Setup

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Prerequisites

1. Python Environment
   # Create virtual environment
   python -m venv blast-venv
   source blast-venv/bin/activate  # Linux/macOS
   # or
   blast-venv\Scripts\activate     # Windows
   
2. Node.js and npm (for web UI)
   • Install from nodejs.org
   • Required for web frontend development
3. Browser Requirements
   # Install browser dependencies
   python -m playwright install chromium
   

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Installation

1. Clone Repository
   git clone https://github.com/stanford-mast/blast.git
   cd blast
   
2. Install Dependencies
   # Install Python dependencies
   pip install -e ".[dev]"
   
   # Install frontend dependencies
   cd blastai/frontend
   npm install
   

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Development Server

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Configuration

# dev_config.yaml
settings:
  persist_cache: false  # Disable cache persistence on disk (also use "no-cache" to disable in memory)
  blastai_log_level: "debug"
  browser_use_log_level: "debug"

constraints:
  max_concurrent_browsers: 2
  allow_parallelism:
    task: true
    data: true

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Testing

# Run all tests (probably don't since our test suite needs to be distilled a bit)
pytest

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/test_engine.py

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=blastai

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Debugging

1. Backend Debugging
   settings:
       persist_cache: false
       blastai_log_level: "debug"
       browser_use_log_level: "debug"
   
2. Frontend Debugging
   • Use browser dev tools
   • Check browser console
   • Monitor network requests
3. Browser Debugging
   # Enable browser debugging
   constraints = Constraints(require_headless=False)
   

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Documentation

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Next Steps

• Read Internals
• Check Contributing Guide
• Review Roadmap