| # 🚀 Deployment Guide — Railway (Backend) + Vercel (Frontend) |
|
|
| ## ⚠️ Key Constraint: BERT Model Size |
| The trained BERT model is **418 MB** (`model.safetensors`). |
| GitHub blocks files >100MB. We use **Git LFS** to handle this. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## PART 1: Setup Git LFS + Push to GitHub |
|
|
| ### Step 1 — Install Git LFS |
| Download and install: https://git-lfs.com |
| Then in your terminal: |
| ```bash |
| git lfs install |
| ``` |
|
|
| ### Step 2 — Track large model file |
| ```bash |
| cd "d:\Users\Pranil\Github Repos\Question_AndAnswerGeneration" |
| git lfs track "Classification/checkpoints/best_model/model.safetensors" |
| git add .gitattributes |
| ``` |
|
|
| ### Step 3 — Stage and commit everything |
| ```bash |
| git add . |
| git commit -m "Add deployment files + BERT model via LFS" |
| git push origin main |
| ``` |
| > ⏳ This will take a few minutes — the 418MB file uploads via LFS. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## PART 2: Deploy Backend to Railway |
|
|
| ### Step 4 — Create Railway account |
| Go to: https://railway.app |
| Sign up with **GitHub** account (easiest — auto-imports repos) |
|
|
| ### Step 5 — Create new project |
| 1. Click **"New Project"** |
| 2. Choose **"Deploy from GitHub repo"** |
| 3. Select your `Question_AndAnswerGeneration` repo |
| 4. Railway auto-detects Python → click **"Deploy"** |
|
|
| ### Step 6 — Set environment variables |
| In your Railway project → **Variables** tab → add these: |
|
|
| | Variable | Value | |
| |---|---| |
| | `SUPABASE_URL` | `https://your-project.supabase.co` | |
| | `SUPABASE_KEY` | `your-supabase-anon-key` | |
| | `GROQ_API_KEY` | `your-groq-api-key` | |
| | `GROQ_MODEL` | `llama-3.3-70b-versatile` | |
| | `EMBEDDING_MODEL` | `BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5` | |
|
|
| ### Step 7 — Get your backend URL |
| After deployment completes (3–8 mins): |
| Go to **Settings → Domains** → Copy your URL |
| It looks like: `https://question-andanswer-production.up.railway.app` |
|
|
| ### Step 8 — Verify backend is live |
| Open in browser: |
| ``` |
| https://YOUR-RAILWAY-URL.up.railway.app/health |
| https://YOUR-RAILWAY-URL.up.railway.app/docs |
| ``` |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## PART 3: Update Frontend with Backend URL |
|
|
| ### Step 9 — Update API_BASE in app.js |
| Open `Frontend/app.js` and change line 14: |
| ```javascript |
| // Before (local): |
| const API_BASE = "http://localhost:8000"; |
|
|
| // After (production): |
| const API_BASE = "https://YOUR-RAILWAY-URL.up.railway.app"; |
| ``` |
| |
| ### Step 10 — Commit the frontend update |
| ```bash |
| git add Frontend/app.js |
| git commit -m "Update API_BASE to Railway URL" |
| git push origin main |
| ``` |
| |
| --- |
| |
| ## PART 4: Deploy Frontend to Vercel |
| |
| ### Step 11 — Create Vercel account |
| Go to: https://vercel.com |
| Sign up with **GitHub** account |
| |
| ### Step 12 — Import project |
| 1. Click **"New Project"** |
| 2. Import your `Question_AndAnswerGeneration` repo |
| 3. In **"Configure Project"**: |
| - **Root Directory**: `Frontend` |
| - **Framework Preset**: `Other` (it's vanilla HTML) |
| - Leave everything else default |
| 4. Click **"Deploy"** |
| |
| ### Step 13 — Get your frontend URL |
| Vercel gives you: `https://question-andanswer.vercel.app` |
| |
| --- |
| |
| ## ✅ Final Test |
| |
| 1. Open your Vercel URL |
| 2. Type a question: *"What is the role of cofactors in enzyme activity?"* |
| 3. Click **🔬 Full Analysis** |
| 4. Should classify → retrieve → answer in ~10 seconds |
| |
| --- |
| |
| ## 🔧 Troubleshooting |
| |
| | Problem | Fix | |
| |---|---| |
| | Railway deploy fails | Check **Deploy Logs** in Railway dashboard | |
| | BERT model not found | Confirm `model.safetensors` was pushed via Git LFS | |
| | CORS error in browser | Verify Railway URL in `API_BASE` has no trailing slash | |
| | Supabase timeout | Check your Supabase project is not paused (free tier pauses after inactivity) | |
| | Railway out of memory | Upgrade to Hobby plan ($5/mo) — BERT needs ~1.5GB RAM | |
| |
| --- |
| |
| ## 💰 Cost Summary |
| |
| | Service | Free Tier | Paid | |
| |---|---|---| |
| | **Railway** | 500MB RAM, limited hours | $5/mo Hobby | |
| | **Vercel** | Unlimited static hosting | Free | |
| | **Supabase** | 500MB DB, 2GB bandwidth | $25/mo Pro | |
| | **Groq** | Free tier (limited RPM) | Pay-per-use | |
| | **Git LFS** | 1GB free | $5/mo per 50GB | |
| |
| > 💡 For a student project / demo: everything fits in free tiers. |
| > Railway free tier may sleep after inactivity (cold start ~30s on first request). |
| |
