MBEL ("Mabel") is a picture book generator app based on the OpenAI API quickstart tutorial. It uses the Flask web framework. Follow the instructions below to setup the app.

1. If you don’t have Python installed, install it from here.

2. Clone this repository.

   git clone https://github.com/mbloom23/mbel-gpt-flask.git

3. Navigate into the project directory:

   cd mbel-gpt-flask

4. Create and activate a new virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   . venv/bin/activate # Mac
   # for Windows
   venv\Scripts\activate

5. Install the requirements:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

6. Make a copy of the example environment variables file:

   cp .env.example .env
   # for Windows
   copy .env.example .env

7. Add your API key to the newly created .env file.

   export OPENAI_API_KEY='YOUR_API_KEY_HERE'

   Note: you may need to deactivate and reactivate your virtual environment here before running the app.

8. Run the app:

   flask run

You should now be able to access the app at the URL displayed in your terminal! Enter a topic or premise for your story in the box, press enter, and wait for the generation to load. Try describing different plot points, characters, or morals for your story.