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This guide will walk you through installing and configuring the ExpireEye Backend API on your local development environment.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your system:
  • Python 3.8 or higher - The backend is built with FastAPI and requires Python 3.8+
  • MySQL Server - Database server (MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+)
  • pip - Python package installer (usually comes with Python)
  • Git - For cloning the repository
You can verify your Python version by running python --version or python3 --version in your terminal.

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Installation steps

1

Clone the repository

Clone the ExpireEye Backend repository to your local machine:
git clone https://github.com/adgator101/ExpireEye-backend
cd ExpireEye-backend
2

Create a virtual environment

It’s recommended to use a virtual environment to isolate project dependencies:
python -m venv venv
Activate the virtual environment:
source venv/bin/activate
When activated, you should see (venv) at the beginning of your terminal prompt.
3

Install dependencies

Install all required Python packages from the requirements file:
pip install -r requirements.txt
This will install FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, Uvicorn, and other dependencies including:
  • fastapi==0.116.1 - Web framework
  • uvicorn==0.35.0 - ASGI server
  • sqlalchemy==2.0.41 - ORM for database operations
  • alembic==1.16.4 - Database migration tool
  • bcrypt==4.3.0 - Password hashing
  • PyJWT==2.10.1 - JWT token handling
  • pymssql==2.3.7 - MySQL database driver
  • python-dotenv==1.1.1 - Environment variable management
4

Set up MySQL database

Create a new MySQL database for the project:
CREATE DATABASE expireeye_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
Create a database user (optional but recommended):
CREATE USER 'expireeye_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON expireeye_db.* TO 'expireeye_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Make sure to use a strong password in production environments and never commit credentials to version control.
5

Configure environment variables

Copy the example environment file and configure it with your settings:
cp .env.example .env
Open .env in your text editor and update the following variables:
# Database Configuration
DB_USER=expireeye_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_NAME=expireeye_db

# JWT Secret (generate a secure random string)
SECRET_KEY=your_jwt_secret_token_min_32_characters

# API Ninja Nutrition API Key (optional, for nutrition data)
NUTRITION_API_KEY=your_api_ninja_nutrition_key

# Cloudinary Configuration (optional, for image uploads)
cloud_name=your_cloud_name
api_key=your_api_key
api_secret=your_api_secret
You can generate a secure secret key using Python:
import secrets
print(secrets.token_urlsafe(32))
Or using OpenSSL in your terminal:
openssl rand -hex 32
The Nutrition API and Cloudinary credentials are optional. The core authentication and product management features will work without them.
6

Run database migrations

Initialize the database schema using Alembic migrations:
alembic upgrade head
This command will create all necessary tables in your database including:
  • users - User accounts and authentication
  • products - Product master inventory
  • user_products - User-specific product instances with expiry dates
  • notifications - Expiry notifications
  • nutrition - Nutritional information
  • scan_logs - Product scan history
If you encounter errors during migration:
  1. Connection refused: Verify MySQL is running and credentials are correct
  2. Permission denied: Ensure the database user has proper privileges
  3. Table already exists: Reset the database and run migrations again: 
    alembic downgrade base
alembic upgrade head
7

Verify installation

Start the development server to verify everything is set up correctly:
uvicorn app.main:app --reload
You should see output similar to:
INFO:     Will watch for changes in these directories: ['/path/to/ExpireEye-backend']
INFO:     Uvicorn running on http://127.0.0.1:8000 (Press CTRL+C to quit)
INFO:     Started reloader process [12345] using StatReload
INFO:     Started server process [12346]
INFO:     Waiting for application startup.
INFO:     Application startup complete.
Scheduler started
Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8000/api/status - you should see:
{
  "status": "OK",
  "message": "Server Is Running"
}

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Next steps

Now that you have ExpireEye Backend installed, you can:
  • Follow the Quickstart guide to make your first API request
  • Explore the interactive API documentation at http://localhost:8000/docs
  • Review the API Reference for detailed endpoint documentation

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Optional configuration

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YOLO object detection

The backend includes YOLO-based product detection capabilities. To use this feature:
  1. Ensure you have CUDA-compatible GPU for optimal performance (optional)
  2. The required PyTorch and YOLO dependencies are already in requirements.txt
  3. Model weights will be downloaded automatically on first use

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Production deployment

For production environments:
  1. Set --reload to false when starting uvicorn
  2. Use a production-grade ASGI server like Gunicorn with Uvicorn workers
  3. Configure proper CORS origins in app/main.py
  4. Use environment-specific .env files
  5. Enable HTTPS/SSL certificates
  6. Set up proper database connection pooling
Never use the development server (--reload) in production. Always use a production ASGI server and enable proper security measures.

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