Overview

This application provides a Flask-based API that can be run locally or deployed in a Google Cloud environment. Below are step-by-step instructions on installing dependencies, configuring Google Cloud, running the application, and testing the API locally.

---

Prerequisites

1. Python 3 (for running the Flask application)
2. Google Cloud SDK (for Google Cloud integration)
3. curl (for API testing)

---

Running the Application Locally

Clone or open the repository.

Create a virtual environment

python -m venv .venv

Activate it (this will need to be done each time you start a new shell)

source .venv/bin/activate

Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Installing Google Cloud SDK

Use the steps below on a Linux x86_64 machine:

curl -O https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xf google-cloud-cli-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

Opt Yes to add sdk path to rc and Open a new terminal shell

Initialize the SDK:

gcloud init

Follow the prompts to choose your Google Cloud project and configure default settings.

---

Authenticating with Google Cloud

Authenticate using Application Default Credentials:

gcloud auth application-default login

Follow the sign-in process in your browser, and your credentials will be saved locally.

---

Granting Permissions to the Service Account

You may need to grant specific permissions, for example:

gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
--member=serviceAccount:SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL \
--role=ROLE_NAME

---

Region and Zone Configuration

Set your preferred default compute region and zone:

gcloud config set compute/zone asia-south1-a
gcloud config set compute/region asia-south1

---

Run the application:

python main.py

This starts the application at http://localhost:8000.

---

Testing the API Locally

Once the app is running on http://localhost:8080, you can test an endpoint with curl, for example:

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/ask' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{"question":"What are the rights I have as a citizen of India?"}'

You should receive a JSON response containing the answer from your service.

For comprehensive API testing examples including media uploads, Firestore integration, and streaming responses, refer to the API Testing Guide.

---

Additional Notes

• Check the generated .boto file if you plan to interact with Google Cloud Storage.
• Your credentials are stored at ~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json.
• Ensure you have billing enabled on the selected project if you use any paid Google Cloud services.
• For Firebase SDK JSON generation and configuration, refer to the Firebase Setup Guide.
• For setting up Google Cloud Run CI/CD with your Git repository and configuring environment variables and secrets, see the Google Cloud Run CI/CD Setup Guide.

---

Build the Docker Image

sudo docker build -t litigence-ai-backend .

Run the Docker Container

docker run -p 8080:8080 \
  -e FLASK_ENV=placeholder \
  -e PORT=placeholder \
  -e PROJECT_ID=placeholder \
  -e LOCATION=placeholder \
  litigence-ai-backend

Check Running Containers

sudo docker ps

Stop a Running Container

sudo docker stop <container_id>