This Flask application provides an API for analyzing files from Backblaze URLs. It uses Flask-RQ2 for background task processing and Resend for email notifications.

Setup

Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Set up environment variables in the parent directory's .env file:

RESEND_API_KEY=your_resend_api_key_here

Start Redis server (if not already running):

redis-server

Start the Flask application:

python app.py

Start the RQ worker (in a separate terminal):

# On Mac:
OBJC_DISABLE_INITIALIZE_FORK_SAFETY=YES rq worker

# On other platforms:
rq worker

API Endpoints

POST /analyze

Queues a file analysis task.

Request body:

{
    "backblaze_url": "https://your-backblaze-url.com/path/to/file.pdf",
    "email": "recipient@example.com"
}

GET /status/<job_id>

Check the status of a queued job.

Mac-specific RQ Worker Note

On macOS, you need to run the RQ worker with OBJC_DISABLE_INITIALIZE_FORK_SAFETY=YES due to Apple's security measures. Here's why:

Fork Safety: macOS implements a security feature that prevents certain operations in forked processes. This is part of Apple's security hardening.
Python's multiprocessing: RQ uses Python's multiprocessing, which on Unix-like systems (including macOS) uses fork() to create new processes.
Objective-C Runtime: The issue occurs because macOS's Objective-C runtime has safety checks that prevent certain operations in forked processes. This is to prevent potential security vulnerabilities.
The Solution: Setting OBJC_DISABLE_INITIALIZE_FORK_SAFETY=YES tells the Objective-C runtime to disable these safety checks. While this is generally safe for development, you should be aware of the security implications in production environments.

Alternative solutions for production:

Use a different process creation method (like 'spawn' instead of 'fork')
Run the worker in a Docker container
Use a different operating system for the worker

Testing

Test the API with curl:

# Queue a task
curl -X POST http://localhost:5001/analyze \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "backblaze_url": "https://your-backblaze-url.com/path/to/file.pdf",
    "email": "your-email@example.com"
  }'

# Check task status
curl http://localhost:5001/status/<job_id>

Architecture

Flask: Web framework for handling HTTP requests
Flask-RQ2: Task queue integration for background processing
Redis: Message broker for the task queue
Resend: Email service for notifications
RQ Worker: Processes background tasks