Plant Pal – Backend 🌱

This is the backend service for Plant Pal, my Ada Developers Academy capstone project.

It handles plant data management, AI integration, user accounts, weather alerts, and email reminders.

• Main Capstone Repository: Plant Pal Main – Project Scope + Information
• Frontend Repository: Plant Pal Frontend – React + TypeScript interface

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Features

• RESTful API – Endpoints for plant CRUD operations, user accounts, and settings.
• Gemini AI Integration – Auto-generates plant information based on a scientific name.
• Weather Alerts – Detects extreme weather (heat waves, frost, cold snaps, dry heat) and sends email alerts.
• Watering Reminders – Sends user-defined email reminders.
• Geocoding Support – Automatically converts ZIP codes to latitude/longitude for accurate weather forecasts.
• Email Notifications – Integrated with cron jobs for automated alerts.

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Tech Stack

• Language: Python
• Framework: Flask
• Database: PostgreSQL
• ORM: SQLAlchemy
• AI Integration: Google Gemini API
• Weather Data: Open-Meteo API
• Email Sending: Flask-Mail + SMTP
• Task Scheduling: Cron jobs

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Environment Variables & API Keys

This project uses several environment variables to connect to external services (database, email, weather API, AI API, geocoding, etc.).

For security reasons, sensitive values such as API keys, passwords, and database credentials should never be committed to the repository. Instead:

• Store these values in a local .env file for local development.
• Add the keys as GitHub Repository Secrets for deployment and CI/CD workflows.
• Do not post these values publicly, even in screenshots or documentation.

Example .env file structure (values are placeholders):

DB_USER=your_db_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_db_password
DB_HOST=your_db_host
DB_PORT=your_db_port
DB_NAME=your_db_name

EMAIL_USER=your_email
EMAIL_PASSWORD=your_email_password

OPENWEATHER_API_KEY=your_weather_api_key
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key
LOCATIONIQ_API_KEY=your_locationiq_api_key

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Local Setup

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/plant-pal-backend.git
   cd plant-pal-backend

2. Create and Activate a Virtual Environment

  python -m venv venv
  source venv/bin/activate   # macOS/Linux
  venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows

3. Install Dependencies

  pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Set Up Environment Variables

   Create a .env file in the project root.

   Copy the variables listed in the Environment Variables section.

   Fill in your own secret values (from secure storage).

5. Run Database Migrations (Only if you are initializing the database locally)

  flask db upgrade

6. Start the Development Server

  flask run