QUICKSTART.md

🚀 Quick Start Guide

Get up and running in 2 minutes!

Prerequisites

1. Python 3.9+ installed
2. Google Gemini API Key - Get one free at Google AI Studio

Option 1: Easy Start (Recommended)

Mac/Linux

./run.sh

Windows

run.bat

That's it! Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser.

Option 2: Manual Start

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv

# Activate it
source venv/bin/activate  # Mac/Linux
# OR
venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run server
cd backend
python main.py

Open http://localhost:8000

Option 3: Docker

# Build and run
docker-compose up --build

# Or just:
docker build -t docling-rag .
docker run -p 8000:8000 docling-rag

Open http://localhost:8000

Using the App

1. Enter API Key: Paste your Google Gemini API key
2. Upload Document: Select a PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, or HTML file (max 20 pages)
3. Click "Upload & Process": Wait for processing to complete
4. Ask Questions: Type your question and click "Send"
5. View Answers: Get AI-generated answers with source citations

First Time Setup Notes

• First run will download the embedding model (~90MB) - this is normal
• Subsequent runs will be much faster
• The model is cached locally at ~/.cache/torch/sentence_transformers/

Troubleshooting

Port already in use

# Kill process on port 8000
lsof -ti:8000 | xargs kill -9  # Mac/Linux

API key not working

• Make sure you're using a Google Gemini API key, not OpenAI
• Check it's enabled at Google AI Studio

Document processing fails

• Make sure document is under 20 pages
• Try a different file format
• Check if file is corrupted

What's Next?

Check out README.md for:

• Full documentation
• Deployment instructions
• Configuration options
• API documentation

Need Help?

Open an issue on GitHub or check the logs in your terminal for error messages.

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Happy RAG-ing! 🎉