Backend

• Node.js - Runtime environment
• Express 5 - Web framework
• MongoDB - Database
• Mongoose - ODM
• JWT - Authentication
• Bcrypt - Password hashing
• Multer - File uploads
• Cloudinary - Image storage
• Nodemailer - Email service
• Google Gemini AI - AI integration

📋 Prerequisites

• Node.js (v20.x or higher)
• MongoDB (local or cloud instance)
• npm or yarn
• Google Gemini API key
• Cloudinary account (for image uploads)
• Gmail account (for OTP emails)

🚀 Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/shreyashpatel5506/VirtualAssistant.git
cd VirtualAssistant

2. Install dependencies

# Install root dependencies
npm install

# Install backend dependencies
cd backend
npm install

# Install frontend dependencies
cd ../frontend
npm install

3. Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the backend directory:

# Server Configuration
PORT=8080
NODE_ENV=development
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173

# Database
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string

# JWT Secret
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key

# Email Configuration (for OTP)
MY_MAIL=your_email@gmail.com
MY_PASSWORD=your_app_password

# Cloudinary Configuration
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret

# Gemini AI Configuration
GEMINI_API_URL=https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-pro:generateContent?key=YOUR_API_KEY

# Optional: API Template (for document generation)
APITEMPLATE_API_KEY=your_api_key
APITEMPLATE_TEMPLATE_ID=your_template_id

Create a .env file in the frontend directory (optional):

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8080/api

4. Run the application

Development Mode

Terminal 1 - Backend:

cd backend
npm run dev

Terminal 2 - Frontend:

cd frontend
npm run dev

The application will be available at:

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• Backend API: http://localhost:8080

Production Mode

# Build frontend
npm run build

# Start backend (serves both API and frontend)
npm start

📁 Project Structure may be different

VirtualAssistant/
├── backend/
│   ├── config/
│   │   ├── cloudinary.js      # Cloudinary configuration
│   │   └── db.js              # MongoDB connection
│   ├── controllers/
│   │   ├── auth.controller.js # Authentication logic
│   │   └── token.js           # JWT token utilities
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   ├── auth.middleware.js # Authentication middleware
│   │   └── multer.js          # File upload middleware
│   ├── models/
│   │   └── user.model.js      # User schema
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── auth.route.js      # Authentication routes
│   │   └── geminiRoute.js     # AI assistant routes
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── index.js           # Server entry point
│   ├── gemini.js              # Gemini AI integration
│   └── package.json
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/        # Reusable components
│   │   ├── Context/           # React context providers
│   │   ├── pages/             # Page components
│   │   ├── stores/            # Zustand state stores
│   │   ├── utils/             # Utility functions
│   │   ├── assets/           # Static assets
│   │   ├── App.jsx           # Main app component
│   │   └── main.jsx          # Entry point
│   └── package.json
├── .gitignore
├── package.json
└── README.md

🎯 Usage

Getting Started

1. Sign Up: Create an account with email verification (OTP)
2. Customize Assistant: Set your assistant's name and avatar
3. Start Chatting: Use text or voice commands to interact with your assistant

Example Commands

• General: "How are you?", "Tell me a joke"
• Search: "Search Google for React tutorials"
• Media: "Play Ed Sheeran on Spotify", "Search YouTube for cooking recipes"
• Time: "What time is it?", "What's today's date?"
• Tools: "Open calculator", "Open calendar"
• Weather: "What's the weather in London?"
• News: "Show me latest news"
• Finance: "What's the stock price of Apple?"

🔐 Authentication

The application uses JWT-based authentication with HTTP-only cookies for secure session management. Passwords are hashed using bcrypt.

📸 Screenshots

Placeholder for application screenshots

🚧 Future Improvements

• Offline mode support
• Multi-language voice support
• Personalization profiles
• Smart home integrations
• Chat history & memory persistence
• Voice command customization
• Mobile app (React Native)
• Real-time collaboration features
• Advanced analytics dashboard
• Plugin system for extensibility

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📝 Commit Message Guidelines

We follow conventional commit messages:

• feat: - New feature
• fix: - Bug fix
• docs: - Documentation changes
• style: - Code style changes (formatting, etc.)
• refactor: - Code refactoring
• test: - Adding or updating tests
• chore: - Maintenance tasks

Example: feat: Add voice recognition support

🐛 Known Issues

• Gemini API integration may require API key configuration
• Some features may not work in production without proper environment variables

📜 License

This project is licensed under the ISC License.

👤 Author

Shreyash Patel

• GitHub: @shreyashpatel5506
• Project Link: https://github.com/shreyashpatel5506/VirtualAssistant

⭐ Support

If you like this project, please give it a star ⭐ on GitHub. It motivates further development and helps the project grow!

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Google Gemini AI for the powerful AI capabilities
• All the open-source libraries that made this project possible
• Contributors and users of this project

Note: Make sure to configure all environment variables before running the application. The Gemini API key is required for the assistant to function properly.