Cameroon Legal Assistant Application

A comprehensive legal assistance platform connecting Cameroonians with legal resources and qualified lawyers.

Features

• AI-powered legal assistance for common legal questions
• Lawyer directory with ratings and reviews
• Lawyer application and profile management
• User authentication with email/SMS 2FA
• Dark/light theme support
• Search history tracking
• Responsive design for all devices

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher
• XAMPP (for local development)
• Docker (for production deployment)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/cameroon-legal-assistant.git
cd cameroon-legal-assistant

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Set up the database:

• Start XAMPP
• Create a new database named lawhelp
• Import the database schema from database/schema.sql

4. Configure environment variables:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your configuration:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=root
DB_PASS=
DB_NAME=lawhelp
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your-email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASS=your-app-specific-password
SMS_PROVIDER_API_KEY=your-sms-api-key
VITE_AI_MODEL_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:5000/predict

5. Start the development server:

npm run dev

Default Login Credentials

• Email: abdou@gmail.com
• Password: abdou1

AI Model Integration

The application uses a custom AI model for legal assistance. To integrate your trained model:

1. Place your model files in the ai-model directory:

ai-model/
  ├── models/          # Trained model files
  ├── src/            # Model serving code
  ├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
  └── Dockerfile      # Container configuration

2. Update the model endpoint in .env:

VITE_AI_MODEL_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:5000/predict

3. Build and run the Docker containers:

docker-compose up -d

Two-Factor Authentication

Email 2FA Setup

1. Configure SMTP settings in .env:

SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your-email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASS=your-app-specific-password

2. For Gmail:

• Enable 2-Step Verification in your Google Account
• Generate an App Password for the application
• Use the App Password in SMTP_PASS

SMS 2FA Setup

1. Configure SMS provider in .env:

SMS_PROVIDER_API_KEY=your-sms-api-key

2. Update SMS service configuration in services/auth/src/config/sms.js

Architecture

The application follows a microservices architecture with the following services:

• Frontend (React + TypeScript)
• Auth Service (with 2FA support)
• User Service
• Lawyer Service
• Chat Service (with AI model integration)
• Rating Service
• History Service

Each service is containerized using Docker and can be deployed independently.

For detailed architecture information, see ARCHITECTURE.md.

API Documentation

Authentication

POST /api/auth/login
POST /api/auth/register
POST /api/auth/verify-2fa
POST /api/auth/logout

Lawyers

GET /api/lawyers
GET /api/lawyers/:id
POST /api/lawyers/apply
PUT /api/lawyers/:id
POST /api/lawyers/:id/rate

Users

GET /api/users/profile
PUT /api/users/profile
PUT /api/users/password
PUT /api/users/2fa

Chat

POST /api/chat/send
GET /api/chat/history

Docker Deployment

1. Build the images:

docker-compose build

2. Start the services:

docker-compose up -d

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Commit your changes
4. Push to the branch
5. Create a Pull Request