An Outlook application that reads emails and writes responses based on retrieved context.

You can find here a link to a demo video of the application ! Watch the video

• Python 3.13 can create python dependencies conflict when using the code in the Indexer folder.

• Outlook selfsigned https certificate are not accepted by MacOS. You can still deploy the application or use another certificate

To run this application, ensure you have the following prerequisites installed and configured:

• Download and install Node.js (which includes npm) from the official website.
• Verify installation:

  node -v
  npm -v

• Set up a MongoDB Atlas database with a collection to store vectorized documents. Learn more here.
• Each document should follow this structure:

  {
    "content": "Main text content",
    "metadata": {
      "filename": "Filename of the document",
      "is_image": true, // Boolean indicating if it's an image description
      "image": "Base64 encoded image or null",
      "page_number": 1, // Integer indicating the page number
      "vector_embedding": [1536] // Array of 1536 floating-point numbers
    }
  }

• The Code used for creating the vectored database can be found in the Indexer folder

• Ensure you have an active Outlook account to integrate and test the add-in functionality.

git clone <repository_url>
cd RAG-OUTLOOK-APPLICATION/Outlook-RAG-App

Configure environment variables by following the template in .env.example. Create a .env file in both the root folder and the backend folder.

Example .env file:

OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_api_key_here"
MONGODB_URL="your_mongodb_url_here"
DATABASE_NAME="your_database_name_here"
COLLECTION_NAME="your_collection_name_here"

Ensure your machine's IP address is allowed by the MongoDB database:

1. Go to the Security section in MongoDB Atlas.
2. Navigate to Network Access.
3. Add your IP address.

Navigate to the backend folder and install the required dependencies:

cd backend
npm install

Install developer certificates for HTTPS requests:

npx office-addin-dev-certs install

Expected output:

The developer certificates have been generated in /Users/your_username/.office-addin-dev-certs
Installing CA certificate "Developer CA for Microsoft Office Add-ins"...
You now have trusted access to https://localhost.
Certificate: BASE_URL/.office-addin-dev-certs/localhost.crt
Key: BASE_URL/.office-addin-dev-certs/localhost.key

Copy and paste the certificate and key paths into the webpack.config.js file in the app folder:

server: {
  type: "https",
  options: {
    key: fs.readFileSync("BASE_PATH/.office-addin-dev-certs/localhost.key"), // Change BASE_PATH to access the certificate
    cert: fs.readFileSync("BASE_PATH/.office-addin-dev-certs/localhost.crt"),
  }
}

Navigate to the app folder and install the required dependencies:

cd app
npm install

In the app folder, start the application:

npm start

Navigate to the backend folder and start the server:

cd backend
node server.js

Expected output:

Server running on port 5551
Connected to MongoDB

• Backend: Runs on port 5551.
  • Change the port in the server.js file if needed.
• Frontend: Runs on port 3000.
  • Change the port in the webpack.config.js file and manifest.xml if needed.

A step-by-step guide to install the app is provided in the Resources folder:

• Video: Resources/Step-by-Step Guide to Install a Custom Add-In App.mp4
• PDF: Resources/How_To_Install_Outlook_Add-In_App.pdf

Your app is now running locally:

• Backend: http://localhost:5551
• Frontend: http://localhost:3000