Dynamic Factory Design Pattern: A Production-Ready Approach for Managing AI Models in Python

The world of AI and Machine Learning is a whirlwind of innovation. New models, providers, and capabilities emerge constantly, making it both exciting and challenging for developers. Integrating multiple Large Language Models (LLMs) into an application—perhaps Claude from AWS Bedrock, GPT-4o from OpenAI, or a local Llama variant—quickly reveals a common pain point: each model has its unique API, configuration, and cost structure. Managing these integrations efficiently and flexibly is paramount for any scalable AI application.

This post will guide you through building a robust, dynamic factory in Python. We’ll create a system that can load model configurations from external sources (like YAML files on S3 or AWS Parameter Store) and then seamlessly instantiate the correct model object at runtime. By leveraging modern best practices with libraries like LangChain, Pydantic, OmegaConf, and S3Path, we’ll craft a single, elegant get_llm function that makes model access effortless and your application future-proof.

Understanding the Factory Pattern

Before diving into the “dynamic” aspects, let’s briefly revisit the core Factory Pattern. At its heart, the Factory Pattern provides an interface for creating objects but lets the factory itself decide which specific class to instantiate. It decouples the code that uses an object from the code that creates it. Instead of your application code needing to know the specific details of how to build a ClaudeModel versus a GPTModel, it simply asks a factory for what it needs: get_llm(“claude-v3-sonnet”).

This relationship can be visualized with a class diagram. The client interacts with a single ModelFactory. The factory, based on the input, produces a concrete object (like LangChainBedrockModel or LangChainOpenAIModel) that conforms to a common BaseLlmModel interface. The client receives this object, knowing it can rely on the methods defined in BaseLlmModel without needing to know the specific implementation details.

classDiagram
    class ModelFactory {
        <<Factory>>
        +get_model_instance(model_name) BaseLlmModel
    }
    class BaseLlmModel {
        <<Interface>>
        +llm
        +invoke()
        +calculate_cost()
    }
    class LangChainBedrockModel
    class LangChainOpenAIModel

    ModelFactory ..> BaseLlmModel : creates
    BaseLlmModel <|-- LangChainBedrockModel
    BaseLlmModel <|-- LangChainOpenAIModel

Evolving to a Dynamic LLM Factory

Our goal is not just a static factory, but a dynamic one. This means the factory’s behavior—which concrete classes it can create and with what parameters—is determined by external configuration, not hardcoded logic. This is crucial for adapting to the fast-paced AI landscape.

The following flowchart illustrates this dynamic process. When a user calls our get_llm function, it triggers a series of steps that read from an external source to make a decision at runtime.

graph LR
    A["Client calls get_llm()"] --> B{Is this request cached?};
    B -- No --> C["Initialize Factory"];
    C --> D["Load Custom Provider Code from S3"];
    D --> E["Update Model Class Registry"];
    E --> F["Load Model Configs from S3 & Local"];
    F --> G["Validate Configurations"];
    G --> H["Instantiate Requested Model"];
    H --> I["Return Model Instance and Cache It"];
    B -- Yes --> J["Return Model from Cache"];
    I --> K([End]);
    J --> K;

Project Structure

Before we dive into the code, let’s look at the project structure. This layout separates concerns cleanly, making the system easy to understand and maintain.

the project is build as an installable Python package so you can simply pip install it into your projects.

.├── .env.example                 # Example environment variables├── pyproject.toml               # Project metadata and dependencies├── requirements.txt├── src/│   ├── __init__.py│   ├── config_models.py         # Pydantic models for configuration│   ├── exceptions.py            # Custom exception classes│   ├── main.py                  # Demonstration script│   ├── model_config/            # Directory for default model YAML files│   │   ├── claude_sonnet_3_7.yaml│   │   ├── gpt_4o.yaml│   │   └── llama_3_8b_instruct.yaml│   ├── model_factory.py         # The core factory logic and public API│   └── models/                  # Model implementation modules│       ├── __init__.py│       ├── base_model.py        # Abstract base class for our model wrappers│       ├── bedrock.py           # Concrete implementation for AWS Bedrock│       └── openai.py            # Concrete implementation for OpenAI└── ...

Building Blocks for a Robust Dynamic Factory

To achieve this sophisticated dynamism and reliability, we’ll leverage several powerful Python libraries and design patterns.

1. Pydantic: For Bulletproof Configuration

Configuration is the backbone of our dynamic system. Instead of using plain dictionaries, we’ll use Pydantic models to define a strict schema. This provides automatic validation, clear error messages, and type-safe access to configuration data, catching errors before they become runtime problems.

