CodeChat — AI-Powered Repository Intelligence Platform

CodeChat is a full-stack AI repository intelligence platform that helps developers understand, navigate, and interact with software codebases using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).

Unlike generic AI chatbots, CodeChat performs syntax-aware code parsing, semantic retrieval, and repository-specific contextual reasoning to provide accurate answers about uploaded repositories.

Built with a modern React + FastAPI architecture, the platform supports intelligent repository ingestion, vector-based semantic search, authentication, persistent chat history, and automated repository re-indexing workflows.

Features

AI-powered repository chat
Syntax-aware code chunking using AST + Tree-sitter
Semantic vector search using FAISS
Repository-specific contextual responses
Authentication and user-based chat history
Multi-language repository support
CI/CD-assisted automatic re-indexing
Groq-powered ultra-fast LLM responses
Modular RAG pipeline architecture
Docker-ready deployment support

Architecture

Repository → Ingestion → AST/Tree-sitter Chunking
           → Embeddings → FAISS Vector Store
           → Semantic Retrieval → LLM Response
           → React Chat Interface

Tech Stack

Frontend

React
Next.js
TailwindCSS

Backend

FastAPI
Python
JWT Authentication

AI / RAG

FAISS
Sentence Transformers
AST Parsing
Tree-sitter
Groq API

Database

PostgreSQL / SQLite

Prerequisites

Python 3.12+
Node.js 18+
Git

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/Soorya005/cclatest.git
cd cclatest

2. Get Groq API Key

CodeChat uses Groq Cloud for high-speed inference.

Visit: https://console.groq.com
Create a free API key
Save the key for backend configuration

3. Backend Setup

cd backend

python3 -m venv .venv

Activate Virtual Environment

Linux/macOS

source .venv/bin/activate

Windows PowerShell

.venv\Scripts\activate

Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Configure Environment Variables

cp .env.example .env

Edit backend/.env:

GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key
JWT_SECRET_KEY=change-this-in-production

Initialize Database

python create_tables.py

Start Backend Server

uvicorn app.main:app --reload

Backend runs at:

http://127.0.0.1:8000

4. Frontend Setup

Open another terminal:

cd frontend

npm install

Configure Frontend Environment

cp .env.example .env.local

Ensure:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000

Start Frontend

npm run dev

Frontend runs at:

http://localhost:3000

5. First Run

Open:
```
http://localhost:3000
```
Register an account
Login
Add a GitHub repository
Start indexing
Ask repository-specific questions

Repository Sync & CI/CD Integration

CodeChat supports automatic repository re-indexing through GitHub Actions.

Every push to the target repository can automatically trigger background re-indexing.

Sync Workflow Overview

GitHub Push
    ↓
GitHub Actions
    ↓
CodeChat Sync Endpoint
    ↓
Repository Re-indexing
    ↓
Updated Vector Database

Step 1 — Expose Backend Using ngrok

Run backend:

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

In another terminal:

ngrok http 8000

Copy the generated public URL:

https://xxxxx.ngrok-free.app

Step 2 — Add Repository in CodeChat

After logging into CodeChat:

Add repository URL
Backend returns:
- repository_id
- sync_api_key

These are required for GitHub Actions integration.

Step 3 — Configure GitHub Secrets

In target repository:

Add GitHub Secrets

CODECHAT_API_KEY

Add GitHub Variables

CODECHAT_URL
CODECHAT_REPO_ID

Step 4 — Enable Workflow

Use:

.github/workflows/codechat-sync.yml

Triggers:

Push to main
Manual workflow execution

Troubleshooting

Frontend Cannot Connect to Backend

Check:

Backend running on port 8000
Correct NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL
No firewall/proxy blocking

GROQ_API_KEY Error

Get API key from:

https://console.groq.com

Update:

backend/.env

Database Errors

Run:

python create_tables.py

Windows Issues