AI Learning Assistant

AI Learning Assistant is a full-stack study platform built with Angular and Node.js. Users can upload PDF documents, generate quizzes and exams, create flashcards, build study roadmaps and plans, track activity, and review analytics from one application.

Stack

• Frontend: Angular 21, Angular Material, Tailwind CSS, Transloco
• Backend: Node.js, Express, MongoDB, Mongoose, JWT auth
• AI integration: Gemini with local fallback behavior in parts of the backend
• Deployment: Railway

Main Features

• User registration and login
• PDF upload and document viewer
• AI chat and document-based learning tools
• Flashcard generation and flashcard batches
• Quiz generation from uploaded documents
• Exam generation with mixed question types
• Study roadmap and weekly study plan generation
• Study sessions and progress tracking
• Activity feed and analytics dashboard
• Profile management

Project Structure

backend/    Express API, MongoDB models, controllers, routes
frontend/   Angular application
package.json
railway.json

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm
• MongoDB connection string

Environment Variables

Create a backend/.env file for local development.

PORT=3030
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/ai-learning-assistant
JWT_SECRET=replace_with_a_secure_secret
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=7d
GEMINI_API_KEY=
GEMINI_MODELS=gemini-2.5-flash,gemini-2.5-flash-lite

Notes:

• The frontend development environment currently calls http://localhost:3030/api, so using PORT=3030 locally keeps frontend and backend aligned.
• In production, the frontend uses /api and the Express app serves the built Angular app.
• GEMINI_API_KEY is optional. If it is missing, some generators fall back to local content generation.

Install

Install dependencies for both apps:

npm install --prefix backend
npm install --prefix frontend

You can also install from the repository root with:

npm install

The root postinstall script installs both backend and frontend dependencies.

Run Locally

Start the backend:

cd backend
npm run dev

Start the frontend in a second terminal:

cd frontend
npm start

Local URLs:

• Frontend: http://localhost:4200
• Backend API: http://localhost:3030/api
• Health check: http://localhost:3030/api/health

Production Build

Build the Angular frontend:

cd frontend
npm run build

Or from the repository root:

npm run build

Start the production server from the root:

npm start

This starts the Express backend and serves the Angular build from frontend/dist/frontend/browser when the build output exists.

API Overview

Main backend route groups:

• /api/auth
• /api/ai
• /api/documents
• /api/flashcards
• /api/flashcard-batches
• /api/quiz-gen
• /api/document-quizzes
• /api/exam-gen
• /api/exams
• /api/study-roadmap
• /api/study-plan
• /api/study-sessions
• /api/activities
• /api/analytics

Deploy to Railway

This repository is prepared for single-service Railway deployment.

Railway uses:

• Build command: npm run build
• Start command: npm start
• Health check: /api/health

Deployment steps:

1. Push the repository to GitHub.
2. Create a new Railway project from the repo.
3. Add environment variables: MONGODB_URI, JWT_SECRET, optional GEMINI_API_KEY, optional GEMINI_MODELS.
4. Deploy.

The root package.json installs backend and frontend dependencies, builds the Angular app, and starts the Express server.

Current Notes

• The backend serves uploaded files from /uploads.
• The backend disables etag and sends Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate headers.
• Rate limiting is present in the server but currently commented out.

License

No license file is currently included in this repository.