NFDI4Ing Copilot

A full-stack application with a FastAPI backend and Next.js frontend for chat-based interactions.

Project Structure

.
├── backend/          # Python FastAPI server
│   ├── index.py      # Main FastAPI application
│   ├── requirements.txt
│   └── venv/         # Python virtual environment (created during setup)
└── frontend/         # Next.js React application
    ├── src/          # Source files
    ├── public/       # Static assets
    └── package.json  # Node.js dependencies

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed on your system:

• Python 3.10+ - Download Python
• Node.js 18+ - Download Node.js
• npm (comes with Node.js)

Getting Started

This project consists of two separate servers that need to run simultaneously:

1. Backend server (FastAPI) on port 8000
2. Frontend server (Next.js) on port 3000

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend directory:

cd backend

2. Create a Python virtual environment:

python3 -m venv venv

3. Activate the virtual environment:

# On Linux/Mac:
source venv/bin/activate

# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate

4. Install Python dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Start the backend server:

uvicorn index:app --reload --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

The backend server will be running at http://localhost:8000

You can verify it's working by visiting: http://localhost:8000/healthchecker

Frontend Setup

1. Open a new terminal window and navigate to the frontend directory:

cd frontend

2. Install pnpm (if not already installed) and dependencies:

# Install dependencies using npx pnpm
npx pnpm install

3. Start the frontend development server:

npx pnpm run next-dev

The frontend server will be running at http://localhost:3000

Available API Endpoints

The backend provides the following REST API endpoints:

• GET /healthchecker - Health check endpoint
• POST /session/create - Create a new chat session
• POST /chat/{session_id} - Send a message to a specific session
• GET /chat/{session_id}/history - Get chat history for a session

Development

Backend

The backend uses:

• FastAPI - Modern Python web framework
• Uvicorn - ASGI server
• Pydantic - Data validation
• CORS middleware - Enabled for all origins

To make changes to the backend, edit backend/index.py. The server will automatically reload when you save changes (thanks to the --reload flag).

Frontend

The frontend uses:

• Next.js 15 - React framework
• React 19 - UI library
• Tailwind CSS 4 - Styling
• Framer Motion - Animations
• pnpm - Package manager

Frontend files are located in frontend/src/. The development server will hot-reload when you make changes.

Troubleshooting

Backend Issues

• If you get ModuleNotFoundError, make sure your virtual environment is activated
• If port 8000 is already in use, either stop the other service or change the port in the uvicorn command

Frontend Issues

• If you get dependency errors, try removing node_modules and pnpm-lock.yaml, then run npx pnpm install again
• If port 3000 is already in use, Next.js will automatically try port 3001

Permission Issues

• On Linux/Mac, you may need to use sudo or configure permissions for global npm packages
• We recommend using npx pnpm instead of installing pnpm globally to avoid permission issues

Next Steps

• Explore the codebase in backend/index.py and frontend/src/
• Try making API calls to the backend using the frontend
• Customize the chat functionality to fit your needs