CodeChat — AI-Powered Repository Intelligence Platform

CodeChat is a full-stack AI repository intelligence platform that helps developers understand, navigate, and interact with software codebases using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).

Unlike generic AI chatbots, CodeChat performs syntax-aware code parsing, semantic retrieval, and repository-specific contextual reasoning to provide accurate answers about uploaded repositories.

Built with a modern React + FastAPI architecture, the platform supports intelligent repository ingestion, vector-based semantic search, authentication, persistent chat history, and automated repository re-indexing workflows.

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Features

• AI-powered repository chat
• Syntax-aware code chunking using AST + Tree-sitter
• Semantic vector search using FAISS
• Repository-specific contextual responses
• Authentication and user-based chat history
• Multi-language repository support
• CI/CD-assisted automatic re-indexing
• Groq-powered ultra-fast LLM responses
• Modular RAG pipeline architecture
• Docker-ready deployment support

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Architecture

Repository → Ingestion → AST/Tree-sitter Chunking
           → Embeddings → FAISS Vector Store
           → Semantic Retrieval → LLM Response
           → React Chat Interface

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Tech Stack

Frontend

• React
• Next.js
• TailwindCSS

Backend

• FastAPI
• Python
• JWT Authentication

AI / RAG

• FAISS
• Sentence Transformers
• AST Parsing
• Tree-sitter
• Groq API

Database

• PostgreSQL / SQLite

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Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+
• Node.js 18+
• Git

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1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/Soorya005/cclatest.git
cd cclatest

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2. Get Groq API Key

CodeChat uses Groq Cloud for high-speed inference.

1. Visit: https://console.groq.com

2. Create a free API key

3. Save the key for backend configuration

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3. Backend Setup

cd backend

python3 -m venv .venv

Activate Virtual Environment

Linux/macOS

source .venv/bin/activate

Windows PowerShell

.venv\Scripts\activate

Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Configure Environment Variables

cp .env.example .env

Edit backend/.env:

GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key
JWT_SECRET_KEY=change-this-in-production

Initialize Database

python create_tables.py

Start Backend Server

uvicorn app.main:app --reload

Backend runs at:

http://127.0.0.1:8000

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4. Frontend Setup

Open another terminal:

cd frontend

npm install

Configure Frontend Environment

cp .env.example .env.local

Ensure:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000

Start Frontend

npm run dev

Frontend runs at:

http://localhost:3000

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5. First Run

1. Open:

   http://localhost:3000
   

2. Register an account

3. Login

4. Add a GitHub repository

5. Start indexing

6. Ask repository-specific questions

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Repository Sync & CI/CD Integration

CodeChat supports automatic repository re-indexing through GitHub Actions.

Every push to the target repository can automatically trigger background re-indexing.

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Sync Workflow Overview

GitHub Push
    ↓
GitHub Actions
    ↓
CodeChat Sync Endpoint
    ↓
Repository Re-indexing
    ↓
Updated Vector Database

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Step 1 — Expose Backend Using ngrok

Run backend:

uvicorn app.main:app --reload --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

In another terminal:

ngrok http 8000

Copy the generated public URL:

https://xxxxx.ngrok-free.app

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Step 2 — Add Repository in CodeChat

After logging into CodeChat:

• Add repository URL
• Backend returns:
  • repository_id
  • sync_api_key

These are required for GitHub Actions integration.

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Step 3 — Configure GitHub Secrets

In target repository:

Add GitHub Secrets

CODECHAT_API_KEY

Add GitHub Variables

CODECHAT_URL
CODECHAT_REPO_ID

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Step 4 — Enable Workflow

Use:

.github/workflows/codechat-sync.yml

Triggers:

• Push to main
• Manual workflow execution

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Troubleshooting

Frontend Cannot Connect to Backend

Check:

• Backend running on port 8000
• Correct NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL
• No firewall/proxy blocking

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GROQ_API_KEY Error

Get API key from:

https://console.groq.com

Update:

backend/.env

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Database Errors

Run:

python create_tables.py

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Windows Issues

Use:

.\run.ps1

instead of Linux shell commands.

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Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
GROQ_API_KEY	Yes	Groq API key
JWT_SECRET_KEY	Yes	JWT signing secret
DATABASE_URL	No	Database connection URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL	Yes	Backend API URL

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Project Structure

codechat/
│
├── backend/
├── frontend/
├── .github/workflows/
├── docs/
├── examples/
│
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── ROADMAP.md
├── .env.example
│
├── run.sh
├── run.ps1
└── docker-compose.yml

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Future Scope

• Dependency graph visualization
• Repository architecture mapping
• Agentic repository exploration
• Vulnerability-aware code analysis
• Multi-repository semantic search
• MCP/tool integration support
• Team collaboration features

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Commit changes
4. Open a pull request

Please follow clean coding practices and proper documentation standards.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.