Get Started with Smart Classroom#

Important: Use Windows PowerShell (not Command Prompt/CMD) for all steps in this guide. PowerShell scripts (.ps1 files) will not execute in CMD — they will only open as text files.

Step 1: Clone the Repository#

Go to the target directory of your choice and clone the suite. If you want to clone a specific release branch, replace main with the desired tag. To learn more on partial cloning, check the Repository Cloning guide.

  git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse --branch release-2026.2.0 https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-ai-suites.git
  cd edge-ai-suites
  git sparse-checkout set education-ai-suite
  cd education-ai-suite/smart-classroom

Step 2: Run the Setup Script (First-Time Only)#

.\setup-smart-classroom.ps1

Note: If all prerequisites are already installed (FFmpeg, DL Streamer, Python dependencies), you can skip setup and directly run .\start-smart-classroom.ps1.

The setup script will:

  1. [1] Check System Requirements

    • OS version, CPU, RAM, storage

    • Python and Node.js versions

  2. [2] Application Dependency Check

  3. [3] Configure Settings

    • [3.1] Feature Configuration (enable/disable individual application features)

    • [3.2] Language & ASR Configuration (provider, model, device)

    • [3.3] Upload Size Limits

    • [3.4] OCR Configuration

    • [3.5] Board OCR Configuration

    • [3.6] Grading Configuration (enable/disable Smart Grading)

Note: Speaker diarization (identifying who is speaking) is optional and requires a one-time Hugging Face access token setup if enabled — see Speaker Diarization Setup.

Step 3: Start Smart Classroom#

After initial setup is complete, use the start script for subsequent runs or after modifying config.yaml:

.\start-smart-classroom.ps1

Optional Parameters:

  • -Electron - Launch the UI as an Electron desktop app instead of a browser tab (the UI dev server still runs on port 5173)

  • -Silent - Unattended mode for CI/Ansible (skips all prompts, auto-restarts services)

  • -NoElevate - Skip admin privilege elevation (use when already running as administrator)

  • -NoWindowsTerminal - Use Invoke-WmiMethod instead of Windows Terminal (for remote sessions/Ansible)

# Example: Launch the UI as a desktop app
.\start-smart-classroom.ps1 -Electron

# Example: Automated deployment
.\start-smart-classroom.ps1 -Silent -NoElevate -NoWindowsTerminal

The startup script performs:

  • Service Detection - Checks running services

  • Restart Options - Restart, skip, or abort choices (auto in -Silent mode)

  • Proxy Configuration - Loads from .proxy-config

  • Sequential Launch - Backend -> Content Search -> Grading (if enabled) -> Frontend

  • Graceful Shutdown - Q to stop all, E to keep running (auto-exits in -Silent mode)

Step 4: Access the Application#

Once all services are running, open your browser:

Prefer a desktop app? Start the script with .\start-smart-classroom.ps1 -Electron to open the UI in an Electron desktop window instead of a browser tab. See Optional Parameters.

Automated Setup - Troubleshooting#

If you encounter issues during automated setup, refer to the manual steps below:

Issue

Solution

PSSecurityException when running .ps1 scripts

Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass in PowerShell

FFmpeg installation fails

See Manual Step 1A

DL Streamer download fails

See Manual Step 1B

Python dependencies fail

See Manual Step 1D

Content Search fails

See Manual Step 4

Frontend fails to start

See Manual Step 5

Manual Setup#

Advanced Setup Guide: Follow step-by-step instructions to set up the application.

Advanced Setup guide covers:

  • Step 1: Install Dependencies (FFmpeg, DL Streamer, Python, Content Search)

  • Step 2: Configuration (config.yaml settings, including optional Speaker Diarization Setup)

  • Step 3-6: Run Services & Access UI

  • Troubleshooting — solutions for common setup and runtime issues

  • Known Issues — current limitations and workarounds

  • Uninstall the Application — steps to cleanly remove the environment and models

Service Ports Reference#

Service

Port

Health Check

Backend

8000

http://localhost:8000/health

Content Search

9011

http://localhost:9011/api/v1/system/health

Layout Detection

9902

http://localhost:9902/health

Grading

9012

http://localhost:9012/api/v1/health

Frontend

5173

http://localhost:5173

Note: Layout Detection and Grading services only start when grading.enabled: true in config.yaml.

Learn More#