📚 PDF AI Backend

This is the backend for the PDF AI project, built with Django and Django REST Framework (DRF).

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🚀 Getting Started (Development)

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/faselgodbcho/pdfai-backend.git
cd pdfai-backend

2. Install dependencies

Make sure you have Python 3.11+ and pip installed.

python -m venv .venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Apply migrations

python manage.py migrate

4. Run the development server (HTTP)

python manage.py runserver

Running with HTTPS (Locally)

To serve the backend over HTTPS in local development:

1. Download mkcert

Follow this guide to install mkcert.

2. Run the HTTPS wrapper script

./runhttps

What this does

• Creates a ./certs folder if it doesn't exist
• Generates a self-signed certificate and key using mkcert if not already present
• Starts the Django dev server over HTTPS using runsslserver

⚠️ Make sure runhttps is executable:

# on linux
chmod +x runhttps

Environment variables

Enable or disable debug mode (True/False)

DEBUG=True

Your Cohere API key

COHERE_API_KEY=your_cohere_api_key_here

Allowed hosts (comma-separated, no spaces)

ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost,127.0.0.1

Django secret key

SECRET_KEY=your_django_secret_key_here

Origins allowed for CORS requests (comma-separated)

CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000

URL to your database (e.g., PostgreSQL via dj-database-url)

DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname

Trusted origins for CSRF protection (comma-separated)

CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS=https://localhost:8000,http://localhost:3000

Tech Stack

• Python 3.11+
• Django 5+
• Django REST Framework (DRF)
• mkcert (for local HTTPS)

Resources

Helpful documentation and tools used during development:

• Django — Official Django documentation
• Django REST Framework — Toolkit for building Web APIs
• Cohere Docs — Embedding and command R+ API references
• mkcert — Generate trusted local SSL certificates

Author

Made with ❤️ by @faselgodbcho