Grievances Bot

This project is a multi-part grievance registration system that includes a user-friendly chatbot interface. It's built with a Flask backend for user authentication, a Rasa server for the chatbot, a custom Rasa action server for tasks like sending emails, and a static frontend for the user interface.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+ and pip
• Git for cloning the repository.

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the Repository

Clone this repository to your local machine:

git clone <repository-url>
cd grievancesbot

2. Create a Virtual Environment

It's highly recommended to use a virtual environment to manage project dependencies.

python -m venv venv

Activate the virtual environment:

• On Windows:

  .\venv\Scripts\activate

• On macOS/Linux:

  source venv/bin/activate

3. Install Dependencies

Install all the required Python packages using the requirements.txt file:

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure Email Credentials

The chatbot's action server sends emails using SMTP. You need to provide your Gmail credentials in a .env file.

1. Navigate to the actions directory:

   cd chatbot/actions

2. Create a .env file with the following content:

   SMTP_USERNAME="your-email@gmail.com"
   SMTP_PASSWORD="your-gmail-app-password"
   

   • Important: For the SMTP_PASSWORD, you must use a Gmail App Password. You can generate one by going to your Google Account settings, under "Security," and then "App passwords."

3. Return to the root directory:

   cd ../..

How to Run the Project

A single script handles the startup of all necessary services (Flask backend, Rasa server, Rasa action server, and the frontend static server).

Simply run the start_project.bat script from the root directory of the project:

.\start_project.bat

This script will:

• Activate the virtual environment.
• Start all four servers in separate terminal windows.
• Automatically open the project's landing page in your default web browser.

Once the script has run, you can start by registering a new user and then logging in to use the chatbot.