TRANSCENT

TRANSCENT is a sophisticated video conferencing platform designed for real-time communication with integrated transcription, efficient note export, and robust media storage. It leverages a custom-built C++ transcription engine for high-performance speech-to-text, complemented by Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities for intelligent Q&A and smart note formatting, allowing users to quickly derive insights and action items from conversations.

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Getting Started

This guide will walk you through the essential steps to set up and run TRANSCENT locally.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your system:

• Node.js & npm/yarn: For managing application dependencies.
• Docker & Docker Compose: For containerizing and orchestrating services.
• Vosk Docker Image: A pre-built Vosk Docker image is required for the transcription service.
• SSL Certificates: mkcert (or your existing cert.key and cert.crt files) configured for your_ip_address and localhost in the certs/ directory.

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Local Setup

Follow these steps to get TRANSCENT running on your local machine:

1. Start Vosk Transcription Service

Launch the Vosk Docker container, which powers the real-time transcription.

# In the directory with Vosk's docker-compose.yml (recommended)
docker run -d -p 2700:2700 -v /d/vsk/model_english:/opt/vosk-model-en/model alphacep/kaldi-en:latest


# Alternatively, you can use a model that you have locally too 
#docker run -d -p 2700:2700 -v <NODEL_NAME>

2. Initialize Nginx Reverse Proxy

Nginx acts as a secure WebSocket (WSS) proxy for Vosk, handling SSL termination.

# If Nginx is installed directly (path to your nginx.conf may vary)
sudo nginx -c /path/to/your/nginx.conf

# If using Docker Compose for Nginx (recommended)
# Ensure your Nginx Dockerfile copies nginx.conf and your docker-compose.nginx.yml maps port 2701 and mounts certs.
docker-compose -f docker-compose.nginx.yml up -d

3. Launch Signaling Backend

Navigate to the signaling_backend directory and start the server.

cd path/to/your/project/TRANSCENT/signaling_backend
npm install # or yarn install
npm start   # or node src/server.js

The signaling server will be accessible at http://localhost:3001.

4. Run Frontend Development Server

Move to the frontend directory and launch the Vite development server.

cd path/to/your/project/TRANSCENT/frontend
npm install # or yarn install

Ensure your .env file includes VITE_VOSK_URL=wss://your_ip_address:2701/.

npm run dev

The frontend will be served at https://0.0.0.0:5173.

5. Access the Application

Open your browser and navigate to https://your_ip_address (or https://localhost:5173).

SSL Certificate Acceptance: You will likely encounter SSL warnings due to self-signed certificates. Please accept these warnings for both the frontend (Vite) and the Nginx WSS endpoint (https://your_ip_address:2701) to ensure full application functionality. You might need to visit https://your_ip_address:2701 directly in your browser once to accept its certificate.

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Service Ports Summary

• Vosk Container: 2700 (Host)
• Nginx Proxy: 2701 (Host, WSS)
• Signaling Backend: 3001 (Host, HTTPS)
• Frontend Dev Server: 5173 (Host, HTTPS)

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