Thought Stream

A simple PWA to share your thoughts.

Raspberry Pi Setup

These instructions will guide you through setting up and running the Thought Stream application on a Raspberry Pi.

1. Prerequisites

• A Raspberry Pi with Raspberry Pi OS installed.
• An internet connection.
• git installed (sudo apt-get install git).

2. Clone the Repository

Clone this repository to your Raspberry Pi:

git clone <repository_url>
cd thought_stream

3. Install Dependencies

The application requires Python 3 and some dependencies.

Install Python 3 and pip:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3-venv python3-pip

Create a virtual environment and install the dependencies:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure Environment Variables

The application uses a .env file to manage sensitive configurations like your username, password, and the VAPID claims email for push notifications. This keeps your secrets out of the code and Git repository.

1. Create your .env file:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Edit the .env file:

   nano .env

   Replace the placeholder values with your desired username, a strong password, and a valid email address (e.g., mailto:your-email@example.com or https://your-website.com) for the VAPID_CLAIMS_EMAIL.

   Example .env content:

   APP_USERNAME=mysecureuser
   APP_PASSWORD=My$uper$ecureP@ssw0rd!
   VAPID_CLAIMS_EMAIL=mailto:my.contact@example.com
   

   Save and exit (Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter).

5. Generate VAPID Keys

The application uses VAPID keys for push notifications. You need to generate these keys once.

python generate_keys.py

This will create a vapid_keys.json file.

Important: Do not share your vapid_keys.json file publicly.

5. Run the Application

To run the application, execute the following command:

python app.py

The application will be running on http://<your_pi_ip>:5000.

6. Set up Cloudflare Tunnel

To access your application from the internet, you can use a Cloudflare Tunnel.

1. Install cloudflared on your Raspberry Pi.

   Follow the official Cloudflare documentation to install cloudflared: https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/connections/connect-apps/install-and-setup/installation/

2. Authenticate cloudflared:

   cloudflared tunnel login

3. Create a tunnel:

   cloudflared tunnel create thought-stream-tunnel

   This will give you a UUID for your tunnel and create a credentials file.

4. Create a configuration file:

   Create a file named config.yml in /etc/cloudflared/ (you may need to create the directory).

   tunnel: <your_tunnel_uuid>
   credentials-file: /root/.cloudflared/<your_tunnel_uuid>.json
   ingress:
     - hostname: your-subdomain.your-domain.com
       service: http://localhost:5000
     - service: http_status:404

   Replace <your_tunnel_uuid> with the UUID from the previous step, and your-subdomain.your-domain.com with the domain you want to use.

5. Route DNS to the tunnel:

   cloudflared tunnel route dns thought-stream-tunnel your-subdomain.your-domain.com

6. Run the tunnel:

   cloudflared tunnel run thought-stream-tunnel

   You can also run the tunnel as a service to have it start automatically on boot. See the Cloudflare documentation for details.

7. Access Your Application

You should now be able to access your Thought Stream application from the internet at https://your-subdomain.your-domain.com.

8. Subscribing to Notifications

1. Open the application in your browser.
2. Click the "Subscribe to Notifications" button.
3. Your browser will ask for permission to show notifications. Click "Allow".

You will now receive a push notification every time a new thought is posted.