backend/README.md

RICS Template-Agnostic Backend (v2)

A redesigned backend that treats report structure as data discovered from an operator-provided report template, with standard paragraphs supplying approved wording. Surveyors upload notes only.

See docs/DEVIATIONS.md for intentional differences from the original v2 spec.

Spec default	This deployment
Anthropic Claude	OpenAI (backend/llm/openai_client.py)
Tenant POST /api/upload/template	Operator PDF + Word bundle at startup
Single schema source	PDF = structure; Word = MASTER RAG wording

Operator bundle

All operator-provided material lives in Master Standard report and paragraphs/:

Master Standard report and paragraphs/
  SAMPLE LEVEL 3 REPORT NCS.pdf           -> REPORT TEMPLATE (schema: section order, titles, ratings)
  HB-BS STANDARD PARAS v6 Sept 2015.doc  -> STANDARD PARAGRAPHS (MASTER RAG: approved wording)

File	Role	Ingest treatment
PDF report template	Defines report structure	Schema discovery only (schema.json)
Word standard paragraphs	Optional firm boilerplate (off by default)	MASTER FAISS when master_template_auto_ingest=true
Field notes	Surveyor input per job	Not scrubbed; parsed verbatim
Reference uploads	Each tenant's past completed reports via POST /api/upload/reference	REFERENCE FAISS (scrubbed) — the generation source at every level

PII two-tier policy

Stage	Document / context	Scrubbing	Guard
Field notes	Surveyor input	None — parsed verbatim	Output/DOCX gate redacts generated text only
Standard paragraphs (Word)	TIER_MASTER	None at ingest	assert_no_pii() rejects address/postcode
Reference uploads	TIER_REFERENCE	scrub_reference_for_ingest() at ingest	Unscrubbed chunks dropped
Mapped paragraph output	Generated text	Per-paragraph + batch assert_no_pii()	Full scrub() on output if residual PII

Report mapping is sourced from the tenant's own past reports (REFERENCE tier) at every interference level (minimum/medium/maximum all use search_for_reference_mapping). The shared MASTER boilerplate is off by default (master_template_auto_ingest=false); search_for_generation (MASTER-only) is retained for operators that explicitly opt in and is not used in the default path.

Pipeline

report template (PDF)  -> schema.json (canonical RICS L3 sections, order, ratings)
past reports (per tenant) -> REFERENCE RAG (scrubbed) — baseline wording per section
notes                  -> schema-driven parse (verbatim) -> section retrieve (REFERENCE)
                       -> lexical rerank -> LLM weave notes onto baseline paragraph
                       -> schema-ordered DOCX (empty sections omitted)

Configuration

Copy .env.example to the repo root .env. Key settings:

Setting	Default	Purpose
paragraph_min_chars	80	Minimum RAG chunk size
paragraph_max_chars	1200	Maximum RAG chunk size
retrieval_top_k / rag_top_k	5	Paragraphs retrieved per section
max_tokens_mapping	2048	Mapping LLM token limit
max_tokens_grounding	1024	Grounding LLM token limit
max_tokens_discovery	4000	Discovery enrichment token limit
use_llm_paragraph_mapping	false	When false, report text is the full RAG paragraph verbatim with notes in blanks or appended
template_docx_path	(empty)	Optional branded DOCX export template
ai_transparency_footer_enabled	false	Global DOCX footer default

Re-ingest required after changing paragraph_min_chars / paragraph_max_chars (restart or POST /admin/template/reingest).

API

Route	Purpose
GET /api/schema	Sections discovered from the report template
PATCH /api/schema	Operator corrections (e.g. section_alias_map overrides)
POST /api/report/preview	JSON preview with manual_review_required
POST /api/report/generate	DOCX download (survey_report_draft.docx)
POST /api/upload/reference	Upload a past report (scrubbed, REFERENCE tier)
POST /auth/register, POST /auth/login	JWT tenant auth
GET /health	master_loaded (schema present), reference_ready, FAISS counts
POST /admin/template/reingest	Re-ingest operator bundle (gated)

Generation returns 400 when the schema is missing or the tenant has no REFERENCE content for the requested sections.

Operator checklist

1. Keep the PDF report template in the operator folder (schema is canonical RICS L3).
2. On boot, confirm GET /health shows master_loaded: true (schema installed).
3. Each tenant uploads its own past reports (POST /api/upload/reference) — these are the generation baseline at every level — then notes only per job.
4. To update structure: replace the template and restart (or admin reingest).

Running

pip install -r backend/requirements.txt
uvicorn backend.main:app --reload

Open http://localhost:8000 for the legacy survey UI (frontend/index.html) or /v2.html for the simplified demo.

Docker: docker compose -f docker-compose.v2.yml up --build.

Tests

python -m pytest backend/tests -q -o addopts=""