Skip to content

Quick Start Guide ​

Get up and running with the Helpline Service in 10 minutes.

Prerequisites ​

  • Docker 20.10+
  • Docker Compose 2.0+
  • Git
  • 4GB RAM minimum
  • 20GB disk space

Step-by-Step Setup ​

1. Clone the Repository ​

bash
git clone https://github.com/openchlai/ai.git
cd ai/helplinev1

2. Configure Environment ​

bash
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env to set your configuration:

bash
# Database
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
MYSQL_DATABASE=helpline_db
MYSQL_USER=helpline_user
MYSQL_PASSWORD=helpline_password

# Application
APP_NAME=openCHS Helpline
APP_PORT=8888
APP_ENV=development

# AI Service (optional)
AI_SERVICE_URL=http://ai-pipeline:8125
ENABLE_AI_SERVICE=true

3. Start Services ​

bash
# Build and start all containers
docker-compose up -d

# Wait for services to initialize (2-3 minutes)
sleep 180

# Verify services are running
docker-compose ps

4. Access the Application ​

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://localhost:8888

Default Credentials:

  • Username: admin
  • Password: password

⚠️ Important: Change the default password immediately on first login.

Verify Installation ​

Check Services ​

bash
# View all running containers
docker-compose ps

# Expected output:
# NAME               STATUS
# helpline-nginx     Up
# helpline-php       Up
# helpline-mysql     Up
# ai-pipeline        Up (if enabled)

Test API ​

bash
# Test health endpoint
curl http://localhost:8888/api/health

# Expected response:
# {"status": "healthy"}

View Logs ​

bash
# All services
docker-compose logs -f

# Specific service
docker-compose logs -f helpline-php

First Steps in the Application ​

1. Log In ​

2. Create Your First User ​

  1. Go to Settings → Users
  2. Click Add User
  3. Fill in user details
  4. Select user role (Agent, Supervisor, Admin)
  5. Save

3. Create a Case ​

  1. Go to Cases → New Case
  2. Fill in client information
  3. Describe the situation
  4. Select case category
  5. Submit

4. Monitor Dashboard ​

  1. Go to Dashboard
  2. View real-time statistics
  3. Monitor agent performance
  4. Check call queue status

Stop Services ​

bash
# Stop all services
docker-compose down

# Stop and remove volumes (clear data)
docker-compose down -v

Troubleshooting ​

Services Won't Start ​

bash
# Check logs
docker-compose logs

# Verify Docker is running
docker ps

# Restart services
docker-compose restart

Can't Access Application ​

bash
# Check if port 8888 is in use
lsof -i :8888

# Check container is running
docker-compose ps helpline-nginx

# View nginx logs
docker-compose logs helpline-nginx

Database Connection Error ​

bash
# Check MySQL is running
docker-compose ps helpline-mysql

# View MySQL logs
docker-compose logs helpline-mysql

# Verify credentials in .env match docker-compose.yml

Next Steps ​

Deployment Workflow ​

For Development ​

bash
# 1. Clone from main repo
git clone https://github.com/openchlai/ai.git
cd ai/helplinev1

# 2. Create your feature branch
git checkout -b feature/my-feature

# 3. Make changes and test locally

# 4. Push to your branch
git push origin feature/my-feature

# 5. Create Pull Request to dev branch
# (via GitHub)

# 6. Once merged with dev, automatically deployed to:
# http://192.168.10.119/helpline

For Production ​

Deployment to production follows approval and testing processes defined in your CI/CD pipeline.