OR-Tools is a powerful open source library that’s popular for solving optimization use cases such as vehicle routing problems, scheduling, and more. The Nextmv OR-Tools integration makes it easy to go from a work-in-progress or completely built OR-Tools model to a fully operational decision app that integrates into your technology stack in just a few steps.
Get started with the familiar modeling tools and solvers that ship with OR-Tools including:
- Linear programming (LP) – Glop solver
- Mixed integer programming (MIP) – SCIP solver
- Constraint programming (CP) – CP-SAT solver
- Vehicle routing problems (VRPs) – specialized library
Why create a decision app with Nextmv? A decision app is a container that holds everything you need to solve a problem such as routing or packing – including a main file that holds your model code, an app.yaml, a sample input JSON to run the example code, and a workspace file for simpler local debugging. This structure allows you to separate your operational data from your model so you can automate it as a decision service and interact with it using simple API calls. And from there, the full Nextmv DecisionOps platform includes testing, collaboration tools, model management, and more to incorporate CI/CD into your algorithm development workflow.
Create a fully functional OR-Tools decision app in minutes
To get started, all you need to do is create a free Nextmv account, start a free trial, and download the Nextmv CLI.
Clone a community app
Head to the community apps repo and choose the app you’d like to use as a template (e.g., costflow, knapsack, routing, shift assignment, and shift planning). If you don’t see the domain or use case you need, simply choose any OR-Tools app in your language of choice (Python or Java). Clone the app using nextmv community clone.
Bring your existing model or customize a template
The main file holds the model code. Here’s where you can paste in your model, edit the code that’s already provided, and completely customize it to meet your needs (down to choosing the solver you’d like to use).
Run locally
Give your code a quick check by running it locally and debug using the code workspace file. Or use the .devcontainer file to run your app locally the same way it runs on our platform. (Check the README.md of the community app you’re using for further instructions.)
Create your app
Now that you’ve cloned a community app and made the code your own, it’s time to create your own Nextmv app.
Deploy, integrate, and automate
Push your app to Nextmv Cloud in a command: nextmv app push. Once you’ve deployed your app, you can get operational insights into how your app is performing, conduct experiments like acceptance tests and switchback tests, and collaborate on your models with teammates in the console.
Have feedback or questions?
Sign up for free to try the OR-Tools integration today and start making operational decisions with your OR-Tools model. Run your model as a decision app, get insights into performance, perform tests, collaborate with teammates, and more.
Reach out to us directly or connect with our team and community in our forums.
