README.md

SafeSpace

A Digital Mental Health Companion for Students

Overview • Features • Architecture • Roadmap • Contributing • Security

Important

This README is a placeholder and will be updated as development progresses. The repository is currently in pre-development phase.

Warning

SafeSpace is not a replacement for professional mental health services. If you're experiencing a mental health emergency, please contact your local crisis hotline or emergency services immediately.

Overview

Vision

SafeSpace is a digital mental health companion that combines AI empathy with human understanding to ensure no student ever has to face their emotional struggles alone.

Technical Stack

graph TD
    A[Frontend - Streamlit] --> B[Security Layer]
    B --> C[Services Layer]
    C --> D[AI Engine]
    C --> E[Data Layer]
    D --> F[Prompt Templates]
    E --> G[Models]
    E --> H[Repositories]
    E --> I[Cache]

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Features

Feature	Status	Description
Supportive Chat Interface		AI-powered empathetic conversation with comprehensive safety checks
Guided Journaling		Structured self-reflection with AI-assisted prompts and analysis
Community Platform		Moderated peer support system with anonymity protection
Crisis Resources		Integrated emergency services access with proactive risk assessment

Architecture

Security-First Design

flowchart LR
    A[User Input] --> B[Authentication]
    B --> C[Encryption]
    C --> D[Anonymization]
    D --> E[Safety Checking]
    E --> F[Secure Processing]
    F --> G[Audit Logging]

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Core Components

• Frontend:
  • Streamlit-based interface
  • Modular components for chat, journaling, and community
  • Responsive design with crisis resources
• Security Layer:
  • Authentication and encryption
  • Anonymization services
  • Compliance monitoring
  • Audit logging
• AI Engine:
  • LLM management system
  • Context-aware processing
  • Safety checking pipeline
  • Sentiment analysis
• Services Layer:
  • Chat service with message handling
  • Journal service with prompt generation
  • Community service with moderation
  • Analytics with risk assessment
• Data Layer:
  • Structured data models
  • Efficient repositories
  • Cache management
  • Database migrations

Development Setup

Prerequisites (Planned)

Python >= 3.9
Streamlit >= 1.0.0
Ollama >= 0.1.0

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/safespace.git
   cd safespace

2. Create a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   • Windows:

     .\venv\Scripts\activate

   • Unix/macOS:

     source venv/bin/activate

4. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Configure environment:

   cp config/.env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your configurations

Security

Core Security Features

• End-to-end encryption
• User authentication system
• Data anonymization
• Security audit logging
• Compliance monitoring

Compliance Targets

• HIPAA compatibility
• GDPR compliance
• CCPA compliance
• SOC 2 certification

Testing

The project includes comprehensive testing:

• Unit tests for core services
• Integration tests for AI pipeline
• Security-specific test suite
• User flow testing

Contributing

Note

While we're not yet accepting contributions, we have established a structured contribution framework for when we open the project for community involvement.

See Contributing and the Code of Conduct for detailed guidelines.

Documentation

Find detailed documentation in the /docs directory:

• Security: Security practices
• Contributing: Contribution guidelines
• Code of Conduct: Community standards

License

Pending. Will be updated before initial release.

Contact

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_{Built with ❤️ for student mental health}