# src/config_models.pyfrom enum import Enumfrom typing import Dict, Optional, Unionfrom pydantic import BaseModel, Fieldfrom pydantic_settings import BaseSettingsclass Provider(str, Enum):    """Enumeration for supported LLM providers."""    BEDROCK = "bedrock"    OPENAI = "openai"class ModelConfig(BaseModel):    """Pydantic model for a single LLM configuration."""    name: str    provider: Union[Provider, str]    model_id: str    region_name: Optional[str] = None    api_key_secret_name: Optional[str] = None    api_key_env_var: Optional[str] = "OPENAI_API_KEY"    input_token_cost: float = Field(0.0, ge=0.0, alias="input_token_cost_usd_per_million")    output_token_cost: float = Field(0.0, ge=0.0, alias="output_token_cost_usd_per_million")    max_tokens: int = Field(1024, ge=1)    temperature: float = Field(0.7, ge=0.0, le=2.0)    description: Optional[str] = Noneclass AllModelsConfig(BaseModel):    """Pydantic model for the entire collection of LLM configurations."""    models: Dict[str, ModelConfig] = Field(default_factory=dict)class EnvSettings(BaseSettings):    """Loads environment variables for configuration paths."""    SSM_PROVIDER_PATH_PARAMETER: Optional[str] = "/LLM_CONFIG/PROVIDER_MODULES_S3_PATH"    SSM_MODELS_PATH_PARAMETER: Optional[str] = "/LLM_CONFIG/MODELS_CONFIG_S3_PATH"    OPENAI_API_KEY: Optional[str] = Noneenv = EnvSettings()

This schema ensures that any configuration we load will have the necessary fields. Notice the use of alias to allow for more descriptive YAML keys (input_token_cost_usd_per_million) while using shorter, more convenient attribute names in our code (input_token_cost).

2. LangChain: A Common Ground for All Models

Modern AI applications rarely interact with LLM APIs directly. Libraries like LangChain provide a powerful, unified abstraction layer. Our design leverages this by defining our own BaseLlmModel that wraps a LangChain BaseChatModel instance.

This wrapper is a key design choice. It offers several advantages over returning a raw LangChain object:

Application-Specific Functionality: It allows us to add methods like calculate_cost that are relevant to our application’s needs but not part of LangChain’s core interface.
Future-Proofing: It insulates our application from potential breaking changes in LangChain’s API. If LangChain’s invoke signature changes, we only update our wrapper, not every piece of client code.
Direct LangChain Access: Crucially, it exposes the underlying LangChain BaseChatModel instance via an .llm property. This gives users the best of both worlds: our custom features and full access to LangChain’s rich ecosystem (chains, agents, etc.).

# src/models/base_model.pyfrom abc import ABC, abstractmethodfrom langchain_core.language_models import BaseChatModelfrom config_models import ModelConfigclass BaseLlmModel(ABC):    """Abstract Base Class for all language models, wrapping LangChain's BaseChatModel."""    def __init__(self, name: str, config: ModelConfig):        self.name = name        self.config = config        self._llm: BaseChatModel = self._initialize_llm()    @abstractmethod    def _initialize_llm(self) -> BaseChatModel:        """Initializes the underlying LangChain LLM based on the configuration."""        pass    @property    def llm(self) -> BaseChatModel:        """Provides direct access to the underlying LangChain BaseChatModel instance."""        return self._llm    def invoke(self, prompt: str, **kwargs) -> str:        """Generates a response for a given prompt using the wrapped LangChain LLM."""        print(f"[{self.name}] Invoking LangChain LLM...")        try:            return self._llm.invoke(prompt, **kwargs)        except Exception as e:            return f"Error calling {self.name} via LangChain: {e}"    def calculate_cost(self, token_count: int, is_input: bool) -> float:        """Calculates the cost for a given token count and direction (input/output)."""        token_price = (            self.config.input_token_cost if is_input else self.config.output_token_cost        )        return (token_count / 1_000_000) * token_price

The concrete implementations are now lean and focused. Their only job is to translate our Pydantic ModelConfig into the arguments required by the corresponding LangChain class.

# src/models/bedrock.pyfrom langchain_aws import ChatBedrockfrom langchain_core.language_models import BaseChatModelfrom .base_model import BaseLlmModelfrom config_models import ModelConfigclass LangChainBedrockModel(BaseLlmModel):    """Concrete implementation for AWS Bedrock models using LangChain's ChatBedrock."""    def _initialize_llm(self) -> BaseChatModel:        return ChatBedrock(            model_id=self.config.model_id,            region_name=self.config.region_name,            temperature=self.config.temperature,            model_kwargs={"max_tokens": self.config.max_tokens},        )

3. Externalizing Configuration: One File Per Model

Our model configurations live outside the application code, making them easy to update without code changes. We’ve adopted a one-file-per-model strategy. This is often simpler to manage than a single monolithic file, as adding or updating a model is just a matter of adding or replacing a single file in a directory, a process that’s easy to automate.

