Research Buddy 🤖📄

Research Buddy is an AI-powered application designed to help you analyze and discuss research papers efficiently. Upload a PDF and interact with a powerful AI assistant (powered by Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash) in a seamless, side-by-side view.

Features

• Side-by-Side PDF Viewer & Chat: Read your research paper and chat with the AI assistant without switching windows.
• Resizable Layout: Easily adjust the size of the PDF viewer and chat panels with a simple drag-and-drop slider.
• Interactive PDF Controls:
  • Pinch-to-Zoom: Use your touchpad to zoom in and out of the document. The zoom is centered on your cursor for a natural feel.
  • Drag-to-Pan: When zoomed in, click and drag to move around the PDF.
  • Double-Click to Reset: Instantly reset the zoom and position with a quick double-click.
• AI-Powered Chat: Ask questions, get explanations, and discuss findings with the Gemini-powered chatbot.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React, Vite, TypeScript
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• AI: Google Gemini 2.5 Flash API
• UI Components: lucide-react for icons, react-pdf for rendering, react-resizable-panels for the layout.

Setup & Installation

Follow these steps to get Research Buddy running on your local machine.

1. Clone the repository

git clone <your-repository-url>
cd research-buddy

2. Install dependencies

This project uses npm for package management.

npm install

3. Set up environment variables

You'll need a Google Gemini API key to use the AI features.

• Create a .env file in the root of the project.
• Add your API key to the .env file. Vite uses the VITE_ prefix for environment variables.

VITE_GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here

Running the Application

Once you've completed the setup, you can run the development server.

npm run dev

This will start the application, and you can access it in your browser at http://localhost:5173 (or the port specified in your terminal).