Skip to content

README.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
175 lines (135 loc) · 3.73 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

175 lines (135 loc) · 3.73 KB

ResearchAI Backend

Express.js API server for ResearchAI - a semantic search and information retrieval system powered by OpenAI embeddings and Supabase.

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+ installed
  • Supabase project with vector extension enabled
  • OpenAI API key

Installation

cd backend
npm install

Environment Variables

The backend reads environment variables from the parent directory's .env file (in development) or from system environment variables (in production).

Required variables:

  • OPENAI_API_KEY - Your OpenAI API key
  • SUPABASE_URL - Your Supabase project URL
  • SUPABASE_ROLE_KEY - Your Supabase service role key

Optional variables:

  • PORT - Server port (default: 5000)
  • NODE_ENV - Environment mode (development/production)
  • CORS_ORIGINS - Comma-separated list of allowed origins

Running the Server

Development:

npm run dev

Production:

npm start

The server will start on http://localhost:5000 (or the PORT specified).

📡 API Endpoints

Health Check

GET /api/health

Returns server status and timestamp.

Ingestion

Trigger Ingestion:

POST /api/ingest
Body: { "clearFirst": true }

Processes all files in the ../info directory.

Clear Database:

POST /api/ingest/clear

Removes all data from the database.

List Files:

GET /api/ingest/files

Lists available files for ingestion.

Query

Semantic Search:

POST /api/query
Body: {
  "query": "Your search query",
  "matchCount": 5,
  "matchThreshold": 0.3,
  "metadataFilter": { "field": "value" }
}

Get Answer:

POST /api/query/answer
Body: { "question": "Your question" }

Search by Field:

POST /api/query/by-field
Body: {
  "query": "Search text",
  "field": "location",
  "value": "Florida"
}

Search by Name:

GET /api/query/by-name/:name?matchCount=10

🧪 Testing

Run the included test script:

node test-api.js

Or test manually with curl:

curl http://localhost:5000/api/health

🚄 Railway.com Deployment

This backend is configured for Railway.com deployment:

  1. Set environment variables in Railway dashboard:

    • OPENAI_API_KEY
    • SUPABASE_URL
    • SUPABASE_ROLE_KEY
    • NODE_ENV=production
    • CORS_ORIGINS=https://your-frontend-domain.com

  2. Railway auto-detects the start command from package.json

  3. PORT is automatically set by Railway

Railway Configuration

No additional configuration files needed. Railway will:

  • Detect Node.js project from package.json
  • Run npm install automatically
  • Execute npm start to start the server
  • Assign a port via PORT environment variable

📁 Project Structure

backend/
├── server.js              # Express server entry point
├── config.js              # Configuration and clients
├── routes/
│   └── api.js            # API route definitions
├── controllers/
│   ├── ingestController.js   # Ingestion handlers
│   └── queryController.js    # Query handlers
├── ingestInfo.js          # File ingestion logic
├── retrieveInfo.js        # Semantic search logic
├── test-api.js            # API test script
├── package.json           # Dependencies
└── README.md              # This file

🔧 Features

  • Semantic Search: Query using natural language
  • File Chunking: Automatically splits large documents
  • AI Metadata Extraction: Uses GPT-4o-mini to extract structured metadata
  • Vector Embeddings: OpenAI text-embedding-3-small model
  • CORS Support: Configurable cross-origin access
  • Error Handling: Comprehensive error responses
  • Request Logging: Timestamps for all requests

📝 License

MIT