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🔑 API Key Setup Guide

This guide will help you set up the required API keys for VulnExplain.

Required API Key

1. Google Gemini API Key

VulnExplain uses Google's Gemini AI to perform intelligent security vulnerability analysis. You'll need a Gemini API key to run the application.

How to Get Your Gemini API Key:

  1. Visit Google AI Studio: https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey

  2. Sign in with your Google account

  3. Create API Key:

    • Click on "Create API Key" button
    • Choose "Create API key in new project" or select an existing project
    • Copy the generated API key

  4. Add to Backend .env file:

    • Open backend/.env
    • Replace your_gemini_api_key_here with your actual API key
    EMERGENT_LLM_KEY=AIza...your_actual_key_here

Pricing & Limits:

  • Free Tier Models:

    • gemini-1.5-flash (Recommended): 1,500 requests per minute (RPM) - Fast and generous limits
    • gemini-1.5-pro: 2 requests per minute - More capable but stricter limits

  • Paid/Restricted Models:

    • gemini-2.5-pro: 0 RPM on free tier (requires paid plan)

  • For details: https://ai.google.dev/pricing

Model Configuration:

The app defaults to gemini-1.5-flash for optimal free tier usage. You can change this in backend/.env:

# Use gemini-1.5-flash (recommended for free tier)
GEMINI_MODEL=gemini-1.5-flash

# Or use gemini-1.5-pro (slower rate limits but more capable)
# GEMINI_MODEL=gemini-1.5-pro

Note: If you encounter "quota exceeded" errors, make sure you're using gemini-1.5-flash or wait for the quota to reset.

Configuration Files

Backend Configuration (backend/.env)

# MongoDB Configuration
MONGO_URL="mongodb://localhost:27017"
DB_NAME="vuln_database"

# CORS Configuration
CORS_ORIGINS="*"

# Gemini AI API Key (REQUIRED)
EMERGENT_LLM_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here  # ← Replace this!

# Gemini Model Configuration (Optional - defaults to gemini-1.5-flash)
GEMINI_MODEL=gemini-1.5-flash

Frontend Configuration (frontend/.env)

REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:8000
WDS_SOCKET_PORT=443
ENABLE_HEALTH_CHECK=false

Note: Frontend configuration is already set up for local development.

Verification

After adding your API key, verify the setup:

  1. Start MongoDB (if not already running):

    # Windows (if using MongoDB as a service)
net start MongoDB

  2. Start Backend:

    cd backend
python -m uvicorn server:app --reload --port 8000

  3. Check API Health:

  4. Start Frontend:

    cd frontend
npm start

  5. Test the Application:

Troubleshooting

Error: "quota exceeded for gemini-2.5-pro"

  • Solution: The app now uses gemini-1.5-flash by default (1500 RPM free)
  • Restart the backend server: Stop (Ctrl+C) and run python -m uvicorn server:app --reload --port 8000 again
  • If you manually set GEMINI_MODEL=gemini-2.5-pro, change it to gemini-1.5-flash

Error: "Emergent LLM key not configured"

  • Make sure you've added your Gemini API key to backend/.env
  • Restart the backend server after adding the key

MongoDB Connection Issues

  • Ensure MongoDB is installed and running
  • Verify MONGO_URL in .env matches your MongoDB connection string

CORS Errors

  • Current configuration allows all origins (*)
  • For production, update CORS_ORIGINS to specific domains

Security Best Practices

⚠️ Important:

  • Never commit .env files to version control
  • The .gitignore already includes .env files
  • Use .env.example as a template for team members
  • Rotate API keys periodically
  • Use environment-specific keys (development vs production)

Need Help?

Ready to go? Once you've added your Gemini API key, start both servers and begin auditing! 🚀