Policy Decoder

A powerful web application that allows users to upload PDF policy documents, extract text, and ask questions about the content using AI. The application uses a React frontend and Express backend with OpenAI integration.

Features

• PDF Upload: Upload PDF documents and extract text content
• Text Extraction: Automatically parse and extract text from PDF files
• AI-Powered Q&A: Ask questions about the document content and get intelligent answers
• Interactive Chat Interface: User-friendly chat interface for asking multiple questions
• Real-time Processing: Fast text extraction and AI response generation

Project Structure

policy-decoder/
├── client/                 # React frontend
│   ├── public/             # Static files
│   │   ├── index.html      # HTML template
│   │   └── manifest.json   # Web app manifest
│   ├── src/                # Source files
│   │   ├── App.js          # Main component
│   │   ├── App.css         # Styles for App component
│   │   ├── Chat.js         # Chat component for Q&A
│   │   ├── Upload.js       # PDF upload component
│   │   ├── index.js        # Entry point
│   │   └── index.css       # Global styles
│   └── package.json        # Frontend dependencies
├── server/                 # Express backend
│   ├── index.js            # Main server file with API endpoints
│   ├── parser.js           # PDF parsing functionality
│   ├── server.js           # Alternative server implementation
│   ├── .env                # Environment variables (not in repo)
│   └── package.json        # Backend dependencies
└── start-app.sh            # Script to start both client and server

Technologies Used

• Frontend:

  • React.js - UI library
  • Axios - HTTP client for API requests
  • CSS - Styling

• Backend:

  • Node.js - JavaScript runtime
  • Express - Web framework
  • Multer - File upload handling
  • pdf2json - PDF text extraction
  • OpenAI API - AI-powered question answering

Security and API Key Management

API Keys

• NEVER commit API keys to version control
• Create a .env file in the server directory with your OpenAI API key:

  PORT=3002
  NODE_ENV=development
  OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
  

• For production, consider using a secrets management service instead of .env files
• Rotate your API keys regularly and immediately if they are ever exposed

Security Best Practices

• Keep all dependencies updated to the latest secure versions
• Use HTTPS in production environments
• Implement proper authentication before deploying to production
• Review OpenAI's data usage policies before processing sensitive documents

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or later)
• npm (v6 or later)
• OpenAI API key

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/RowanRocket42/policy-decoder.git
   cd policy-decoder

2. Install root dependencies:

   npm install

3. Install frontend dependencies:

   cd client
   npm install

4. Install backend dependencies:

   cd ../server
   npm install

5. Create a .env file in the server directory with your OpenAI API key:

   PORT=3002
   NODE_ENV=development
   OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
   

Running the Application

Option 1: Using the start script

From the root directory:

npm start

This will start both the client and server concurrently.

Option 2: Running client and server separately

1. Start the backend server:

   cd server
   npm run dev:index

   The server will run on http://localhost:3002

2. In a new terminal, start the frontend:

   cd client
   npm start

   The React app will run on http://localhost:3000

3. Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 to see the application

How to Use

1. Upload a PDF:

   • Click "Choose File" to select a PDF document
   • Click "Upload PDF" to process the document
   • The extracted text will be displayed on the page

2. Ask Questions:

   • After uploading a PDF, the chat interface will appear
   • Type your question about the document in the input field
   • Press Enter or click "Send" to submit your question
   • The AI will analyze the document and provide an answer

3. Continue the Conversation:

   • Ask follow-up questions to get more information
   • The chat history is maintained during your session

Development

• Frontend: The React app is in the client/src directory. Key components:

  • Upload.js: Handles PDF file uploads and displays extracted text
  • Chat.js: Provides the Q&A interface using the OpenAI API

• Backend: The Express server is in server/index.js. Key endpoints:

  • POST /analyze: Receives PDF files, extracts text, and returns it
  • POST /chat: Accepts questions and PDF text, returns AI-generated answers

• PDF Parsing: The server/parser.js file contains the logic for extracting text from PDFs

Troubleshooting

• Server Port Conflict: If port 3002 is already in use, you can change it in server/index.js
• PDF Parsing Issues: Make sure you're uploading valid PDF files
• OpenAI API Errors: Check your API key and quota in the OpenAI dashboard

Future Enhancements

• Document summarization
• Support for more file formats (DOCX, TXT)
• Highlighting relevant sections in the document
• Saving chat history
• User authentication

Learn More

• React Documentation
• Express Documentation
• OpenAI API Documentation
• pdf2json Documentation

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

Acknowledgments

• OpenAI for providing the GPT models
• The developers of pdf2json for the PDF parsing functionality
• All contributors to the React and Express ecosystems