Brief

Brief is a desktop application that distills non-fiction books (epub and PDF formats) into concise overviews for learning purposes. It uses local AI to summarize content efficiently, handling large books through chunking to avoid token limits.

Features

• Drop-and-Drop Upload: Easily add epub or PDF files via drag-and-drop.
• AI Summarization: Leverages Hugging Face transformers for local, privacy-focused summarization.
• Library View: Browse and read summaries in a grid layout.
• Token Management: Splits large texts into chunks for accurate, hierarchical summaries.

Tech Stack

• Language: Python
• UI: PyQt6
• Parsing: ebooklib (epub), pypdf (PDF)
• AI: Hugging Face transformers (e.g., BART model)
• Packaging: PyInstaller

Installation

1. Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/isfopo/Brief.git
2. Run the setup script: ./setup.sh (or bash setup.sh)
3. Activate the virtual environment: source env/bin/activate
4. Run: python main.py

Usage

• Launch the app.
• Drag and drop a book file.
• View the generated summary in the library.

Troubleshooting

Slow Startup or Hanging on Summarization

The app uses a large AI model (facebook/bart-large-cnn) for summarization. If startup is slow or summarization hangs:

1. Model Pre-downloading: The setup script automatically downloads the model. If you skipped this, run:

   source env/bin/activate
   python -c "from services.summarizer import preload_model; preload_model()"

2. Force CPU Usage: The app is configured to use CPU only to avoid GPU issues. If you still experience problems, you can use a smaller model for testing:

   USE_SMALL_MODEL=true python main.py

3. Environment Variables:

   • SUMMARIZER_MODEL: Override the default model (default: facebook/bart-large-cnn)
   • USE_SMALL_MODEL: Use smaller model for testing (default: false)
   • MAX_MODEL_TOKENS: Maximum tokens per chunk (default: 1024)

4. Common Issues:

   • MPS/GPU Issues: On macOS, MPS acceleration can cause slowdowns. The app forces CPU usage.
   • Network Issues: Model downloads require internet. Ensure stable connection during setup.
   • Memory Issues: Large books require significant RAM. Monitor system resources.

Contributing

See issues for epics and tasks. Use the develop branch for PRs.

License

MIT