INSIDER

Welcome to INSIDER!

INSIDER is a tool for designing and deploying edge cloud applications. It is a web-based tool that allows users to design edge cloud applications using a graphical user interface.

The application built with AngularJS and Bootstrap for the UI, jQuery for DOM utilities, and a Python backend (Django) that integrates with OpenAI’s API for intelligent service matching. Docker ensures easy deployment and reproducibility.

Installation

Prerequisites

The following software must be installed on your system:

• Docker (https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/)
• Git and Github CLI

The rest of the dependencies will be installed automatically when running the docker-compose.yml file.

Installation Steps

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/SCAlabUnical/INSIDER.git

2. Add the OpenAI API key:

   Inside the INSIDER/ folder create a file named .env and add the following line:

   GPT_KEY=<OpenAI_API_KEY>

   where <OpenAI_API_KEY> is your OpenAI API key. You can obtain an API key by signing up at OpenAI.

3. Build the Docker images:

   Navigate to the cloned repository directory and run the following command to build the Docker images:

   docker compose build --progress=plain

   NOTE: the --progress=plain flag is used to show the build progress in plain text format, which can be helpful for debugging purposes.

4. Start the Docker containers: After the build is complete, you can start the Docker containers by running:

   docker compose up

   This will start the INSIDER application and its dependencies.

   NOTE: the -d or --detach flag is not advised because all the logs will be sent to the background and you won't be able to see them.

5. Access the INSIDER application: Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000. This will take you to the INSIDER application interface.

You can find the complete documentation here.

References

• L. Belcastro, F. Marozzo, A. Presta, R. Varchera, A. Vinci, "Developing Platform-Agnostic IIoT Applications in Edge-Cloud Environments". 7 International Conference on Industry 4.0 & Smart Manufacturing 2024 (ISM 2024), vol. 253, pp. 2106-2115, 2025.
• L. Belcastro, C. Cosentino, F. Marozzo, A. Presta, P. Trunfio, "Empowering Efficient Drone Monitoring with Low-Latency Edge-Cloud Continuum Platforms". 33rd Euromicro International Conference on Parallel, Distributed, and Network-Based Processing (PDP 2025), 2025.
• F. Marozzo, A. Presta, R. Varchera, A. Vinci, "Estimating performances of Application Deployment on Distributed IoT-Edge-Cloud Infrastructures". 22nd IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Intelligence and Computing (PICom 2024), pp. 156-161, 2024.
• L. Belcastro, F. Marozzo, A. Orsino, A. Presta, A. Vinci, "Developing Cross-Platform and Fast-Responsive Applications on the Edge-Cloud Continuum". 15th IFIP Wireless and Mobile Networking Conference (WMNC 2024), pp. 589-594, 2024