Cover Letter Generator

Overview

This project is a cover letter generator leveraging OpenAI's API. It's designed to assist job seekers in creating unique and professional cover letters with ease.

Installation

Prerequisites

Prerequisite	Version
Node.js / npm (comes with Node)	~ ^18.3.0 / ~^8.19.3
Git	~ ^2

This project also requires an OpenAI API key.

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Dereje1/coverletter.git

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd coverletter

Generate RSA Key Pair for Encryption

Before setting up the API, generate your own RSA key pair for encryption. The public key will be used for the client, and the private key will be used for the backend.

Generate your own RSA key pair for encryption:

openssl genpkey -algorithm RSA -out private_key.pem -pkeyopt rsa_keygen_bits:2048
openssl rsa -pubout -in private_key.pem -out public_key.pem

Setting Up the API

1. Navigate to the API directory:

   cd lambda_api

2. Install the required packages:

   npm install

3. Set Up Environment Variables:

   You have two options for setting up the environment variables:

   Option A: The client sends the API key, and the private key is required to decrypt it.

   • Create a .env file in the lambda_api directory with the following content:

     PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
     YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY_HERE
     -----END PRIVATE KEY-----"

   Option B: No API key is sent from the client, and the API key is mandatory in the .env file to process the request.

   • Create a .env file in the lambda_api directory with the following content:

     OPENAI_API_KEY='your-api-key'

   Note: If both the private key and the OpenAI API key are available in the .env file, the API key in the .env file will act as a fallback if the client does not send the API keys.

4. Build the project and start the API locally using Serverless Offline and tsc-watch:

   npm run dev

   Note: The npm run dev script is configured in your package.json to run both tsc-watch and serverless offline concurrently.

Setting Up the Client

1. Navigate to the client directory:

   cd client

2. Install the required packages:

   npm install

3. Create a .env.development file in the client directory and add the following content:

   VITE_API_URL=/api
   VITE_APP_PUBLIC_KEY="-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
   YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY_HERE
   -----END PUBLIC KEY-----"

4. Start the client locally using Vite:

   npm run dev

Note: Run the client setup in a separate terminal to keep the client and API servers running concurrently.

Usage

After starting the application, follow the provided steps to input your resume, job description, and the type of prompt you want to use. The application will then generate a personalized cover letter based on your input.

API Key Management

Users can now save several OpenAI API keys in their browser's local storage and send them to the backend. You also have the option to save your API keys in a .env file. The backend does not persist your API keys; it only uses them to send requests to OpenAI.

Resume Management

You can save your resumes in the local storage for future use, allowing you to manage and reuse multiple resumes easily.

Generating and Using Cover Letters

Once your cover letter is generated, you can copy it directly to your clipboard with a single click, making it easy to paste and share your cover letter. Additionally, you can download your generated cover letter as a clean PDF file, which is useful for saving, printing, or emailing the cover letter as an attachment.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure to read the contributing guidelines before making any changes.

License

This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT license.