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Business Research Tool
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Get started

Get started

There is nothing to sign up for. You run the tool from a clone of the repository on your own machine. The repository is private, so ask for access first.

  1. Step 1

    Request access

    The source repository is private. Send a request through the contact form and you will get a clone URL.

  2. Step 2

    Install

    Clone the repository and run pnpm install at its root. The workspace holds the app and every package it needs.

  3. Step 3

    Add the keys you have (optional)

    Put API keys in apps/research-tool/.env.local, which git ignores. Leave out any you do not have: that source reports not_configured.

  4. Step 4

    Run it

    Run pnpm dev at the root. It starts the research tool, which Next.js serves on localhost port 3000 by default.

Quickstart

# Use the clone URL you receive when access is granted.
git clone <clone-url> business-research
cd business-research
pnpm install
pnpm dev   # starts apps/research-tool on http://localhost:3000

Optional keys (apps/research-tool/.env.local)

  • GOOGLE_PLACES_API_KEY, plus ENABLE_PAID_SOURCES=true: Google Places stays off without both
  • SERPER_API_KEY: Serper directory discovery and social discovery
  • DNB_DIRECT_PLUS_API_KEY and DNB_DIRECT_PLUS_API_SECRET: D&B identity resolution
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY: the LLM curation pass

What you need

  • Node.js 20 or later (CI uses Node 24) and pnpm 10
  • git
  • Google Chrome installed locally for website capture (set CHROME_EXECUTABLE_PATH if it is not in the macOS default location)
  • API keys only for the sources you want; none are required