README_DEPLOY.md

Deployment

This project is prepared for free deployment on Hugging Face Spaces using Docker.

What is included

• Dockerfile: builds the React frontend and serves the Flask app with Gunicorn
• requirements.txt: Python runtime dependencies
• .dockerignore: excludes local virtualenvs, build output, and caches

Deploy steps

1. Push the EmpowerHer_Chatbot folder contents to your GitHub repository.
2. Go to Hugging Face Spaces.
3. Create a new Space.
4. Choose Docker as the SDK.
5. Link the Space to your GitHub repository or upload these files.
6. Wait for the image build to finish.
7. Open the Space URL and test the chatbot.

Runtime notes

• The app listens on port 7860.
• The frontend is built from FRONTEND/ during the Docker build.
• Flask serves the built frontend and the /chat API from one container.
• The first startup may take longer because transformer models need to download.