NotaBeen

An open-source AI powered email assistant for reducing inbox overload.

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NotaBeen is an open-source email assistant that uses AI to help you manage your inbox more efficiently. It helps you quickly summarize emails, generate smart replies, and categorize messages to reduce inbox overload.

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Features

• AI-Powered Summarization: Get a quick overview of long emails with AI-generated summaries.
• Automated Categorization: Automatically sort incoming emails into categories like Urgent, Important, Can Wait, Unsubscribe, and Unimportant to prioritize what matters.
• Secure Inbox Management: Manage your email without worrying about your data, as NotaBeen is self-hostable.

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Demo

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Tech Stack

• Next.js — Framework
• Material UI — UI Components
• MongoDB — Database
• Better Auth — Authentication
• Google Gemini API — AI Engine

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Getting Started

Setup video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmpXFbpzquU

Prerequisites

To run NotaBeen, you need:

• Node.js (>= 18.0.0)
• MongoDB Database
• Google Cloud Project (for OAuth 2.0 Client ID/Secret for Gmail access)
• Google Gemini API Key

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/NotaBeen/notabeen-ai-email-assistant.git
cd notabeen-ai-email-assistant

2. Install npm dependencies

npm install

3. Set up environment variables

Create a .env.local file in the root directory by copying .env.example:

cp .env.example .env.local

Then fill in the following required variables:

# Authentication (Better Auth)
AUTH_SECRET=                    # Generate with: node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"
BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
NEXT_PUBLIC_BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000

# Google OAuth
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=               # From Google Cloud Console
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=           # From Google Cloud Console

# Database
MONGODB_URI=                    # Your MongoDB connection string
MONGO_CLIENT=notabeen          # Database name

# Email Encryption
ENCRYPTION_KEY=                 # Generate with: openssl rand -base64 24
ENCRYPTION_IV=                  # Generate with: openssl rand -base64 9

# AI Engine
GEMINI_API_KEY=                # From Google AI Studio

Environment Variable Setup Guide

1. AUTH_SECRET (Required)

   node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

   This generates a 64-character hex string used for encrypting OAuth tokens.

2. Google OAuth Credentials (Required)

   • Go to Google Cloud Console
   • Create OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Web application)
   • Add authorized redirect URI: http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/google
   • Enable Gmail API
   • Copy Client ID and Client Secret

3. MongoDB Database (Required)

   • Use MongoDB Atlas (cloud) or local MongoDB
   • Set MONGODB_URI to your connection string
   • Set MONGO_CLIENT to your database name (default: notabeen)

4. Encryption Keys (Required for email security)

   # Generate encryption key (32 characters)
   openssl rand -base64 24
   
   # Generate initialization vector (12 characters)
   openssl rand -base64 9

5. Google Gemini API Key (Required)

   • Get your API key from Google AI Studio

4. Run the dev server

npm run dev

5. Open the app in your browser

Visit http://localhost:3000.

Note: Currently, the app only supports Gmail.

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Contributing

We ❤️ contributions big and small:

• Open a PR to fix a bug or add a new feature.
• Submit a feature request or bug report.
• Vote on features or get early access to beta functionality in our roadmap.

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License

This repo is available under the MIT Expat License.