NovaBuddy Frontend

Next.js frontend for NovaBuddy — an AI-powered study buddy. Upload lecture materials (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, text) and get summaries, quizzes, and an interactive Q&A chatbot powered by Amazon Nova via the NovaBuddy backend.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm
• A deployed NovaBuddy backend (see below)

1. Deploy the backend first

This app talks to the NovaBuddy API. Deploy the backend and get its outputs before running the frontend.

1. Clone and deploy the backend:

   git clone https://github.com/Neelpatel1604/NovaBuddy.git
   cd NovaBuddy/terraform
   cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
   # Edit terraform.tfvars if needed
   terraform init
   terraform plan
   terraform apply

2. Note the Terraform outputs — you will need them for the frontend:

   • api_url — base URL of the HTTP API
   • cognito_user_pool_id — Cognito User Pool ID
   • cognito_client_id — Cognito App Client ID
   • s3_bucket_name — S3 uploads bucket name

   See NovaBuddy for full backend setup, Bedrock access, and creating a test user.

2. Set up this frontend

1. Clone and install:

   git clone <this-repo-url>
   cd novabuddyfrontend
   npm install

2. Create a .env file in the project root and fill it with values from your backend deployment (and your AWS credentials for the documents fallback):

   # From Terraform outputs (NovaBuddy backend)
   NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_REGION=us-east-1
   NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=https://YOUR_API_ID.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
   NEXT_PUBLIC_COGNITO_USER_POOL_ID=us-east-1_XXXXXXXXX
   NEXT_PUBLIC_COGNITO_USER_POOL_CLIENT_ID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   NEXT_PUBLIC_S3_BUCKET_NAME=novabuddy-xxxx-uploads
   
   # Optional: only if you use the generated-bucket feature
   NEXT_PUBLIC_S3_BUCKET_GENERATED_NAME=novabuddy-xxxx-generated
   
   # AWS credentials from an IAM user that has S3 permissions (at minimum s3:PutObject, s3:DeleteObject, s3:ListBucket) on the uploads bucket.
   # Create this IAM user, attach an S3 policy with those actions, then generate an access key and secret and paste them here.
   NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIA...
   NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=...

   Example with placeholders:

   Variable	Where to get it
   NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_REGION	Same region as your Terraform deploy (e.g. us-east-1)
   NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL	Terraform output api_url
   NEXT_PUBLIC_COGNITO_USER_POOL_ID	Terraform output cognito_user_pool_id
   NEXT_PUBLIC_COGNITO_USER_POOL_CLIENT_ID	Terraform output cognito_client_id
   NEXT_PUBLIC_S3_BUCKET_NAME	Terraform output s3_bucket_name
   NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID	IAM user/role with S3 read access to the uploads bucket
   NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	Same IAM credentials

3. Run the dev server:

   npm run dev

4. Open http://localhost:3000, sign up or sign in (confirm the user in Cognito if needed), then upload a lecture and use the dashboard.

.env example

Copy this to .env and replace the placeholders with your backend and AWS values:

# Region (must match backend)
NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_REGION=us-east-1

# From Terraform outputs after deploying https://github.com/Neelpatel1604/NovaBuddy
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=https://xxxxxxxxxx.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_COGNITO_USER_POOL_ID=us-east-1_XXXXXXXXX
NEXT_PUBLIC_COGNITO_USER_POOL_CLIENT_ID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
NEXT_PUBLIC_S3_BUCKET_NAME=novabuddy-xxxxxxxx-uploads

# Optional
NEXT_PUBLIC_S3_BUCKET_GENERATED_NAME=novabuddy-xxxxxxxx-generated

# AWS credentials for /api/documents (S3 list fallback)
NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
NEXT_PUBLIC_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scripts

• npm run dev — start development server
• npm run build — build for production
• npm run start — run production server

Backend

Backend repo: Neelpatel1604/NovaBuddy — serverless API (Lambda, API Gateway, Cognito, S3, DynamoDB, Bedrock Nova). Deploy it first and use its outputs in this app’s .env.