ForumAI

ForumAI is an online platform which enables AI assistance in structured academic forums, facillutating discussions between students and faculty.

Features

• 24/7 AI assistance to help answer questions about course material, assigments and general logistics
• Discussions boards and Q&A forums for interaction between students, instructors and teaching assistants
• Anonoymous posting and messaging for safe and inclusive discussions

Installation

Clone the project

git clone https://github.com/ubclaunchpad/forum.git

Frontend

1. Install Node.js

• Download and install the latest version of Node.js from nodejs.org

2. Go to the frontend directory

cd forum/frontend

3. Install dependencies

yarn install # or npm install

Environment Variables

Create a .env file with:

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=YOUR_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=YOUR_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
OPENAI_API_KEY=YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY
DATABASE_URL=YOUR_DATABASE_URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=YOUR_API_BASE_URL

Check here for details on how to find your environment variables

4. Running the server

yarn dev # or npm run dev

Backend

1. Install Python

• Download and install Python from python.org
• Ensure Python is added to your system's PATH

2. Install uv

• Copy based on your OS: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/
  • e.g. macOS: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

3. Go to the backend directory

cd forum/backend

4. Install Dependencies (syncing dependencies)

uv sync

Environment Variables

Create a .env file with:

OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key_here
DATABASE_URL=your_database_url
SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_url
SUPABASE_KEY=your_supabase_key
AUTH_MIDDLEWARE_ENABLED=true # or false
DEV_USER_EMAIL=your_email_here
DEV_USER_PASSWORD=your_password_here
DEV_LOGIN=true # or false

ENV=development # or production

Where to find these?

• Go on Supabase and create a new project
• Go to the project settings:
  • In the API section, you will find the SUPABASE_URL and SUPABASE_KEY
  • In the Database section, you will find the DATABASE_URL (you want a connection string)
• For most cases you will need to have the AUTH_MIDDLEWARE_ENABLED set to true and the DEV_USER_EMAIL and DEV_USER_PASSWORD set to your email and password
  • On your Supabase project, go to the Auth section and create a new user (you can manually set the email and password); then use these credentials in the .env file
• Go on OpenAI and create a new project (or use an existing one)
  • You do not need this unless you use the OpenAI API

5. Syncing the Database

• Run the following command to create the database tables:

uv run --env-file .env alembic upgrade head

6. Running the Server

• With the virtual environment activated, run the following command:

uv run --env-file .env -m main

For more details on managing migrations and dependencies, go to /backend/README.md

Contributing

Contributions are always welcome!

See CONTRIBUTING.md for ways to get started.

License

GNU