> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dev-doc.dualmindlab.tech/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Get DualMind Lab running locally in under 15 minutes — backend, frontend, and your first arena battle.

<Info>
  **Time estimate**: \~15 minutes. You will have a fully working DualMind Lab instance with chat, arena comparisons, and voting.
</Info>

## Prerequisites

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title=".NET 8 SDK" icon="code">
    Download from [dotnet.microsoft.com](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0)

    ```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
    dotnet --version
    # Should output: 8.0.x
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Node.js 18+" icon="node-js">
    Download from [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org)

    ```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
    node --version && npm --version
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Supabase project" icon="database">
    Create a free project at [supabase.com](https://supabase.com). You need:

    * **Project URL** (e.g., `https://xxx.supabase.co`)
    * **Anon key** (Settings > API)
    * **Service role key** (Settings > API)
    * **JWT secret** (Settings > API > JWT Secret)

    <Warning>Save the JWT Secret immediately — you cannot retrieve it later without resetting it.</Warning>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Groq API key" icon="key">
    Get a free key at [console.groq.com](https://console.groq.com). This is the primary AI provider.

    <Tip>Groq's free tier gives you 30 requests/min and up to 800 tokens/sec — plenty for development.</Tip>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Setup

<Steps>
  <Step title="Clone repositories">
    ```bash filename="Terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
    git clone https://github.com/HarshBhanushali07/DualMind_Back.git
    git clone https://github.com/HarshBhanushali07/DualMind_UI.git
    git clone https://github.com/HarshBhanushali07/DualMind_Admin-UI.git
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure environment variables">
    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="Backend (.env)">
        Create `.env` in `DualMind_Back/src/DualMind.API/`:

        ```bash filename="DualMind_Back/src/DualMind.API/.env" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
        SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
        SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJ...your-service-role-key
        SUPABASE_KEY=eyJ...your-anon-key
        JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret-from-supabase
        GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_...your-groq-api-key
        ```

        <Warning>Never commit `.env` files to Git. The `.gitignore` already excludes them.</Warning>
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Frontend (config.js)">
        Edit `DualMind_UI/config.js`:

        ```javascript filename="DualMind_UI/config.js" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
        window.DUALMIND_CONFIG.supabase.url = 'https://your-project.supabase.co';
        window.DUALMIND_CONFIG.supabase.anonKey = 'eyJ...your-anon-key';
        ```
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the backend">
    ```bash filename="Terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
    cd DualMind_Back/src/DualMind.API
    dotnet restore
    dotnet run
    ```

    <Check>Verify: `curl http://localhost:5079/health` returns `{"status":"healthy"}`</Check>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the frontend">
    ```bash filename="Terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
    cd DualMind_UI
    npm install
    npm run dev
    ```

    <Check>Verify: Open `http://localhost:8000` in your browser</Check>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Your first arena battle">
    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="Via the UI">
        1. Open `http://localhost:8000`
        2. Click **Login with Google** (or create an account via Supabase)
        3. Type a prompt like "Explain quantum computing simply"
        4. Click **Compare** — two models respond side-by-side
        5. Vote for the better response
        6. Model names are revealed after voting
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Via cURL">
        Get a JWT token by logging in through the frontend, then:

        ```bash filename="Single Chat" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
        curl -X POST http://localhost:5079/api/arena/chat \
          -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN" \
          -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
          -d '{"prompt": "Explain quantum computing in simple terms"}'
        ```

        ```json filename="Response" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
        {
          "object": "ai.response",
          "success": true,
          "message": "Quantum computing is a type of computing that...",
          "model": {
            "name": "llama-3.3-70b-versatile",
            "displayName": "Llama 3.3 70B",
            "provider": "groq"
          },
          "responseTimeMs": 1245,
          "usage": { "promptTokens": 15, "completionTokens": 120, "totalTokens": 135 }
        }
        ```

        ```bash filename="Dual Chat (Arena)" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
        curl -X POST http://localhost:5079/api/arena/dualchat \
          -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN" \
          -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
          -d '{"prompt": "Explain quantum computing", "selectionMode": "random"}'
        ```

        The response includes `agent1`, `agent2`, `comparisonId`, and arena comparison metrics.

        <Tip>Copy the `comparisonId` from the dual-chat response to submit a vote via `POST /api/arena/model-vote`.</Tip>
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>

    <Check>You now have a running DualMind Lab instance with chat, comparisons, and voting.</Check>
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Architecture Overview" icon="diagram-project" href="/architecture/overview">
    Understand the full system design
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/chat/dual-chat">
    Explore all API endpoints
  </Card>

  <Card title="Database Schema" icon="database" href="/database/schema">
    See all tables and relationships
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="wrench" href="/development/troubleshooting">
    Fix common setup issues
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="401 Unauthorized" icon="lock">
    **Root cause**: JWT token is missing, expired, or signed with wrong secret.

    **Fix**:

    1. Verify JWT token is from Supabase Auth (not expired)
    2. Check `Authorization: Bearer <token>` header format
    3. Ensure `JWT_SECRET` in `.env` matches your Supabase project

    ```bash filename="Debug: decode JWT" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
    # Paste your token at jwt.io to inspect claims
    # Verify: iss matches SUPABASE_URL/auth/v1, aud is "authenticated"
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="500 on chat requests" icon="triangle-exclamation">
    **Root cause**: AI provider failure or missing database records.

    **Fix**:

    1. Check `GROQ_API_KEY` is valid at [console.groq.com](https://console.groq.com)
    2. Ensure `ai_models` table has at least one row with `status = 'active'`
    3. Check backend terminal logs for the specific provider error

    <Note>The fallback chain tries: Groq primary → Groq alt model → Bytez. All three must fail for a 500.</Note>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Frontend can't reach backend" icon="plug">
    **Root cause**: Backend not running or CORS misconfiguration.

    **Fix**:

    1. Verify backend is running: `curl http://localhost:5079/health`
    2. Check `config.js` — `apiBaseUrl` auto-detects localhost in development
    3. Open browser DevTools > Console for specific CORS or network errors

    <Tip>In production, the Cloudflare Worker proxies `/api/*` to the backend, so CORS is not an issue.</Tip>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>