legal-doc-masker/backend/README.md

Legal Document Masker API

This is the backend API for the Legal Document Masking system. It provides endpoints for file upload, processing status tracking, and file download.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+
• Redis (for Celery)

File Storage

Files are stored in the following structure:

backend/
├── storage/
│   ├── uploads/     # Original uploaded files
│   └── processed/   # Masked/processed files

Setup

Option 1: Local Development

1. Create a virtual environment:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

2. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Set up environment variables: Create a .env file in the backend directory with the following variables:

SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here

The database (SQLite) will be automatically created when you first run the application.

4. Start Redis (required for Celery):

redis-server

5. Start Celery worker:

celery -A app.services.file_service worker --loglevel=info

6. Start the FastAPI server:

uvicorn app.main:app --reload

Option 2: Docker Deployment

1. Build and start the services:

docker-compose up --build

This will start:

• FastAPI server on port 8000
• Celery worker for background processing
• Redis for task queue

API Documentation

Once the server is running, you can access:

• Swagger UI: http://localhost:8000/docs
• ReDoc: http://localhost:8000/redoc

API Endpoints

• POST /api/v1/files/upload - Upload a new file
• GET /api/v1/files - List all files
• GET /api/v1/files/{file_id} - Get file details
• GET /api/v1/files/{file_id}/download - Download processed file
• WS /api/v1/files/ws/status/{file_id} - WebSocket for real-time status updates

Development

Running Tests

pytest

Code Style

The project uses Black for code formatting:

black .

Docker Commands

• Start services: docker-compose up
• Start in background: docker-compose up -d
• Stop services: docker-compose down
• View logs: docker-compose logs -f
• Rebuild: docker-compose up --build