Multi-Step Research Agent

Single-repo project for the x402-native Multi-Step Research Agent.

Structure

apps/web   Next.js dashboard and login UI
apps/api   Python FastAPI backend

The old frontend folder may still exist if a Windows process is locking .next or node_modules. The active frontend source is now apps/web.

Manual Setup

Frontend:

cd "D:\multi-step-research\research-agent"
npm install
Copy-Item "apps\web\.env.example" "apps\web\.env.local"
npm run dev:web

Backend:

cd "D:\multi-step-research\research-agent"
npm run setup:api
Copy-Item "apps\api\.env.example" "apps\api\.env"
npm run dev:api

URLs:

Web: http://localhost:3000
API: http://localhost:8000/docs
Health: http://localhost:8000/v1/health

Auth

The frontend uses Clerk for /signin and /signup. The API is prepared for Clerk JWT validation, not Firebase.

For local setup:

1. Create a Clerk app manually in the Clerk dashboard.
2. Add the Clerk keys to apps/web/.env.local.
3. Keep apps/api/.env with AUTH_REQUIRED=false for first local testing, or set Clerk issuer/JWKS values when you want strict backend token validation.

Detailed local steps are in implementation_guide.md, which is intentionally gitignored.

Product direction

The research workspace now supports Quick/Deep/Compare modes, enforceable source policies, evidence-quality scoring, suggested follow-ups, and feedback-driven immutable report revisions. See the feature research for the product thesis, integrated capabilities, and prioritized roadmap.

Production deployment

Use the production runbook in docs/DEPLOYMENT.md. It covers the complete Azure Container Apps stack: public web app, internal API, worker, ACR, managed image pulls, fixed outbound IP, MongoDB Atlas, production credentials, health checks, and the x402 rollout sequence.