App reliability: Backend health check, Force Dark Theme, Fix Dependencies

.streamlit/config.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[theme]
+base="dark"
+primaryColor="#ff0033"
+backgroundColor="#000000"
+secondaryBackgroundColor="#0a0a0a"
+textColor="#ffffff"
+font="sans serif"

frontend/streamlit_app.py

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ Premium Speech-to-Text & Text-to-Speech Interface
 """
 
 import streamlit as st
+import time
+import requests
 from pathlib import Path
 from services.api_client import get_api_client
 
@@ -611,12 +613,50 @@ def render_sidebar():
                 st.session_state.theme = new_theme
                 st.rerun()
 
+# Check backend health
+def check_backend_health():
+    """Check if backend is reachable"""
+    api_url = st.session_state.get("api_base_url", "http://localhost:8001")
+    health_url = f"{api_url}/health"
+    
+    # Try 3 times with short delay
+    for i in range(3):
+        try:
+            response = requests.get(health_url, timeout=2)
+            if response.status_code == 200:
+                return True
+        except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+            pass
+        except Exception as e:
+            # Other errors (timeout, etc)
+            pass
+        time.sleep(1)
+            
+    # If we get here, backend is likely starting or down
+    st.warning("⏳ Backend is starting up... (Connection Refused)")
+    st.info("The server is on free tier and may take 1-2 minutes to cold start. Please wait and refresh.")
+    
+    # Try one more time with longer timeout and spinner
+    with st.spinner("Waiting for connection..."):
+        try:
+            time.sleep(5)
+            requests.get(health_url, timeout=5)
+            st.rerun() # Success! Rerun app
+            return True
+        except:
+            return False
+
 # Main app
 def main():
     """Main application entry point"""
     load_css()
     init_session_state()
     render_sidebar()
+    
+    # Check backend health
+    if not check_backend_health():
+        st.stop()
+        
     render_home()