🧠 Notebook — PDF to Course Builder (Backend)

Transform structured PDFs into full-blown courses with modules, summaries, and key takeaways using AI models like GPT-4, Claude 3.7, and Gemini 2.5 Pro.

🌐 Live Links

• 🛠 Backend API: https://notebook-backend.bhoral.com
• 🎨 Frontend App: https://notebook.bhoral.com
• 📘 Frontend Repository: Notebook Frontend GitHub
• 📖 API Documentation (Theneo): View Full Docs

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🧩 What It Does

Notebook lets users convert a single PDF into a full learning course by:

• 📄 Uploading a structured or scanned PDF
• 🧠 Selecting an AI model and PDF parsing engine
• 🧱 Generating:
  • A title and course description
  • Multiple learning modules
  • Summaries and key takeaways for each module
• 📤 Exporting the result in Markdown
• 🔐 Accessing and managing via secure login (JWT-based)

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⚙️ Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: MySQL (via Sequelize ORM)
• Authentication: JWT, bcrypt
• AI Processing: OpenRouter (Claude, GPT-4, Gemini support)
• PDF Parsing: Text and OCR engines (e.g., Mistral OCR)
• Storage: AWS S3-compatible bucket
• Frontend: NextJS (Repo)

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🔐 Authentication API

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/users/register	Register a new user
POST	/api/users/login	Authenticate user (JWT)
GET	/api/users/profile	Fetch user profile
PATCH	/api/users/profile	Update user details

🔒 All course-related endpoints require a Bearer token (JWT).

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📚 Course API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/courses/my-courses	Fetch all of a user's created courses
POST	/api/courses/create-from-file	Upload a PDF and generate a course
GET	/api/courses/:id	Get details of a single course
GET	/api/courses/:id/export/markdown	Export course as a Markdown file
PUT	/api/courses/:id	Edit/update a course

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🧠 AI & PDF Engine Options

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/courses/available-models	Returns all supported AI models
GET	/api/courses/available-engines	Lists available PDF parsing engines (OCR etc.)

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🧪 Sample Course Output (JSON)

{
  "heading": "Data Ethics and Responsible Engineering",
  "summary": "This module explores the ethical dimensions of data use, privacy-preserving machine learning, and responsible AI development.",
  "key_takeaways": [
    "Ethical data practices build user trust.",
    "Federated learning protects sensitive data.",
    "Integrity in innovation ensures societal impact."
  ]
}

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🚀 Quickstart (Local Setup)

git clone https://github.com/vinayaksandilya/NoteBook-Backend.git
cd NoteBook-Backend
npm install

Create .env file

# Database Config
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=root
DB_PASSWORD=root
DB_NAME=notebook

# JWT Secret
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key_here

# AWS S3 (for file uploads)
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=XXXXXX
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=XXXXXX
AWS_REGION=ap-south-1
AWS_BUCKET_NAME=XXXXXX

# AI Key
OPEN_ROUTER_KEY=XXXXXXXXX

# Server Port
PORT=3000

Start the development server

npm run dev

Backend is now available at http://localhost:3000

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📤 PDF Upload & Generation

To generate a course from a PDF:

POST /api/courses/create-from-file
Authorization: Bearer <JWT>

{
  "fileId": "<uploaded_file_id>",
  "options": {
    "pdfEngine": "pdf-text",
    "aiModel": "anthropic/claude-3.7-sonnet"
  }
}

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📦 Export Course

GET /api/courses/:id/export/markdown
Authorization: Bearer <JWT>

Returns a downloadable .md file of your full course.

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🛠 Deployment Notes

• 🐳 Docker-ready for containerization
• ⚙️ Nginx recommended as reverse proxy
• ☁️ File uploads handled via AWS S3
• 🔐 Secrets should be managed securely in production environments

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🤝 Contributing

Pull requests, feature suggestions, and feedback are welcome!

1. Fork the repo
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/YourFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some feature')
4. Push and open a PR

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📝 License

MIT License — use, fork, build freely.

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🚧 Roadmap

• Admin dashboard for course management
• Quiz and test generation from modules
• Collaborative course editing
• Support for multilingual courses
• LMS integrations (Teachable, Moodle)
• Course analytics & tracking

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🧠 Built With Love

Created by Vinayak Sandilya to make knowledge creation easier and smarter.