Here’s an example for claude_sonnet_3_7.yaml:

name: "Claude Sonnet 3.7"provider: "bedrock"model_id: "anthropic.claude-3-sonnet-20240229-v1:0"region_name: "us-east-1"input_token_cost_usd_per_million: 3.0output_token_cost_usd_per_million: 15.0max_tokens: 4096temperature: 0.7description: "Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 3.7 model via AWS Bedrock."

To load these configurations, we’ll use OmegaConf for its flexible parsing capabilities and S3Path for simplified, Pythonic interaction with S3. S3Path allows us to treat S3 objects and prefixes much like local file paths, making operations like reading YAML files or globbing for multiple config files in a directory straightforward.

4. The All-in-One Factory Function

The core of our dynamic factory is a single, elegant function that serves as the public API for our entire system: get_llm. It encapsulates all the complexity, providing a clean and efficient interface for developers.

Here’s what get_llm does:

Factory Instantiation: It creates an instance of our internal ModelFactory.
Configuration Loading & Validation: It instructs the factory to load configurations from the specified source_type and source_path. The factory then uses OmegaConf to parse the raw data and Pydantic to strictly validate it.
Model Instantiation: Once configurations are loaded and validated, the factory looks up the requested model_name_key and instantiates the appropriate BaseLlmModel subclass.
Caching: The entire get_llm function is decorated with functools.lru_cache. This is a game-changer for performance. If you call get_llm with the exact same arguments (model_name_key, local_path, etc.) multiple times, the function will only execute once. Subsequent calls will instantly return the model from its cache.

# src/model_factory.py (abbreviated for clarity)from functools import lru_cachefrom .base_model import BaseLlmModelclass ModelFactory:    # ... (internal loading and instantiation logic as shown previously) ...    # This class handles:    # - Loading custom provider modules from S3 via SSM parameter.    # - Loading model config YAMLs from a local path.    # - Loading and merging model config YAMLs from an S3 path via SSM parameter.    # - Validating the final merged config with Pydantic.    # - Instantiating the correct model class based on the 'provider' key.def _get_llm_cached(model_name_key: str, local_path: str) -> BaseLlmModel:    """Internal helper to create and retrieve an instantiated LLM with caching."""    factory = ModelFactory(local_path)    return factory.get_model_instance(model_name_key)@lru_cache(maxsize=128)def _get_llm_lru(model_name_key: str, local_path: str) -> BaseLlmModel:    """LRU-cached wrapper around the internal LLM retrieval function."""    return _get_llm_cached(model_name_key, local_path)def get_llm(    model_name_key: str,    local_path: str = get_default_config_dir(),    force_reload: bool = False,) -> BaseLlmModel:    """    Create and retrieve an instantiated LLM.    Args:        model_name_key (str): The key identifying the model.        local_path (Path): The local path to a folder containing a yaml file for each model.        force_reload (bool): Whether to force reload the the model factory content from S3.    Returns:        BaseLlmModel: The instantiated LLM model.    """    if force_reload:        # Clear cached instances and reset the factory so providers/configs reload        _get_llm_lru.cache_clear()        ModelFactory.reset()    return _get_llm_lru(model_name_key, str(local_path))

Putting It All Together in Practice

With our architecture in place, using the factory is incredibly straightforward. The library comes with built-in configurations, making it easy to get started.

# main.pyfrom dotenv import load_dotenvfrom langchain_core.prompts import ChatPromptTemplatefrom src.model_config import get_default_config_dirfrom src.model_factory import ModelNotFoundError, get_llm# Load environment variables (e.g., OPENAI_API_KEY) from a .env fileload_dotenv()claude_model = get_llm("claude_sonnet_3_7")print(f"Retrieved model: {claude_model.name} ({claude_model.__class__.__name__})")print(f"Claude sonnet Input Cost: ${claude_model.config.input_token_cost}/M tokens")# Demonstrate direct LangChain usage via the .llm propertyprint("\n--- Demonstrating direct LangChain usage for Claude ---")prompt_template = ChatPromptTemplate.from_messages(    [("human", "Tell me a short, funny story about a programmer and a duck.")])chain = prompt_template | claude_model.llm# Uncomment the following lines to attempt actual API calls (requires valid AWS credentials)# try:#     response = chain.invoke({})#     print(f"Claude (LangChain Chain) Response: {response.content[:100]}...")# except Exception as e:#     print(f"Error generating Claude response via chain: {e}")# Requesting the same model again with the same source should return the cached instanceprint("\n--- Requesting Claude again with same source to demonstrate caching ---")claude_model_cached = get_llm("claude_sonnet_3_7")print(    f"Retrieved model (cached): {claude_model_cached.name} ({claude_model_cached.__class__.__name__})")print(f"Is it the same instance? {claude_model is claude_model_cached}")

