Prerequisites

Before you start setting up Syllabi, make sure you have the following requirements met.

Required

1. Node.js 20+

Syllabi uses Next.js 15 which requires Node.js 20 or higher.

Check your version:

node --version
# Should show v20.0.0 or higher

Install Node.js:

• Download from nodejs.org (opens in a new tab)
• Or use nvm (opens in a new tab): nvm install 20

2. npm or pnpm

Package manager for installing dependencies.

npm --version
# Should show 9.0.0 or higher

3. Git

For cloning the repository.

git --version

Install Git:

• git-scm.com (opens in a new tab)

4. Supabase Account

Syllabi uses Supabase for:

• PostgreSQL database
• Authentication
• File storage
• Real-time subscriptions

Sign up:

1. Go to supabase.com (opens in a new tab)
2. Create a free account
3. Create a new project
4. Note your project URL and API keys

5. OpenAI API Key

Required for AI chat functionality and embeddings.

Get your API key:

1. Sign up at platform.openai.com (opens in a new tab)
2. Go to API Keys section
3. Create a new API key
4. Save it securely (you won't see it again!)

Pricing:

• GPT-4o-mini: ~$0.15 per 1M input tokens
• text-embedding-3-small: ~$0.02 per 1M tokens

Optional (For Backend)

6. Python 3.10+

Only needed if you want to run the backend for advanced document processing.

python --version
# Should show 3.10.0 or higher

Install Python:

• Download from python.org (opens in a new tab)
• Or use pyenv (opens in a new tab)

7. Redis

Required for Celery task queue (backend only).

Install Redis:

• macOS: brew install redis
• Ubuntu: sudo apt install redis-server
• Windows: Use WSL (opens in a new tab) or Docker
• Docker: docker run -p 6379:6379 redis:alpine

8. Docker (Optional)

For running the full stack with Docker Compose.

Install Docker:

• Docker Desktop (opens in a new tab)

Development Tools (Recommended)

IDE/Editor

• VS Code (recommended) with extensions:
  • ESLint
  • Prettier
  • Tailwind CSS IntelliSense
  • Python (if running backend)

Database Management

• Supabase Dashboard (built-in)
• Or TablePlus (opens in a new tab) / pgAdmin (opens in a new tab)

API Keys & Credentials Checklist

Before proceeding, gather these credentials:

• Supabase Project URL
• Supabase Anon Key
• Supabase Service Role Key
• OpenAI API Key
• (Optional) Discord Bot Token
• (Optional) Slack App Credentials
• (Optional) Google OAuth Credentials

System Requirements

Minimum

• RAM: 4GB
• Storage: 2GB free space
• OS: Windows 10+, macOS 10.15+, or Linux

Recommended

• RAM: 8GB or more
• Storage: 5GB free space
• OS: Latest version

Network Requirements

Ensure you have access to:

• npm registry (registry.npmjs.org)
• GitHub (github.com)
• Supabase API endpoints
• OpenAI API (api.openai.com)

Next Steps

Once you have all prerequisites ready:

1. For local development: Continue to Local Setup
2. For quick deployment: Skip to Quick Deployment
3. Need help?: Check Troubleshooting