Install & Use GovAsk

A quick guide to getting the GovAsk chatbot running locally or in your environment. .....

Next.jsTypeScriptTailwindCSSLLMPython backend

Prerequisites

Install

Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

If you’re adding GovAsk UI to an existing Next.js app, copy the components and pages into your project structure and run the same install command.

Configure

Inside app.py file, insert your local path to the LLM model (Llama 3)

MODEL_PATH = r"YOUR_MODEL_PATH"

Run Locally

Start the development server:

streamlit run app.py

How to Use

  1. Open the app and connect an approved dataset.
    2. GovAsk Logo
  2. Ask a question in plain English (e.g., “What is my forecast for 2027-28”).
    3. Step 2
  3. Review the answer and the audit trail (source, query, rows).
    4. Step 3

Deploy

Typical options:

  • Containerised (Docker/Kubernetes) for internal hosting.
  • Any Node-compatible hosting with environment variables set.

Basic Dockerfile example:

# Dockerfile (example)
FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY . .
RUN npm run build
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "start"]

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I add a new dataset?

New datasets can be added by uploading a CSV file through the app interface.

Where is the audit trail stored?

Audit trail is shown in the answer, the bot is programmed to always show its step.