Getting Started with Syllabi
Welcome to Syllabi! This guide will help you get started with setting up and deploying your own AI-powered chatbot platform.
What is Syllabi?
Syllabi is an open-source AI chatbot platform that allows you to:
- 🤖 Build intelligent chatbots powered by OpenAI GPT-4 and other LLMs
- 📚 Create knowledge bases from documents, PDFs, videos, and audio
- 🎨 Customize chatbot appearance with themes
- 🔌 Integrate with Discord, Slack, Teams, and more
- ⚡ Extend functionality with custom Skills/Actions
- 📊 Track usage with built-in analytics
- 🌐 Embed chatbots on any website
Architecture Overview
Syllabi consists of two main components:
Frontend (Required)
- Next.js 15 application with App Router
- Vercel AI SDK v5 for streaming chat responses
- Supabase for database and authentication
- TailwindCSS for styling
Backend (Required for Document Processing)
- FastAPI Python service for document processing
- Celery for background tasks
- Redis for task queue
- Required for: Processing all documents (PDFs, videos, audio files, text extraction)
⚠️
The backend is required for any document processing functionality. The frontend alone can only handle chat interactions with pre-processed knowledge bases.
Quick Start Paths
Choose the path that fits your needs:
🚀 Quick Deploy (Recommended for Beginners)
Deploy to Vercel in minutes with just the frontend.
💻 Local Development
Set up the full development environment locally.
🐳 Docker Deploy
Run the entire stack with Docker Compose.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure you have:
- Node.js 20+ and npm
- A Supabase account (free tier works great!)
- An OpenAI API key
- Git installed
See the detailed prerequisites for more information.
Next Steps
- Review the Prerequisites
- Follow the Local Setup guide
- Or jump straight to Quick Deployment
Need Help?
- 📖 Check the Troubleshooting guide
- 💬 Join our Discord community
- 🐛 Report bugs on GitHub Issues (opens in a new tab)