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⚡ Quick Start Guide

Get your Attorney Finder Bot running in 5 minutes!

🚀 Installation (3 steps)

1. Navigate to the project

cd attorney-finder-bot

2. Run setup script

./setup.sh

This will:

  • Create a virtual environment
  • Install all dependencies
  • Initialize the database
  • Set up your .env file

3. Start the bot

./run.sh

That's it! Your bot is now running! 🎉

📱 Using Your Bot

  1. Open Telegram and search for your bot: @LawmanRoBot

  2. Start a conversation:

    /start

  3. Add an attorney from a URL:

    /scrape https://www.consumeradvocates.org/attorney/lisa-espada/

  4. Search for attorneys:

    94621

    or

    Oakland family law

🎯 Common Commands

What you want Command
Welcome message /start
Search by ZIP 94621
Search by city Oakland
Search by practice family law
Combined search 94621 divorce
Add attorney /scrape <url>
View stats /stats
Get help /help

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Bot doesn't start?

# Check if .env has your bot token
cat .env | grep TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN

Need to reset?

# Remove database and virtual environment
rm -rf venv attorneys.db
# Run setup again
./setup.sh

Still having issues?

Check the full README.md for detailed troubleshooting.

📊 Next Steps

  1. Populate your database - Use /scrape to add attorneys
  2. Test searches - Try different ZIP codes and practice areas
  3. Customize - Edit bot messages in src/bot.py
  4. Deploy - Run on a server for 24/7 availability

🎨 Customization

Change bot responses

Edit src/bot.py - all messages are in the command functions

Adjust scraping

Edit src/scraper.py - modify extraction logic

Database queries

Edit src/database.py - customize search logic

🌐 Deployment Options

Run on VPS/Cloud Server

# Install screen or tmux
apt-get install screen

# Run in background
screen -S attorney-bot
./run.sh
# Press Ctrl+A, then D to detach

Run with systemd (Linux)

# Create service file
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/attorney-bot.service

# Add:
[Unit]
Description=Attorney Finder Bot
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=youruser
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/attorney-finder-bot
ExecStart=/path/to/attorney-finder-bot/venv/bin/python /path/to/attorney-finder-bot/src/bot.py
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Enable and start
sudo systemctl enable attorney-bot
sudo systemctl start attorney-bot

Run with Docker

# Create Dockerfile (not included yet)
# Coming soon!

💡 Pro Tips

  1. Bulk import: Create a script to scrape multiple URLs
  2. Regular updates: Schedule scraping for fresh data
  3. Backup database: cp attorneys.db backup.db regularly
  4. Monitor logs: Check console output for errors
  5. Test first: Add a few attorneys before sharing bot

📚 Learn More

  • Full documentation: README.md
  • Bot code: src/bot.py
  • Scraper code: src/scraper.py
  • Database code: src/database.py

Questions? Check README.md troubleshooting section