diff --git a/singlestoredb/apps/__init__.py b/singlestoredb/apps/__init__.py
index b9f54898f..a07f228cb 100644
--- a/singlestoredb/apps/__init__.py
+++ b/singlestoredb/apps/__init__.py
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 from ._cloud_functions import run_function_app  # noqa: F401
 from ._dashboards import run_dashboard_app  # noqa: F401
+from ._python_udfs import run_udf_app  # noqa: F401
diff --git a/singlestoredb/apps/_config.py b/singlestoredb/apps/_config.py
index 0bfb19c69..d3c5e3d08 100644
--- a/singlestoredb/apps/_config.py
+++ b/singlestoredb/apps/_config.py
@@ -64,3 +64,46 @@ def token(self) -> Optional[str]:
             return self.app_token
         else:
             return self.user_token
+
+
+@dataclass
+class PythonUdfAppConfig:
+    listen_port: int
+    base_url: str
+    running_interactively: bool
+    is_gateway_enabled: bool
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _read_variable(name: str) -> str:
+        value = os.environ.get(name)
+        if value is None:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f'Missing {name} environment variable. '
+                'Is the code running outside SingleStoreDB notebook environment?',
+            )
+        return value
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_env(cls) -> 'AppConfig':
+        port = cls._read_variable('SINGLESTOREDB_APP_LISTEN_PORT')
+        base_url = cls._read_variable('SINGLESTOREDB_APP_BASE_URL')
+
+        workload_type = os.environ.get('SINGLESTOREDB_WORKLOAD_TYPE')
+        running_interactively = workload_type == 'InteractiveNotebook'
+
+        is_gateway_enabled = 'SINGLESTOREDB_NOVA_GATEWAY_ENDPOINT' in os.environ
+
+        if running_interactively:
+            if is_gateway_enabled:
+                base_url = cls._read_variable('SINGLESTOREDB_NOVA_GATEWAY_DEV_BASE_URL')
+            else:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    'Running Python UDFs in interactive mode without nova-gateway enabled is not supported'
+                )
+
+        return cls(
+            listen_port=int(port),
+            base_url=base_url,
+            running_interactively=running_interactively,
+            is_gateway_enabled=is_gateway_enabled,
+        )
diff --git a/singlestoredb/apps/_connection_info.py b/singlestoredb/apps/_connection_info.py
index 32fe6ea2d..f5ff2df32 100644
--- a/singlestoredb/apps/_connection_info.py
+++ b/singlestoredb/apps/_connection_info.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from typing import Optional
+from typing import Optional, Dict, Any
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -8,3 +8,8 @@ class ConnectionInfo:
 
     # Only present in interactive mode
     token: Optional[str]
+
+@dataclass
+class PythonUdfConnectionInfo:
+    url: str
+    functions: Dict[str, Any] 
diff --git a/singlestoredb/apps/_python_udfs.py b/singlestoredb/apps/_python_udfs.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f8acba69f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/singlestoredb/apps/_python_udfs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import asyncio
+import typing
+
+from ._config import PythonUdfAppConfig
+from ._connection_info import ConnectionInfo, PythonUdfConnectionInfo
+from ._process import kill_process_by_port
+from ..functions.ext.asgi import Application
+
+if typing.TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from ._uvicorn_util import AwaitableUvicornServer
+
+# Keep track of currently running server
+_running_server: 'typing.Optional[AwaitableUvicornServer]' = None
+
+
+async def run_udf_app(
+    replace_existing: bool,
+    log_level: str = 'error',
+    kill_existing_app_server: bool = True,
+) -> ConnectionInfo:
+    global _running_server
+    from ._uvicorn_util import AwaitableUvicornServer
+
+    try:
+        import uvicorn
+    except ImportError:
+        raise ImportError('package uvicorn is required to run python udfs')
+
+    app_config = PythonUdfAppConfig.from_env()
+
+    if kill_existing_app_server:
+        # Shutdown the server gracefully if it was started by us.
+        # Since the uvicorn server doesn't start a new subprocess
+        # killing the process would result in kernel dying.
+        if _running_server is not None:
+            await _running_server.shutdown()
+            _running_server = None
+
+        # Kill if any other process is occupying the port
+        kill_process_by_port(app_config.listen_port)
+
+    app = Application(url=app_config.base_url) 
+
+    config = uvicorn.Config(
+        app,
+        host='0.0.0.0',
+        port=app_config.listen_port,
+        log_level=log_level,
+    )
+    _running_server = AwaitableUvicornServer(config)
+
+    # Register the functions
+    app.register_functions(replace=replace_existing)
+
+    asyncio.create_task(_running_server.serve())
+    await _running_server.wait_for_startup()
+
+    connection_info = PythonUdfConnectionInfo(app_config.base_url, app.get_function_info())
+
+    return connection_info
diff --git a/singlestoredb/config.py b/singlestoredb/config.py
index de386ba03..013592e15 100644
--- a/singlestoredb/config.py
+++ b/singlestoredb/config.py
@@ -310,16 +310,16 @@
 register_option(
     'external_function.url', 'string', check_str, 'http://localhost:8000/invoke',
     'Specifies the URL of the external function application.',
-    environ=['SINGLESTOREDB_EXT_FUNC_URL'],
+    environ=['SINGLESTOREDB_EXT_FUNC_URL' ],
 )
 
 register_option(
     'external_function.app_mode', 'string',
     functools.partial(
         check_str,
-        valid_values=['remote', 'collocated'],
+        valid_values=['managed', 'remote', 'collocated'],
     ),
-    'remote',
+    'managed',
     'Specifies the mode of operation of the external function application.',
     environ=['SINGLESTOREDB_EXT_FUNC_APP_MODE'],
 )
diff --git a/singlestoredb/functions/signature.py b/singlestoredb/functions/signature.py
index b36e404eb..54ce5f6f7 100644
--- a/singlestoredb/functions/signature.py
+++ b/singlestoredb/functions/signature.py
@@ -1261,7 +1261,7 @@ def signature_to_sql(
     signature: Dict[str, Any],
     url: Optional[str] = None,
     data_format: str = 'rowdat_1',
-    app_mode: str = 'remote',
+    app_mode: str = 'managed',
     link: Optional[str] = None,
     replace: bool = False,
     function_type: str = 'udf',