Carnegie Mellon University Course Recommendation System

A personalized course recommendation system for CMU students with AI-powered chat assistance.

Features

1. Onboarding Survey: 5-question survey to understand student preferences, ambitions, and learning style
2. Course Recommendations: Personalized course recommendations based on survey answers, displaying course codes, titles, units, and details
3. AI Chat Assistant: Integration with Anthropic's Claude API to answer questions about courses, syllabus, and more

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React 18
• Backend: Node.js with Express
• AI: Anthropic Claude API
• Styling: CSS3 with modern gradients and animations

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• Anthropic API key (Get one here)

Installation

1. Install dependencies for all projects:

   First, install root dependencies:

   npm install

   Then install server and client dependencies:

   npm run install-all

   Or install manually:

   npm install
   cd server && npm install
   cd ../client && npm install

2. Set up environment variables:

   Create a .env file in the server directory:

   cd server
   cp .env.example .env

   Edit server/.env and add your Anthropic API key:

   PORT=5000
   ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here
   

3. Start the development servers:

   From the root directory:

   npm run dev

   This will start both the backend server (port 5000) and the React frontend (port 3000).

   Or start them separately:

   # Terminal 1 - Backend
   npm run server
   
   # Terminal 2 - Frontend
   npm run client

4. Access the application:

   Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000

Project Structure

Course_rec/
├── client/                 # React frontend
│   ├── public/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/
│   │   │   ├── OnboardingSurvey.js
│   │   │   ├── CourseRecommendations.js
│   │   │   └── ChatInterface.js
│   │   ├── App.js
│   │   └── index.js
│   └── package.json
├── server/                 # Express backend
│   ├── data/
│   │   └── courses.js     # Course data
│   ├── index.js           # Server entry point
│   └── package.json
├── package.json
└── README.md

API Endpoints

• GET /api/courses - Get all available courses
• POST /api/recommendations - Submit survey answers and get recommendations
• POST /api/chat - Chat with AI about a specific course
• GET /api/courses/:id - Get details of a specific course

Usage

1. Complete the Survey: When you first visit the site, answer 5 questions about your preferences
2. View Recommendations: Based on your answers, you'll see personalized course recommendations
3. Explore Courses: Click on any course card to view details and chat with the AI assistant
4. Ask Questions: Use the chat interface to ask about syllabus, prerequisites, or anything else about the course

Course Data

The system includes sample CMU courses across various departments:

• Computer Science
• Machine Learning
• Engineering
• Business
• Design

You can modify server/data/courses.js to add or update courses.

Notes

• Make sure your Anthropic API key is valid and has sufficient credits
• The recommendation algorithm uses a scoring system based on survey answers
• All course data is currently stored in-memory (consider using a database for production)

License

ISC