Local Development Guide

How to build and run Make-Print locally.

Important: Separate Terminals

Each active component (Server, Client, File Converter) must be run in its own separate terminal window or command prompt session. They are independent processes that need to run concurrently.

Choose Your Branch

Main Branch: Stable releases. Use this for a reliable experience.
Dev Branch: Latest features. Use this to contribute or test bleeding-edge changes.

Required API Keys & Environment Variables

The project requires several environment variables to function correctly. Create a .env file in the server/ directory with the following keys:


                                # Core Configuration

                                NODE_ENV=dev                                # Environment mode (dev/prod)

                                PORT=3010                                   # Server port

                                MONGODB_URI=...                             # MongoDB connection string

                                SESSION_SECRET=...                          # Session encryption secret

                                SERVER_URL=http://localhost:3010            # Backend URL

                                CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:5173            # Frontend URL

                                FC_URL=http://localhost:5000                # File Converter URL



                                # AI Features

                                OPENAI_API_KEY=...                          # OpenAI API Key

                                HUGGINGFACE_API_KEY=...                     # HuggingFace API Key



                                # AWS Resources

                                AWS_ID=...                                  # S3 Bucket Access Key ID

                                AWS_KEY=...                                 # S3 Bucket Secret Key

                                APP_AWS_ID=...                              # Application AWS Access Key ID

                                APP_AWS_KEY=...                             # Application AWS Secret Key

                                AWS_SES_ID=...                              # SES Access Key ID (Email)

                                AWS_SES_KEY=...                             # SES Secret Key (Email)

                                S3_ACCOUNT_ID=...                           # AWS Account ID for S3



                                # Payments

                                STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=...                       # Stripe Secret Key

                                STRIPE_ACCOUNT_ID=...                       # Stripe Connected Account ID

                                PAYPAL_CLIENT_ID=...                        # PayPal Client ID

                                PAYPAL_SECRET=...                           # PayPal Secret



                                # Auth (Optional)

                                GOOGLE_ID=...                               # Google OAuth Client ID

                                GOOGLE_SECRET=...                           # Google OAuth Client Secret

                                FACEBOOK_ID=...                             # Facebook App ID

                                FACEBOOK_SECRET=...                         # Facebook App Secret

                                GITHUB_ID=...                               # GitHub Client ID

                                GITHUB_SECRET=...                           # GitHub Client Secret

                                TWITTER_ID=...                              # Twitter API Key

                                TWITTER_SECRET=...                          # Twitter API Key Secret



                                # Redis

                                REDIS_HOST=localhost                        # Redis Hostname

                                REDIS_PORT=6379                             # Redis Port



                                # Other

                                NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_PERIOD=1                 # Email digest frequency (mins)

                                TZ=America/New_York                         # Timezone

Primitives

The Foundation. The primitives repository contains shared development primitives, data structures, algorithms, and utilities that are used across both the client and server. It serves as a submodule for other components.

Note: You typically don't need to run anything here unless you are making changes to shared logic. However, be aware that for the client-side, sensitive keys (like Stripe/AWS) defined here are often replaced with constants or public keys during the build process, as environment variables are not directly accessible in the browser.


                            # Clone repository (only if editing shared logic)

                            git clone https://github.com/make-print/primitives.git

                            cd primitives

Server

Port: 3010

The Backend. Built with Node.js, TypeScript, and Express. The server orchestrates the entire application logic, handling secure API endpoints, managing MongoDB database interactions, and facilitating real-time collaboration via WebSockets (Socket.io). It also integrates with Redis for caching and session management, requiring Docker to run the local instance seamlessly.


                                # Clone repository

                                git clone https://github.com/make-print/server.git

                                cd server


                                # Install dependencies

                                npm install


                                # Install submodules

                                npm run installSubmodules


                                # Start server (development mode - auto starts Redis)

                                npm run dev


                                # OR Compile for production

                                npm run compile

File Converter

Port: 5000

The 3D Engine. A specialized Python API service dedicated to processing 3D files. It handles the heavy lifting of converting various 3D file formats (STL, OBJ, STEP, etc.) into formats suitable for web viewing and analysis.


                                # Clone repository

                                git clone https://github.com/make-print/file-conversion.git


                                # Install requirements

                                pip install -r requirements.txt


                                # Run application

                                python main.py

Client

Port: 5173

The Frontend. A modern, responsive single-page application (SPA) built with React, TypeScript, and Vite. It delivers a rich user experience featuring an interactive Kanban board for project management, a high-performance 3D viewer (Three.js/React Three Fiber) for inspecting models, and a real-time chat interface. It communicates with the server via REST APIs and WebSockets.


                                # Clone repository

                                git clone https://github.com/make-print/client.git

                                cd client


                                # Install dependencies

                                npm install


                                # Install submodules

                                npm run installSubmodules


                                # Start development server

                                npm run dev


                                # OR Build for production

                                npm run build

You're All Set!

Once all 3 terminals are running their respective components, you can open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:5173 to see the app in action. Happy coding!

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