Implement persistent storage for student database on HF Spaces

PERSISTENT_STORAGE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Persistent Storage Setup for Hugging Face Spaces
+
+## Overview
+This application now uses HF Spaces persistent storage to save student registration data permanently.
+
+## How It Works
+
+### Automatic Detection
+The app automatically detects if persistent storage is available:
+- **On HF Spaces with storage enabled:** Uses `/data/students.db`
+- **Locally or without storage:** Falls back to `students.db` in project directory
+
+### Code Implementation
+```python
+PERSISTENT_DIR = "/data"
+if os.path.exists(PERSISTENT_DIR) and os.access(PERSISTENT_DIR, os.W_OK):
+    DB_PATH = os.path.join(PERSISTENT_DIR, "students.db")
+    print(f"✅ Using persistent storage: {DB_PATH}")
+else:
+    DB_PATH = "students.db"
+    print("⚠️ Persistent storage not available")
+```
+
+## Enabling Persistent Storage on HF Spaces
+
+### Steps:
+1. Go to your Space: https://huggingface.co/spaces/gladguy/SimpleProject
+2. Click **Settings** (gear icon)
+3. Scroll to **Storage**
+4. Click **Enable persistent storage**
+5. Choose storage size (recommended: at least 1GB)
+6. Restart the Space
+
+### Verification
+Check the container logs after enabling storage. You should see:
+```
+✅ Using persistent storage: /data/students.db
+```
+
+## Benefits
+- ✅ **Data Persistence:** Student registrations survive Space restarts
+- ✅ **Sleep Mode Safe:** Data retained when Space goes to sleep
+- ✅ **Automatic Fallback:** Works both locally and on HF Spaces
+- ✅ **No Code Changes:** Same code works in both environments
+
+## Database Location
+- **HF Spaces (with storage):** `/data/students.db`
+- **Local development:** `./students.db`
+- **HF Spaces (without storage):** `./students.db` (ephemeral, will be wiped)
+
+## Important Notes
+- Persistent storage is a **paid feature** on HF Spaces
+- Free tier Spaces will use ephemeral storage
+- Local development always uses local `students.db`

app.py

@@ -17,7 +17,18 @@ SERPAPI_KEY = os.getenv("SERPAPI_KEY")
 HYPERBOLIC_API_KEY = os.getenv("HYPERBOLIC_API_KEY")
 ELEVENLABS_API_KEY = os.getenv("ELEVENLABS_API_KEY")
 ADMIN_PASSWORD = "BT54iv!@"
-DB_PATH = "students.db"
+
+# --- PERSISTENT STORAGE CONFIGURATION ---
+# HF Spaces provides persistent storage at /data
+# Check if persistent storage is available, otherwise use local directory
+PERSISTENT_DIR = "/data"
+if os.path.exists(PERSISTENT_DIR) and os.access(PERSISTENT_DIR, os.W_OK):
+    DB_PATH = os.path.join(PERSISTENT_DIR, "students.db")
+    print(f"✅ Using persistent storage: {DB_PATH}")
+else:
+    DB_PATH = "students.db"
+    print(f"⚠️  Persistent storage not available. Using local: {DB_PATH}")
+    print("💡 To enable persistence on HF Spaces, go to Settings > Storage > Enable persistent storage")
 
 # --- DATABASE FUNCTIONS ---
 def init_database():