AtherLearn

AtherLearn is an AI-powered accessible learning platform for classrooms.

Teachers can upload or create lesson material, generate learner-friendly versions with AI, and publish assignments. Students can log in, open their personalized dashboard, read accessible notes, use audio explanations, generate structured study notes, and export notes/source material as PDFs.

What We Built

• Mobile-first Expo frontend for teachers and students.
• FastAPI microservice backend with API gateway, auth, school, lesson, assignment, AI, storage, sync, review, notification, and commons services.
• MongoDB-backed auth with signup/login, hashed passwords, JWT sessions, and refresh tokens.
• Student accessibility preferences: standard, low vision, dyslexia friendly, multilingual, slow learner, text size, and audio support.
• AI notes generation through backend /api/student/lessons/{id}/ask, with structured fallback notes for demo/local lessons.
• Text-to-speech audio lessons using expo-speech.
• Generated notes and uploaded source material open/download as PDF.
• Demo teacher/student flows for competition/demo use.

Local Setup

1. Backend

cd AetherLearnBackend
copy .env.example .env
docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml up -d --build

Check backend:

Invoke-RestMethod http://localhost:8000/api/status

MongoDB runs in Docker and is exposed at:

mongodb://localhost:27017

Main auth collection:

aetherlearn_auth.users

2. Frontend

cd AtherLearnFrontend
npm install

Set API URL in AtherLearnFrontend/.env:

EXPO_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000
EXPO_PUBLIC_DEMO_MODE=true

If testing on a phone through Expo Go, replace localhost with your computer LAN IP:

EXPO_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=http://YOUR_LAN_IP:8000

Run frontend:

npx expo start -c

For web:

npx expo start --web

Android native build (npm run android:dev / expo run:android) requires the Android SDK and adb. If you see errors about ANDROID_HOME or spawn adb ENOENT, follow AtherLearnFrontend/README.md (install Android Studio, set ANDROID_HOME, install Platform Tools). For a quick device test without the SDK, use Expo Go and npx expo start -c instead.

Useful Commands

Rebuild backend after backend code changes:

cd AetherLearnBackend
docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml up -d --build

Rebuild only AI/API gateway after AI route changes:

docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml up -d --build ai-service api-gateway

Frontend checks:

cd AtherLearnFrontend
npm run typecheck
npx expo export --platform web

View Mongo users:

docker exec -it infra-mongodb-1 mongosh

Then:

use aetherlearn_auth
db.users.find({}, { _id: 0, name: 1, email: 1, role: 1, passwordHash: 1 }).pretty()

Notes

• Passwords are never stored as plain text; Mongo stores passwordHash.
• Demo accounts are temporary and should be removed before public launch.
• For production mobile builds, move frontend auth storage to secure native storage.