FiskEat 🍽️

GenAI-Powered Dining Assistant for Fisk University

A full-stack web application that provides Fisk University students with easy access to daily dining hall menus, nutritional information, and AI-powered meal recommendations.

📋 Project Overview

FiskEat solves the problem of students not having digital access to campus dining information. The application fetches daily menu data from Sodexo's API and presents it through a clean, responsive interface with an integrated AI chatbot powered by Google Gemini.

Course: CSCI 310: Junior Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Yu Zhang
Semester: Fall 2025

🎯 Features

• Daily Menu Display: View today's breakfast, lunch, and dinner organized by dining stations
• Nutritional Information: Access detailed nutrition facts for each food item
• AI Chatbot: Get personalized meal suggestions and dietary advice using Google Gemini
• Dietary Filters: Filter menu items by vegetarian, vegan, and other preferences
• Responsive Design: Works seamlessly on mobile and desktop devices

🛠️ Tech Stack

Backend

• Python 3.x with Flask
• Sodexo API for dynamic menu data fetching
• pytest for comprehensive testing
• Google Gemini API for AI chatbot

Frontend

• React 18 with TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• Vite for build tooling
• Responsive design for mobile-first experience

📁 Project Structure

fiskeat/
├── backend/
│   ├── app.py                    # Main Flask application
│   ├── test_app.py              # Comprehensive test suite
│   ├── requirements.txt          # Python dependencies
│   ├── .env                      # Environment variables (not in git)
│   └── scripts/
│       └── fetch_menu.py        # Legacy script (no longer needed)
├── frontend/                     # React app
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• Sodexo API access

Backend Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <your-repo-url>
   cd fiskeat/backend

2. Create virtual environment

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Set up environment variables Create a .env file in the backend/ directory:

   SODEXO_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
   SODEXO_LOCATION_ID=73110001  # Optional, defaults to this value
   SODEXO_SITE_ID=22135          # Optional, defaults to this value
   PORT=5001                     # Optional, defaults to 5001
   FLASK_ENV=development         # Optional

5. Start the server

   python app.py

   The API will be available at http://localhost:5001

Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to frontend directory

   cd frontend

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Configure environment variables (optional) Create a .env.local file in the frontend/ directory:

   VITE_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5001

4. Start the development server

   npm run dev

   The application will be available at http://localhost:5173 (Vite's default port)

📡 API Endpoints

GET /

Health check endpoint

Response:

{
  "message": "FiskEat API is running!",
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "description": "Dynamic menu fetching - no database required",
  "endpoints": {
    "menu_today": "/api/menu/today",
    "menu_by_date": "/api/menu/<date>",
    "food_item": "/api/food/<item_id>"
  }
}

GET /api/menu/today

Get today's menu (fetched dynamically from Sodexo API)

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "date": "2025-10-03",
  "menu": {
    "date": "2025-10-03",
    "meals": [
      {
        "name": "Breakfast",
        "stations": [
          {
            "name": "Grill",
            "items": [
              {
                "id": "12345",
                "name": "Scrambled Eggs",
                "description": "Fresh scrambled eggs",
                "ingredients": "Eggs, milk, butter",
                "allergens": ["Eggs", "Milk"],
                "isVegan": false,
                "isVegetarian": true,
                "nutrition": {
                  "calories": "250",
                  "protein": "15",
                  "fat": "20",
                  "carbohydrates": "5",
                  "sugar": "1",
                  "sodium": "400"
                }
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

GET /api/menu/<date>

Get menu for a specific date (format: YYYY-MM-DD)

Example:

GET /api/menu/2025-10-15

GET /api/food/<item_id>

Get detailed information about a specific food item from today's menu

Example:

GET /api/food/12345

🔄 Architecture

No Database Required! The application uses dynamic API calls to fetch menu data directly from Sodexo's API. This means:

• ✅ Always up-to-date menu information
• ✅ No database maintenance required
• ✅ Simpler architecture
• ✅ No data persistence needed

Each API request fetches the menu data fresh from Sodexo, transforms it into a clean format, and returns it to the client.

📅 Development Timeline

• Week 5 (Sep 18): ✅ Core Backend & Data Schema
• Week 7 (Oct 2): ✅ Functional Menu Display with React Frontend
• Week 9 (Oct 16): ✅ Basic Chatbot Integration with Google Gemini
• Week 11 (Oct 30): ✅ Chatbot Refinement and UI Polish
• Week 13 (Nov 13): Final Features and Testing (Planned)
• Week 16 (Dec 4): Final Presentation (Planned)

🧪 Testing

Running Tests

# Install test dependencies (already in requirements.txt)
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run all tests
pytest

# Run with coverage report
pytest --cov=app --cov-report=html

# Run with verbose output
pytest -v

Manual Testing

Test the API using curl or a tool like Postman:

# Health check
curl http://localhost:5001/

# Get today's menu
curl http://localhost:5001/api/menu/today

# Get specific date menu
curl http://localhost:5001/api/menu/2025-10-03

# Get food item details
curl http://localhost:5001/api/food/12345

🤝 Contributing

This is a solo academic project, but feedback and suggestions are welcome!

📄 License

This project is created for academic purposes at Fisk University.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Dr. Yu Zhang for project guidance
• Fisk University Sodexo staff for providing menu data access
• Firebase and Google Gemini for their excellent APIs

📞 Contact

For questions or issues, please contact the project maintainer.

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