learning/prompts/documentation-lookup/03_basic_configuring_pipelines.md

Prompt:
How do I configure pipeline in Apache Beam?
Response:
Configuring pipeline options in Apache Beam is crucial for specifying the execution environment, managing resources, and tailoring the pipeline's behavior to meet specific data processing needs and performance requirements.

You can set pipeline options programmatically or pass them in using the command line. These options include runner-specific settings, job name, project ID (for cloud runners), machine types, number of workers, and more.

Apache Beam offers a variety of [standard pipeline options](https://github.com/apache/beam/blob/master/sdks/python/apache_beam/options/pipeline_options.py) that allow you to customize and optimize your data processing pipelines.

Beam SDKs include a command-line parser that you can use to set pipeline options. Use command-line arguments in the format `--<option>=<value>`. For example, the following command sets the `--runner` option `DirectRunner` and the `--project` option `my-project-id`:

```bash
python my-pipeline.py --runner=DirectRunner --project=my-project-id
```

To set the pipeline options programmatically, use the `PipelineOptions` class. For example, the following code sets the `--runner` option to `DirectRunner` and the `--project` option to `my-project-id`:

```python
from apache_beam import Pipeline
from apache_beam.options.pipeline_options import PipelineOptions

options = PipelineOptions(
    project='my-project-id',
    runner='DirectRunner'
)
``````
In addition to the standard pipeline options, you can add custom pipeline options. For a common pattern for configuring pipeline options, see [Pipeline option patterns](https://beam.apache.org/documentation/patterns/pipeline-options/).

The [WordCount example pipeline](https://beam.apache.org/get-started/wordcount-example/#using-parameterizable-pipelineoptions) demonstrates how to set pipeline options at runtime by using command-line options.