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Installation

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.11+
  • uv — the package manager used by this project

Install uv (one-time): 

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Install the package

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/LeMaterial/lematerial-llm-synthesis.git
cd lematerial-llm-synthesis

# 2. Create a virtual environment and install all dependencies
uv sync

# 3. Install the llm_synthesis package in editable mode
uv pip install -e .

# 4. Verify the installation
uv run python -c "import llm_synthesis; print('OK')"

Set up API keys

Copy the example environment file and add your keys:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and fill in the keys you need:

GEMINI_API_KEY=...        # Required for synthesis extraction (default model)
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=...     # Required for performance plot extraction
MISTRAL_API_KEY=...       # Required for Mistral OCR (PDF extraction)
OPENAI_API_KEY=...        # Optional: OpenAI models
OPENROUTER_QWEN_API_KEY=... # Optional: Qwen models
OPENROUTER_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=... # Optional: DeepSeek models

You only need the keys for the models you actually plan to use. A free Gemini API key from aistudio.google.com is sufficient for running the default extraction pipeline.

Optional: PDF support via Playwright

If you want to download PDFs from journal websites, install the Playwright browsers:

uv run playwright install

Optional: install pre-commit hooks (for contributors)

uvx pre-commit install

Verify

lemat-synth --help

You should see the extract and batch subcommands listed.