CourseMind

Generate study guides from professor handouts, notes, previous tests, and your specifications. React frontend + FastAPI backend.

Setup

Backend

cd backend
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate   # Windows
# source venv/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux
pip install -r requirements.txt

Copy backend/.env.example to backend/.env and set:

• SECRET_KEY – used for JWT signing
• GEMINI_API_KEY – required for generating study guides (get one at aistudio.google.com/apikey)
• Email (optional) – For email verification and password reset, set SMTP_HOST, SMTP_PORT, SMTP_USER, SMTP_PASSWORD, and SMTP_FROM_EMAIL. Set FRONTEND_BASE_URL to your frontend URL (e.g. http://localhost:5173) so verification and reset links work. If SMTP is not configured, the app still runs; verification/reset links and codes are only logged to the console.

If you have an existing database, run the one-off migration to add the email_verified column:

cd backend
python scripts/migrate_add_email_verification.py

Run the API:

cd backend
uvicorn app.main:app --reload --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Frontend

Start the backend first (see above), then:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Open https://localhost:5173. The dev server uses a self-signed certificate—accept the browser warning once (e.g. "Advanced" → "Proceed to localhost"). The dev server proxies /api to the backend. If you run the frontend without the dev server, set VITE_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000/api so the app can reach the API.

Usage

1. Register or log in. After signup you must verify your email (via the link or 6-digit code sent to you) before you can create study guides; you can still browse the app.
2. Click Create study guide and fill in:
   • Title, professor/course, and any instructions.
   • Upload one or more PDF or TXT files (handouts, notes, past tests).
3. Click Generate study guide. The app extracts text, sends it to the LLM, and saves the result.
4. Open a guide from the dashboard to read or copy the markdown.

Tech

• Frontend: React (Vite), React Router, Axios, react-markdown, Lucide icons. Styling from Design Inspo (design-system-preview.html / STYLE_GUIDE.md).
• Backend: FastAPI, SQLAlchemy (SQLite), JWT auth, pypdf for PDF text extraction, Google Gemini API for generation.