To confirm that loading providers and models from S3 works as expected, we manually deleted the local openai.py and the gpt_4o.yaml files and placed them in an S3 bucket. We then set the appropriate SSM parameters to point to the S3 paths. Running the main.py script produced the following output, demonstrating successful dynamic loading, instantiation, and caching:

llm-factory-pattern ❯ py src/main.py--- Demonstrating from /home/blacksuan19/Random/git/llm-factory-pattern/src/model_config ---Successfully registered custom provider: openaiLoading configurations from: /home/blacksuan19/Random/git/llm-factory-pattern/src/model_configSuccessfully loaded 3 model configurations.Retrieved model: Claude Sonnet 3.7 (LangChainBedrockModel)Claude sonnet Input Cost: $3.0/M tokens--- Demonstrating direct LangChain usage for Claude ------ Requesting Claude again with same source to demonstrate caching ---Retrieved model (cached): Claude Sonnet 3.7 (LangChainBedrockModel)Is it the same instance? TrueRetrieved model: GPT-4o (LangChainOpenAIModel)GPT-4o Output Cost: $15.0/M tokens--- Demonstrating direct LangChain usage for GPT-4o ---GPT-4o (LangChain Chain) Response: The capital of France is Paris.Retrieved model: Llama 3 8B Instruct (LangChainBedrockModel)Llama Input Cost: $0.25/M tokensCaught expected error: Config for 'non_existent_model' not found.

Final Thoughts for Production Environments

Building a robust system means thinking beyond the initial implementation. As you move this pattern into production, keep these key principles in mind.

Configuration Management is Key. The choice of where to store your configuration files is critical. For development, local files are fine. In production, using a versioned S3 bucket or AWS Parameter Store provides better security, access control, and auditability. This also allows you to have different configuration files for different environments (development, staging, production) simply by changing the source_path passed to get_llm.

Understand Your Caching Strategy. Our use of lru_cache is a powerful performance booster, but it’s important to understand its behavior. The cache is keyed on the function’s arguments. If you update the content of your models_config.yaml on S3 without changing its path, subsequent calls to get_llm with the same arguments will still return the old, cached model. To pick up changes, you must either restart your application (which clears the in-memory cache), manually call get_llm.cache_clear(), or adopt a strategy of versioning your configuration file paths (e.g., s3://.../config_v2.yaml).

Security First. Never store sensitive information like API keys directly in your configuration files, especially in a shared location like S3. The best practice, as demonstrated in our design, is to store them in a secure vault like AWS Secrets Manager and reference the secret’s name in your configuration. The factory can then fetch the secret at runtime, ensuring credentials are never exposed in your code or configuration files.

By embracing the Dynamic Factory Pattern, you can build AI applications that are not only powerful but also flexible, scalable, and easy to maintain. You decouple your application logic from the ever-changing landscape of AI models, empowering your team to adapt and innovate with speed and confidence.

Conclusion

The dynamic factory pattern we’ve built provides an elegant and powerful solution for managing a diverse and evolving set of AI models. By externalizing model configurations and dynamically instantiating objects, you can build systems that are flexible, scalable, and easy to maintain. This approach empowers you to adapt to the fast-paced world of AI with minimal code changes and maximum efficiency.

More broadly, this pattern addresses a common challenge in the data science and AI fields: the transition from experimental code to production-ready software. Often, projects that begin as innovative scripts or notebooks struggle to meet the demands of a production environment, which requires robustness, scalability, and maintainability. Code that was perfect for rapid prototyping may lack the structure and error handling needed for the real world.

This is where software engineering principles become invaluable. The dynamic factory pattern is a prime example of applying these principles to solve a common AI development problem. This post is the first in a series dedicated to bridging this gap. We aim to explore how established software engineering practices can elevate AI projects from successful experiments to reliable, enterprise-grade applications.

View the full source code for the dynamic factory pattern on github by clicking on the source button on the bottom left. the github repo is an installable python package so you can simply pip install it into your projects and start using any LLM implemented in the factory.