Azure AI Chatbot Full-Stack Application

This repository contains a full-stack application for an Azure-powered chatbot. The backend is built with FastAPI (Python) for high performance and integrating with Azure services (Search, Blob Storage), while the frontend is a modern, responsive web application built with React, TypeScript, Vite, and styled using Bootstrap.

🚀 Getting Started Follow these steps to get your local development environment running.

Prerequisites You will need the following installed on your system: Python (3.8+) Node.js (18+ recommended)

1. Backend Setup (FastAPI - Python)

The backend code is located in the root directory [azure-chatbot].

A. Environment Setup
Create and Activate a Virtual Environment:

python -m venv .venv
# Windows
.\.venv\Scripts\activate
# macOS/Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

Install Python Dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt
# (Assuming you have a requirements.txt, if not, you need fastapi, uvicorn, python-dotenv, and pydantic)

B. Configuration (.env)
Create a file named .env in the root directory and populate it with your environment variables. At a minimum, you must define the port:

Backend Server Configuration

• UVICORN_PORT=9900 , default port is : 8000
• HOST_URL="http://127.0.0.1" # Used for local testing
• Azure AI Service Credentials (Example - adjust names based on your env/config.py)
• AZURE_SEARCH_SERVICE_NAME=your-search-service
• AZURE_SEARCH_API_KEY=your-search-key
• AZURE_BLOB_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_URL=https://yourstorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net
• ... other configurations

Run the Backend

Ensure your virtual environment is active, and run the main file directly (this ensures your custom port from .env is used):

fastapi dev main.py (defult port) OR python main.py (customized port) 

The API will start, typically running on http://0.0.0.0:9900 (or the port specified in UVICORN_PORT).

2. Frontend Setup (React/TypeScript/Vite)

The frontend code is assumed to be located in the frontend/ subdirectory.

A. Environment Setup Navigate to the Frontend Directory [azure-chatbot-ui]:

cd frontend
Install Node Dependencies:
npm install
B. Configuration (.env)
Create a file named .env in the frontend/ directory to store environment variables accessible by Vite.

# Frontend Configuration
# This variable is crucial for the React app to know where the FastAPI backend is.
VITE_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:9900

# Optionally set the frontend dev port (Vite defaults to 5173 or 3000)
VITE_DEV_PORT=3000

C. Run the Frontend
Run the development server:

npm run dev

The React application will start http://localhost:3005/, usually on http://localhost:3000 or http://localhost:5173.