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Local Development

This guide will help you set up and run AnswerAI in your local development environment for ultimate privacy and control.

Prerequisites​

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

Project Structure​

AnswerAI is a monorepo project with multiple packages:

Certainly! I'll list out the rest of the @packages folders with descriptions based on the information available in the provided code blocks. Here's an expanded list of the packages:

  • server: Node.js backend for API logic
  • ui: React frontend
  • components: Integration components
  • docs: Documentation site
  • embed: Javascript library to display AnswerAI chatbot on your website

Here's a more detailed breakdown of each package:

  1. server:

    • Main backend server for AnswerAI
    • Handles API logic, database interactions, and server-side operations
    • Contains marketplaces and chatflow configurations

  2. ui:

    • React-based frontend for the AnswerAI application
    • Provides the user interface for interacting with AnswerAI

  3. components:

    • Contains integration components and nodes for AnswerAI
    • Includes various LLM models, tools, and utilities

  4. docs:

    • Documentation site for AnswerAI
    • Contains user guides, API documentation, and developer resources

  5. embed:

    • Javascript library for embedding AnswerAI chatbot on websites
    • Provides components and features for full chatbot integration

These packages work together to create the full AnswerAI ecosystem, providing a comprehensive solution for building and deploying AI-powered chatbots and workflows.

Setup​

  1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/AnswerAI/AnswerAI.git
cd AnswerAI
  1. Install dependencies:
pnpm install
  1. Build the project:
pnpm build

Running the Application​

To start the application in development mode:

pnpm dev

This command will start both the backend server and the frontend development server. The application will be available at http://localhost:8080.

For production mode:

pnpm start

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000.

Environment Configuration​

  1. Create .env files in both packages/ui and packages/server directories.
  2. Use the .env.example files in each directory as a reference for the required environment variables.

Key environment variables:

  • packages/ui/.env: Set VITE_PORT for the frontend development server
  • packages/server/.env: Set PORT for the backend server

Development Workflow​

  1. Make changes to the code in packages/ui or packages/server.
  2. The development server will automatically reload with your changes.
  3. For changes in packages/components, you need to rebuild the project:
pnpm build

Project Configuration​

The project uses the following key configurations:

  1. TypeScript Configuration:
{
    "compilerOptions": {
        "lib": ["ES2020", "ES2021.String"],
        "experimentalDecorators": true /* Enable experimental support for TC39 stage 2 draft decorators. */,
        "emitDecoratorMetadata": true /* Emit design-type metadata for decorated declarations in source files. */,
        "target": "ES2020", // or higher
        "outDir": "./dist/",
        "resolveJsonModule": true,
        "esModuleInterop": true /* Emit additional JavaScript to ease support for importing CommonJS modules. This enables `allowSyntheticDefaultImports` for type compatibility. */,
        "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true /* Ensure that casing is correct in imports. */,
        "strict": true /* Enable all strict type-checking options. */,
        "skipLibCheck": true /* Skip type checking all .d.ts files. */,
        "sourceMap": true,
        "strictPropertyInitialization": false,
        "useUnknownInCatchVariables": false,
        "declaration": true,
        "module": "commonjs"
    },
    "include": ["src", "nodes", "credentials"],
    "exclude": ["gulpfile.ts", "node_modules", "dist"]
}

  1. Prettier Configuration:
    "prettier": {
        "printWidth": 140,
        "singleQuote": true,
        "jsxSingleQuote": true,
        "trailingComma": "none",
        "tabWidth": 4,
        "semi": false,
        "endOfLine": "auto"
    },
  1. Babel Configuration:
    "babel": {
        "presets": [
            "@babel/preset-typescript",
            [
                "@babel/preset-env",
                {
                    "targets": {
                        "node": "current"
                    }
                }
            ]
        ]
    },

Testing​

To run end-to-end tests:

pnpm test:e2e

For component tests:

pnpm test:cmp

Documentation​

To run the documentation site locally:

cd packages/docs
pnpm start

The documentation will be available at http://localhost:4242.

Troubleshooting​

  • If you encounter memory issues during build, try increasing the Node.js heap size:
export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"
pnpm build
  • Ensure all required environment variables are set correctly in your .env files.
  • For any other issues, check the console output for error messages or refer to the project's issue tracker on GitHub.

Contributing​

Please refer to the CONTRIBUTING.md file in the repository for guidelines on how to contribute to the project.

This guide should help you get started with running AnswerAI locally. If you encounter any issues or have questions, please refer to the project's documentation or reach out to the development team.