Khata — Nepal SME Accounting Software (Prototype)

Folder structure

├── backend/              ← Express API + Gemini AI
│   ├── server.js
│   ├── .env              ← PUT YOUR API KEY HERE
│   ├── package.json
│   ├── routes/
│   │   └── bill.js
│   └── services/
│       └── extractBill.js
│
├── frontend/             ← React + Vite app
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── vite.config.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── src/
│       ├── main.jsx
│       ├── App.jsx
│       ├── index.css
│       └── components/
│           ├── Sidebar.jsx
│           ├── BillScanner.jsx
│           ├── BillsList.jsx
│           └── Dashboard.jsx
│
└── package.json          ← Run both apps from the project root

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or higher → https://nodejs.org
• pnpm → https://pnpm.io/installation
• Gemini API key → https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey

Setup & Run

Step 1 — Install pnpm (if needed)

If you do not already have pnpm installed, enable it with Corepack:

corepack enable
corepack prepare pnpm@9.15.0 --activate

Step 2 — Add your API key

Open backend/.env and replace:

GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here

with your real key from Google AI Studio. The backend can start without this key, but bill extraction requires it.

Step 3 — Start everything from the project root

From the repository root, run:

pnpm run dev

This single command will:

• install the root toolchain
• install backend dependencies
• install frontend dependencies
• start the backend on http://localhost:3001
• start the frontend on http://localhost:5173

Step 4 — Open in browser

Go to: http://localhost:5173

Manual run (optional)

If you want to run each app separately, you can still do:

cd backend
pnpm install
pnpm run dev

And in a second terminal:

cd frontend
pnpm install
pnpm run dev

Agent note

If you are using an AI coding agent or automation workflow for this repo, use pnpm instead of npm for installs and scripts. The default workflow above is already set up for pnpm.

How to use the Bill Scanner

1. Click "Bill Scanner" in the sidebar
2. Upload a bill photo (JPG/PNG) or PDF
3. Wait for Gemini to read the bill
4. Review extracted fields (yellow = AI was unsure)
5. Edit anything wrong
6. Click "Approve & save"
7. Bill appears in "Bills" tab and "Dashboard"