Smart Legal Assistance Platform

This directory contains GitHub Actions workflows that automate various processes for the Smart Legal Assistance Platform.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Django (see the main-backend branch)

📬 API Documentation

You can explore and test the full API using the Postman documentation below:
🔗 Smart Legal Assistance API – Postman Docs

🔁 Note: The backend code is located on a separate branch named main-backend.

Running the Frontend Locally

To run the frontend web app on your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/AASTUSoftwareEngineeringDepartment/SmartLegalAssistanceAttorneyFindingPlatform.git
cd your-repo-name
npm install
npm run dev

Then visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Workflows

Docker Build and Push

File: .github/workflows/docker-build.yml

This workflow automatically builds and pushes Docker images for the backend whenever changes are made to Python files, requirements.txt, Dockerfile, or docker-compose.yml.

What it does:

1. Triggers on pushes to the main branch and pull requests to main
2. Builds the Docker image using the Dockerfile
3. Tags the image with both the commit SHA and latest
4. Pushes the image to DockerHub (only for pushes to main, not pull requests)
5. Runs basic tests to ensure the build is functional
6. Updates the deployment via Render webhook (if configured)

Dockerfile Overview

The Dockerfile is based on python:3.12-slim and:

• Installs system dependencies such as build-essential and libpq-dev
• Sets environment variables for optimized Python behavior
• Installs Python packages from requirements.txt
• Copies all project files into the container
• Sets the working directory to /app/backend
• Automatically runs Django migrations and launches the app using Gunicorn

FROM python:3.12-slim

ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE 1
ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED 1

WORKDIR /app

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    build-essential \
    libpq-dev \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

COPY requirements.txt /app/
RUN pip install --upgrade pip
RUN pip install -r requirements.txt

COPY . /app/
WORKDIR /app/backend

CMD ["sh", "-c", "python manage.py makemigrations && python manage.py migrate && gunicorn legal.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT"]

Required Secrets:

To use this workflow, you need to set up the following secrets in your GitHub repository:

• DOCKERHUB_USERNAME: Your DockerHub username
• DOCKERHUB_TOKEN: Your DockerHub access token (not your password)
• RENDER_DEPLOY_HOOK: The webhook URL provided by Render for automatic deployments

How to set up secrets:

1. Go to your GitHub repository
2. Navigate to Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions
3. Click "New repository secret"
4. Add each of the required secrets

Troubleshooting

If the workflow isn't working as expected:

1. Check that you've added all required secrets
2. Verify your DockerHub credentials are correct
3. Make sure your Dockerfile is valid and builds successfully locally
4. Check the GitHub Actions logs for any specific error messages

📸 App Screenshots

Landing Page

Attorney and Client Signup

AI Chatbot