli), the self-hosted server (inference-cli), and asset scripts that need typed Python objects.

See local-tooling for what to install for which use case, the recommended uv-based env setup, conda / venv fallbacks, and common pitfalls.

Response Shapes by Task

For canonical response shapes (object detection, classification, segmentation, keypoint) with all fields including class_id, detection_id, class_confidence, see roboflow://skills/api-reference/inference.

Large Response Handling

Instance segmentation points arrays are the main culprit for bloated responses. Each detection includes a polygon with potentially hundreds of coordinate pairs. A single image with many detections can return megabytes of JSON.

Mitigation strategies:

1. Use Workflows instead of direct inference -- add a polygon simplification or property extraction block to reduce output before it reaches the client
2. Filter classes -- use class_filter to only return classes you need
3. Raise confidence threshold -- fewer detections = smaller response
4. Post-process -- if consuming raw responses, drop or simplify the points array when you only need bounding boxes
5. Avoid returning raw segmentation results through LLM context -- extract only the fields you need (class counts, bounding boxes) and discard polygon data

Workflow image outputs are a second culprit. Visualization blocks (bounding box, polygon, mask, label, halo, …) emit rendered images as base64-encoded blobs inside the response — a 720p annotated frame is hundreds of KB of JSON-escaped string. When you call workflows_run / workflow_specs_run via MCP, this routinely overflows the tool-result token budget. Decode every image-shaped output ({"type": "base64", "value": "..."}) and write it to disk instead of carrying it through agent context. Don't hard-code field names — the output keys are whatever the workflow author declared via JsonField; iterate output.keys() and shape-check.

Batch Processing

What it is. A Roboflow-managed cloud service that runs a Workflow over a batch of images or videos asynchronously, provisioning the infrastructure for you. "Ideal for asynchronously processing large amounts of data." — Roboflow docs.

Problem it solves. Bulk inference over thousands to millions of files without standing up your own GPUs, queues, or autoscaler. You hand Roboflow a Workflow plus a batch of inputs, pay per job, and get JSON results back when the job finishes.

Pick it when the data is stored (not live), per-file cost matters more than per-file latency, and minutes-to-hours per job is acceptable. Pick something else when you need real-time per-request results (use Serverless or Dedicated) or air-gapped/on-prem processing (use Self-hosted).

Surfaces: Roboflow web UI, inference rf-cloud CLI, and REST API.

Flow

1. Have a saved Workflow in your workspace.
2. Stage inputs as a Data Staging batch (local directory, JSONL of signed URLs, or cloud-storage path on S3 / GCS / Azure).
3. Submit a job referencing the Workflow + input batch; choose CPU or GPU.
4. Monitor — poll job status or register a webhook.
5. Export the output batch as JSON.

CLI

The inference rf-cloud CLI exposes two subcommand groups: data-staging (manage input/output batches) and batch-processing (submit and monitor jobs). Run any command with --help for the full option list.

Minimal end-to-end:

# Stage images
inference rf-cloud data-staging create-batch-of-images \
  --images-dir ./my-images --batch-id my-batch

# Submit
inference rf-cloud batch-processing process-images-with-workflow \
  --workflow-id my-workflow --batch-id my-batch
# -> prints JOB_ID

# Monitor
inference rf-cloud batch-processing show-job-details --job-id JOB_ID

# Export results
inference rf-cloud data-staging export-batch \
  --target-dir ./results --batch-id OUTPUT_BATCH_ID

Data Staging commands — see batch-staging for nuances (data sources, JSONL reference format, multipart batches, webhook notifications):

Batch Processing (job) commands — see batch-jobs for nuances (compute configuration, workflow parameters, image-output persistence, aggregation format, video FPS, restarts, TRT compilation):

Notes and constraints

• Async only — minutes-to-hours latency depending on volume and hardware. Not for real-time.
• Pricing — per job; GPU jobs cost more than CPU. See plans-and-pricing.
• Image-references ingest requires signed URLs from trusted sources; arbitrary public URLs are rejected — stage to a local directory or cloud-storage path instead.

Full reference: Roboflow Batch Processing docs.