# Converse Service

Chat UI and web frontend for Egregore.

## Purpose

Serves the conversational web interface and handles user authentication. Acts as the public-facing entry point for human users interacting with the AI through a browser.

## Endpoints

| Endpoint | Method | Description |
|----------|--------|-------------|
| `/` | GET | Chat interface (HTML) |
| `/api/chat` | POST | Send message, get response |
| `/api/history` | GET | Get chat history |
| `/api/search` | GET | Search messages |
| `/api/transcribe` | POST | Transcribe audio (Whisper) |
| `/health` | GET | Health check |

## Configuration

Environment variables (from `~/.env`):

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `CHAT_USERNAME` | Basic auth username | `admin` |
| `CHAT_PASSWORD` | Basic auth password | `changeme` |
| `REASON_URL` | Reason service URL | `http://127.0.0.1:8081` |
| `RECALL_URL` | Recall service URL | `http://127.0.0.1:8082` |
| `OPENAI_API_KEY` | For audio transcription | - |

## Running

```bash
# Activate venv
source ~/.venv/bin/activate

# Run directly
python main.py

# Or via systemd
sudo systemctl start converse
sudo systemctl status converse
```

## Dependencies

- FastAPI
- httpx (async HTTP client)
- openai (for Whisper transcription)

## Architecture

```
Browser → Converse → Reason (AI processing)
                  → Recall (message storage)
```

Converse orchestrates requests between the user and backend services, handling authentication and session management.