Installation

This guide covers how to install and set up mol-platform for development and deployment.

Prerequisites

Required (All Platforms)

Recommended (macOS via Homebrew)

If you are developing or running tests locally on macOS, install the following using Homebrew:

brew install docker docker-compose
brew install python@3.12
brew install node
brew install git

Installation Steps

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/bniladridas/mol-platform.git
cd mol-platform

2. Choose Your Installation Method

Option A: Docker Deployment (Recommended)

No additional setup required. Docker handles all dependencies.

Option B: Local Development Setup

Backend Setup

cd backend
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python src/main.py  # Starts on http://localhost:8000

API Key Setup

The backend requires an API key for authentication. Generate a secure key:

openssl rand -hex 32

For Docker: Set API_KEY=your-generated-key in your environment or create a .env file.

For Local: Copy backend/.env.example to backend/.env and set API_KEY=your-generated-key.

Frontend Setup (Run in Separate Terminal)

cd frontend
npm install
npx react-scripts start  # Starts on http://localhost:3000