feat: refactor configuration to use environment variables and add .env support

README.md

@@ -43,7 +43,15 @@ chmod +x ./bash.sh
 
 ### 3. Manual approach
 
-### 3.1. Backend Setup
+### 3.1 Environment Configuration
+
+Before running the backend or frontend, configure the environment variables:
+
+1. In the `backend` folder, copy `.env.example` to `.env`.
+   - **Important**: Consider adding a `GITHUB_TOKEN` to your `backend/.env` file to prevent GitHub API rate limits.
+2. In the `frontend` folder, copy `.env.example` to `.env`.
+
+### 3.2. Backend Setup
 
 ```bash
 cd backend

backend/.env.example

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+FLASK_HOST=127.0.0.1
+FLASK_PORT=5000
+OSDG_API_URL=http://20.73.166.85/label_text
+OSDG_TOKEN=your_osdg_token_here
+AURORA_API_URL=https://aurora-sdg.labs.vu.nl/classifier/classify/elsevier-sdg-multi
+GITHUB_API_URL=https://api.github.com
+GITHUB_TOKEN=your_github_token_here

backend/app.py

@@ -8,11 +8,20 @@
 from embedding_description import main as classify_description
 from embedding_url import main as classify_url
 from aurora_api import main as aurora_classify
+import re
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 
+load_dotenv()
 
 app = Flask(__name__)
 CORS(app)
 
+def is_valid_github_url(url):
+    if not url:
+        return False
+    pattern = r'^https?:\/\/(www\.)?github\.com\/[\w.-]+\/[\w.-]+\/?$'
+    return re.match(pattern, url) is not None
+
 
 
 @app.route('/api/hello', methods=['GET'])
@@ -30,6 +39,9 @@ def classify_aurora():
 
     if not projectDescription:
         return jsonify({'error': 'Project description is required'}), 400
+
+    if not is_valid_github_url(projectUrl):
+        return jsonify({'error': 'A valid GitHub repository URL is required'}), 400
 
 
 
@@ -41,12 +53,19 @@ def classify_aurora():
             project_name=projectName,
             project_url=projectUrl
         )
+
+        if "error" in aurora_result:
+            print(f"Aurora API returned an error: {aurora_result['error']}")
+            return jsonify({
+                "error": aurora_result["error"],
+                "message": aurora_result.get("message", "Aurora API classification failed")
+            }), 502
 
         print("Aurora API model completed successfully")
     except Exception as e:
         print(f"Aurora API model failed: {str(e)}")
         return jsonify({
-            "error": str(e),
+            "error": "Internal processing error occurred.",
             "message": "Aurora API classification failed"
         }), 500
 
@@ -78,6 +97,9 @@ def classify_st_description():
 
     if not projectDescription:
         return jsonify({'error': 'Project description is required'}), 400
+
+    if not is_valid_github_url(projectUrl):
+        return jsonify({'error': 'A valid GitHub repository URL is required'}), 400
 
 
     # 3. Sentence Transformer Description Model (text-based)
@@ -93,7 +115,7 @@ def classify_st_description():
     except Exception as e:
         print(f"ST Description model failed: {str(e)}")
         st_desc_result = {
-            "error": str(e),
+            "error": "Internal processing error occurred.",
             "message": "Sentence Transformer Description model classification failed"
         }
         return jsonify(st_desc_result), 500
@@ -121,6 +143,9 @@ def classify_st_url():
 
     if not projectDescription:
         return jsonify({'error': 'Project description is required'}), 400
+
+    if not is_valid_github_url(projectUrl):
+        return jsonify({'error': 'A valid GitHub repository URL is required'}), 400
 
 
 
@@ -134,16 +159,26 @@ def classify_st_url():
         except ValueError as ve:
             print(f"ST URL model invalid URL: {str(ve)}")
             return jsonify({'error': str(ve)}), 400
+        except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
+            return jsonify({
+                "error": "The request to GitHub timed out. Please try again later.",
+                "message": "Network timeout error"
+            }), 504
+        except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+            return jsonify({
+                "error": "Failed to connect to GitHub. Please check your network connection.",
+                "message": "Network connection error"
+            }), 502
         except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as he:
             print(f"ST URL model HTTP Error: {str(he)}")
             return jsonify({
-                "error": f"Failed to fetch repository data. Please ensure the repository is public and exists. ({str(he)})",
+                "error": "Failed to fetch repository data. Please ensure the repository is public and exists.",
                 "message": "Sentence Transformer URL model classification failed"
             }), 400
         except Exception as e:
             print(f"ST URL model failed: {str(e)}")
             return jsonify({
-                "error": str(e),
+                "error": "An internal error occurred while processing the repository URL.",
                 "message": "Sentence Transformer URL model classification failed"
             }), 500
     else:
@@ -171,11 +206,15 @@ def osdg_external_api():
 
     if not projectDescription:
         return jsonify({'error': 'Project description is required'}), 400
+
+    if not is_valid_github_url(projectUrl):
+        return jsonify({'error': 'A valid GitHub repository URL is required'}), 400
 
     # Call the external OSDG API
+    osdg_url = os.environ.get("OSDG_API_URL", "http://20.73.166.85/label_text")
     try:
         osdg_response = requests.post(
-            "http://20.73.166.85/label_text",
+            osdg_url,
             json={
                 "text": projectDescription
             },
@@ -186,10 +225,20 @@ def osdg_external_api():
         )
         osdg_response.raise_for_status()  # Raise an error for bad status codes
         osdg_result = osdg_response.json()
+    except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
+        return jsonify({
+            "error": "The request to the OSDG API timed out.",
+            "message": "Network timeout error"
+        }), 504
