TEC-IT ChatBot

This project aims to build a backend-only AI chatbot for TEC-IT customer support using:

• LangChain for orchestration
• FAISS for vector storage
• OpenAI for LLMs
• Docker for containerization

Project Setup Guide

This guide will help you set up and configure the TEC-IT-ChatBot project from scratch using Python virtual environments, an .env file, and Visual Studio Code.

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🚀 Getting Started

1️⃣ Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following installed on your system:

• Python 3.8+ (Download Here)
• pip (comes with Python, but update it using pip install --upgrade pip)
• Visual Studio Code (Download Here)
• VS Code Extensions:
  • Python Extension (install from VS Code Marketplace)
  • .env support (optional)

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🏗️ Setup Steps

2️⃣ Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/NafezSayyad/TEC-IT-ChatBot.git
cd TEC-IT-ChatBot

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3️⃣ Create a Virtual Environment

On Windows (CMD/PowerShell)

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

On macOS/Linux

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

✅ The virtual environment is now activated. You should see (venv) in your terminal.

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4️⃣ Create an .env File

Inside the root directory, create a .env file and add the following:

OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key

✅ Replace your_openai_api_key with your actual OpenAI API key.

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5️⃣ Install Dependencies

Run the following command to install required dependencies from requirements.txt:

pip install -r requirements.txt

If your project uses additional dependencies, install them manually:

pip install <package-name>

To update requirements.txt after installing new packages:

pip freeze > requirements.txt

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6️⃣ Open Project in VS Code

1. Open VS Code.
2. Click File → Open Folder and select the project folder.
3. Open the command palette (Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows/Linux, Cmd + Shift + P on macOS).
4. Search for "Python: Select Interpreter" and choose the one inside your venv folder.

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7️⃣ Deactivating Virtual Environment

Once you're done, deactivate the virtual environment using:

deactivate  # macOS/Linux
venv\Scripts\deactivate  # Windows

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✅ Additional Notes

• If you face permission issues on Linux/macOS, try chmod +x venv/bin/activate.
• Consider using a .gitignore file to exclude unnecessary files, including venv/ and .env.

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📌 Common Issues & Fixes

Issue	Solution
ModuleNotFoundError	Run pip install -r requirements.txt again
Virtual environment not found	Ensure you activated it with source venv/bin/activate
Permission denied	Try running commands with sudo (macOS/Linux)

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🎉 You're all set! 🚀 Now you can start coding and building your TEC-IT-ChatBot project. Happy coding! 😃