UC Transfer Chatbot

This is a React + Vite frontend and Flask backend for UC transfer planning.

Transfer and articulation data lives in backend/transfer.db and JSON files under backend/data/.

Private app data lives in backend/instance/app.db. That includes accounts, sessions, saved chats, and saved messages. Keep backend/instance/ out of git.

The frontend lives in frontend/. The backend lives in backend/.

• course articulation lookup from local ASSIST-derived data
• IGETC and Cal-GETC context from JSON data
• short, evidence-backed chatbot responses
• guest chats in browser state
• saved chats for logged-in users
• signup, login, logout
• password change
• password reset by email
• email verification by email
• account management from the app header

You need Python 3.10+, Node.js 18+, and npm. You do not need pnpm installed globally because the commands use npx pnpm@latest.

git clone https://github.com/developersguildclub/uc-transfer-chatbot.git
cd uc-transfer-chatbot

cd backend
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env

If your shell does not support source or cp, use .venv\Scripts\activate and copy .env.example .env.

Set the required backend env values in backend/.env.

AI_API_KEY="your-key"
USE_LLM7=true
APP_BASE_URL="http://localhost:5173"
FRONTEND_ORIGINS="http://localhost:5173"
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=false

Email is optional for basic local chat. Password reset and email verification need SMTP values.

MAIL_HOST="smtp.example.com"
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USE_TLS=true
MAIL_USERNAME="smtp-user"
MAIL_PASSWORD="smtp-password"
MAIL_FROM="UC Transfer Chatbot <no-reply@example.com>"

Run the backend from backend/ and leave that terminal open.

python app.py

The backend runs at http://localhost:5000. In a second terminal from the repo root, run the frontend.

cd frontend
npx pnpm@latest install
npx pnpm@latest dev

Open http://localhost:5173.

The frontend proxies /api to the backend on port 5000.

For production, set APP_BASE_URL to the deployed frontend URL. Set FRONTEND_ORIGINS to the exact frontend origin. Set SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=true when serving over HTTPS.

Before opening a PR, run the frontend checks.

cd frontend
npx pnpm@latest lint
npx pnpm@latest build

Run backend tests from the repo root with the backend environment activated.

python -m unittest backend.test_auth_routes

If port 5000 is busy, inspect it before killing anything.