+    except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+        return jsonify({
+            "error": "Failed to connect to the OSDG API.",
+            "message": "Network connection error"
+        }), 502
     except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
         print(f"OSDG API request failed: {str(e)}")
         return jsonify({
-            "error": f"Failed to connect to OSDG API: {str(e)}",
+            "error": "Failed to communicate with OSDG API.",
             "message": "OSDG API classification failed"
         }), 500
 
@@ -236,4 +285,6 @@ def osdg_external_api():
 #     }), 200
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    app.run(debug=True)
+    host = os.environ.get("FLASK_HOST", "127.0.0.1")
+    port = int(os.environ.get("FLASK_PORT", 5000))
+    app.run(host=host, port=port, debug=True)

backend/aurora_api.py

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import os
 import requests
 import json
 from sdg_constants import SDG_LABELS_DICT as SDG_LABELS
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ def main(text: str, project_name: str = None, project_url: str = None):
         Dictionary with predictions in standardized format
     """
     try:
-        url = "https://aurora-sdg.labs.vu.nl/classifier/classify/elsevier-sdg-multi"
+        url = os.environ.get("AURORA_API_URL", "https://aurora-sdg.labs.vu.nl/classifier/classify/elsevier-sdg-multi")
         payload = json.dumps({"text": text})
         headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/json'}
         response = requests.request("POST", url, headers=headers, data=payload)
@@ -90,20 +91,35 @@ def main(text: str, project_name: str = None, project_url: str = None):
 
         return formatted_result
 
+    except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
+        return {
+            "project_name": project_name or "Unknown",
+            "project_url": project_url or "",
+            "sdg_predictions": {},
+            "error": "The request to the Aurora API timed out.",
+            "message": "Network timeout error"
+        }
+    except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+        return {
+            "project_name": project_name or "Unknown",
+            "project_url": project_url or "",
+            "sdg_predictions": {},
+            "error": "Failed to connect to the Aurora API.",
+            "message": "Network connection error"
+        }
     except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
-
         return {
             "project_name": project_name or "Unknown",
             "project_url": project_url or "",
             "sdg_predictions": {},
-            "error": str(e),
+            "error": "Failed to communicate with Aurora API.",
             "message": "Aurora API request failed"
         }
     except Exception as e:
         return {
             "project_name": project_name or "Unknown",
             "project_url": project_url or "",
             "sdg_predictions": {},
-            "error": f"{type(e).__name__}: {str(e)}",
+            "error": "An internal error occurred during classification.",
             "message": "Aurora API processing failed"
         }

backend/embedding_url.py

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from sdg_constants import SDG_LABELS, SDG_NAMES, SDG_DESCS
 
 # --- GitHub fetch utilities ---
-GITHUB_API = "https://api.github.com"
+GITHUB_API = os.environ.get("GITHUB_API_URL", "https://api.github.com")
 
 def parse_repo(url: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
     """

backend/requirements.txt

@@ -6,4 +6,5 @@ numpy
 accelerate
 flask
 flask-cors
-Flask-UUID
+Flask-UUID
+python-dotenv

frontend/components/mainScreen.tsx

@@ -31,33 +31,31 @@ const MainScreen: React.FC<{
   const handleFormSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
     e.preventDefault();
 
-    if (
-      !projectName ||
-      !projectUrl ||
-      !projectDescription
-      // !problemStatement ||
-      // !longTermGoal ||
-      // !solutionApproach ||
-      // !targetAudience
-    ) {
+    const trimmedName = projectName.trim();
+    const trimmedUrl = projectUrl.trim();
+    const trimmedDesc = projectDescription.trim();
+
+    if (!trimmedName || !trimmedUrl || !trimmedDesc) {
       setUploadMsg("Please fill in all required fields before submitting.");
       return;
     }
 
-    if (projectUrl.includes("github.com") === false) {
-      setUploadMsg("Please enter a valid GitHub repository URL.");
+    // GitHub URL validation regex
+    const githubUrlRegex = /^https?:\/\/(www\.)?github\.com\/[\w.-]+\/[\w.-]+\/?$/;
+    if (!githubUrlRegex.test(trimmedUrl)) {
+      setUploadMsg("Please enter a valid GitHub repository URL (e.g., https://github.com/username/repository).");
       return;
     }
 
     const finalizedData = {
-      projectName: projectName,
-      projectUrl: projectUrl,
-      projectDescription: projectDescription,
+      projectName: trimmedName,
+      projectUrl: trimmedUrl,
+      projectDescription: trimmedDesc,
     };
 
-    localStorage.setItem("projectDescription", projectDescription);
-    localStorage.setItem("projectName", projectName);
-    localStorage.setItem("projectUrl", projectUrl);
+    localStorage.setItem("projectDescription", trimmedDesc);
+    localStorage.setItem("projectName", trimmedName);
+    localStorage.setItem("projectUrl", trimmedUrl);
 
     try {
       setIsUploading(true);
@@ -89,9 +87,13 @@ const MainScreen: React.FC<{
 
       // console.log("API Response:", response.data);
       setResults(response as ResultsData);
-    } catch (error) {
+    } catch (error: any) {
       console.error("Error:", error);
-      setUploadMsg("Text Analyzing Failed. Please try again.");
+      const backendError = error.response?.data?.message || error.response?.data?.error;
+      const fallbackError = error.message === "Network Error" 
+        ? "Network error: Unable to reach the server. Please try again later."
+        : "Text Analyzing Failed. Please try again.";
+      setUploadMsg(backendError || fallbackError);
     } finally {
       setIsUploading(false);
     }