Base Chat Reference Application

You can build and run Base Chat using Docker. Ensure you have a .env file prepared with the required environment variables before running the container.

# Build Docker image
docker build -t basechat .

# Run container (adjust environment variables as needed)
docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .env basechat

To run Base Chat locally, you need Node.js 22+, a PostgreSQL database, a Ragie API key, LLM provider keys, and Google OAuth credentials. Follow these steps:

1. Clone and install dependencies:

   git clone https://github.com/ragieai/basechat.git
   cd basechat
   npm install

2. Database setup: Create a PostgreSQL database named basechat:

   createdb basechat

3. Environment configuration: Copy the template and edit .env with your credentials:

   cp env.example .env

4. Run migrations:

   npm run db:migrate

5. Start the server:

   npm run dev

   The app will be available at http://localhost:3000.

Base Chat requires several environment variables to function. You must provide a database connection, a Ragie API key, Google OAuth credentials for authentication, an encryption key, and at least one LLM provider key.

Required Minimums:

• DATABASE_URL: PostgreSQL connection string.
• RAGIE_API_KEY: API key from Ragie.
• AUTH_GOOGLE_ID: Google OAuth client ID.
• AUTH_GOOGLE_SECRET: Google OAuth client secret.
• ENCRYPTION_KEY: A 32-byte hex key. Generate it using: openssl rand -hex 32.
• At least one LLM key: OPENAI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, or GROQ_API_KEY.

The ESLint configuration for this project includes a rule for import/order. You can bypass this rule by setting the DISABLE_IMPORT_ORDER environment variable to "true". When enabled, the rule enforces specific grouping (builtin, external, internal, parent, sibling, index), mandatory newlines between groups, and ascending alphabetical order.

DISABLE_IMPORT_ORDER=true npm run lint

The project uses Drizzle ORM for database management. To configure the Drizzle Kit environment, you must provide a DATABASE_URL via an environment variable. The configuration specifies the postgresql dialect, points to the schema definition at ./lib/server/db/schema.ts, and uses the DATABASE_URL for credentials.

import { defineConfig } from "drizzle-kit";
import "dotenv";

export default defineConfig({
  dialect: "postgresql",
  schema: "./lib/server/db/schema.ts",
  dbCredentials: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  },
});

The PROVIDER_CONFIG object is the central registry for all supported LLM providers, their available models, logos, display names, and specific model configurations (like temperature and systemPrompt).

Supported providers include:

• openai
• google
• anthropic
• groq

When adding a new provider, you must define its models, logo, modelLogos, displayNames, and modelConfigs within this object. Note that some models (like gpt-5 or meta-llama/llama-4-scout-17b-16e-instruct) use specialized systemPrompt values to enforce JSON output formats.

export const PROVIDER_CONFIG = {
  openai: {
    models: ["gpt-4o", "gpt-4.1-2025-04-14", "o3-2025-04-16", "gpt-5", "gpt-5.1"] as const,
    logo: "/openai.svg",
    // ...
    modelConfigs: {
      "gpt-5": { temperature: 1, systemPrompt: GPT_5_PROMPT },
      // ...
    },
  },
  // ...
} as const;

Use these scripts to manage the development and production lifecycle of Base Chat.

- `npm run dev` - Start development server
- `npm run build` - Build for production
- `npm run start` - Start production server
- `npm run db:migrate` - Run database migrations
- `npm run update-api-key` - Update your Ragie API key

Use validateFile to check if a File object meets the application's requirements regarding extension, MIME type, and size. It returns a FileValidationResult object.

Validation Rules:

• The file extension must be present in VALID_FILE_TYPES.
• The file's MIME type must be present in VALID_FILE_TYPES.
• The file size must be less than 500MB.

Returns:

• { isValid: true } if valid.
• { isValid: false, error: string } if invalid, where the error string provides the reason (e.g., "Please upload a supported file type" or "File size must be less than 500MB").

const result = validateFile(myFile);
if (!result.isValid) {
  console.error(result.error);
}

The getCurrentPlan function extracts the currently active TenantPlan from a TenantMetadata object. A plan is considered active if its endedAt property is null. This is useful for determining a tenant's current subscription tier and seat limits during runtime.

import { getCurrentPlan, TenantMetadata } from './lib/billing/tenant';

const metadata: TenantMetadata = {
  plans: [
    { id: 'sub_123', name: 'developer', endedAt: null, startedAt: new Date(), tier: 'tier_dev', seats: 1 },
    { id: 'sub_456', name: 'pro', endedAt: new Date(), startedAt: new Date(), tier: 'tier_pro', seats: 10 }
  ]
};

const activePlan = getCurrentPlan(metadata);
// activePlan will be the 'developer' plan because endedAt is null