Mini Search Engine

A high-performance hybrid search engine with a C core, Python compatibility layer, and Next.js UI.

Architecture

1. C Core (c_engine/src/Code): In-memory inverted index + Trie. Handles persistent interactive session for indexing and searching.
2. Middleware (c_engine/api.py): FastAPI backend. Wraps the C engine process, handles file uploads/extraction (PDF, DOCX, etc.), and exposes clean JSON endpoints.
3. Frontend (src/): Next.js + Tailwind CSS UI. Provides file management, autocomplete, and sentence-level search results.

Quick Start (Windows)

Option 1: One-Click Start ⚡ (Recommended)

Simply double-click start.bat or run:

.\start.bat

What it does:

• Creates Python virtual environment (if needed)
• Installs all dependencies automatically
• Compiles C engine (if needed)
• Starts both FastAPI backend and Next.js frontend

Two terminal windows will open. Keep them running while using the app.

Option 2: Manual Setup

1. Build C Core

Requires GCC (MinGW or similar).

cd c_engine/src
gcc main.c trie.c index.c -o ../engine.exe

2. Run API Server (Backend)

Requires Python 3.8+.

cd c_engine
pip install fastapi uvicorn python-multipart pypdf python-docx
python api.py

API runs at http://127.0.0.1:8000

3. Run UI (Frontend)

Requires Node.js 18+.

# In the root 'mini-search-engine' folder
npm install
npm run dev

UI runs at http://localhost:3000

Features

• Fast: C-based indexing and search.
• Smart: Sentence-level granularity.
• Flexible: Drag-and-drop support for .pdf, .docx, .csv, .txt.
• Interactive: Real-time autocomplete.

Project Structure

• c_engine/
  • src/: C source code.
  • api.py: FastAPI application.
  • extractor.py: Text extraction logic.
• src/
  • app/: Next.js pages.
  • components/: React UI components.
  • lib/api.ts: API client.

Future Transitions

The API is designed to be client-agnostic. It can be consumed by:

• Desktop Apps (Electron/Tauri)
• Browser Extensions
• Mobile Apps