negoT8 — Setup Guide

Why it works on my machine but not yours

The most common causes are listed here. Go through them in order.

1. `.env` file is missing ❌

.env is never committed to Git (it's in .gitignore).
Your friend must create it manually:

cp .env.example .env
# then open .env and fill in every value

Every blank/missing key will silently cause failures — Telegram bots won't start, AI won't respond, blockchain calls will fail.

2. Python version mismatch ⚠️

This project requires Python 3.10+ (3.9 works but shows deprecation warnings from Google libraries).

python3 --version    # must be 3.10 or higher recommended

If on macOS and Python is too old:

brew install python@3.11

3. Virtual environment not created / activated ❌

The project uses a venv that is not committed to Git.
Your friend must create and activate it:

# In the repo root
python3 -m venv venv

# macOS / Linux
source venv/bin/activate

# Windows
venv\Scripts\activate

4. Dependencies not installed ❌

After activating the venv:

pip install -r requirements.txt

If requirements.txt was missing before, it's now at the repo root.

5. Bot tokens: only ONE process can poll at a time 🔑

Each Telegram bot token can only be used by one running process at a time.
If your machine is already running the bots, your friend's machine will get:

telegram.error.Conflict: terminated by other getUpdates request

Fix: Stop the bots on your machine before your friend starts them.
Each person needs their own BotFather tokens for their own copy.

6. `MOCK_MODE` must be set correctly

In .env:

MOCK_MODE=true → no Gemini/AI calls, uses hardcoded responses (safe for testing)
MOCK_MODE=false → needs a valid GEMINI_API_KEY

7. Blockchain keys (optional for testing)

If POLYGON_PRIVATE_KEY or AGREEMENT_CONTRACT_ADDRESS is missing/wrong, the blockchain badge won't appear but the bot will still work — it falls back gracefully.

To get test MATIC for Polygon Amoy: https://faucet.polygon.technology

Full Setup (copy-paste for your friend)

# 1. Clone the repo
git clone <repo-url>
cd negot8

# 2. Create Python virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate      # macOS/Linux

# 3. Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# 4. Set up environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env — fill in TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN_A, TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN_B at minimum
# Set MOCK_MODE=true to skip needing a Gemini API key

# 5. Start the backend bots
cd backend
python3 -u run.py

# 6. (Optional) Start the Next.js dashboard
cd ../dashboard
npm install
npm run dev

Minimum viable `.env` to get bots running

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN_A=<your bot A token from BotFather>
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN_B=<your bot B token from BotFather>
MOCK_MODE=true
DATABASE_PATH=negot8.db

Everything else is optional for basic testing.

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