🌟 Nova: Open-Source Contributor Assistant (Problem Statement 2B)

Nova is an intelligent, RAG-powered developer assistant designed to help first-time open-source contributors easily navigate complex repositories, understand setup instructions, and start contributing during Hacktoberfest.

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🛠️ The Problems We Faced (Challenges & Pain Points)

1. Scattered Documentation: Essential project setup instructions and contributing guidelines are fragmented across multiple files (README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md), making it overwhelming for newcomers.
2. Starter Kit Limitations: Default starter kits only supported single PDFs and lacked concurrent multi-Markdown parsing.
3. AI Hallucinations: Standard LLMs often generated fake setup commands or inaccurate project details when asked questions outside their training scope.

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💡 How We Solved Them (Technical Solutions)

• Multi-File Ingestion & Dynamic Tagging: Upgraded the pipeline to parse multiple .md, .txt, and .pdf files concurrently with source file-tagging ([File: README.md]).
• Strict Hallucination Guardrails: Enforced rigorous system prompts (ANSWER_RULES) restricting Google Gemma 4 to strictly use provided context.
• Minimalist SaaS UI/UX: Built a clean, modern interface using Gradio with a monochrome theme.
• Automated Onboarding Checklist (Bonus 2B): Implemented a specialized “Where do I start?” feature for instant contribution roadmaps.

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🚀 Tech Stack

• LLM Core: Google Gemma 4
• Embeddings: sentence-transformers (all-MiniLM-L6-v2)
• Interface: Gradio (Python Web Framework)
• Environment: Google Colab