---
title: Prerequisites
description: Required setup's before setting up SurfSense
full: true
---

## PGVector installation Guide 

SurfSense requires the pgvector extension for PostgreSQL:

### Linux and Mac

Compile and install the extension (supports Postgres 13+)

```sh
cd /tmp
git clone --branch v0.8.0 https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector.git
cd pgvector
make
make install # may need sudo
```

See the [installation notes](https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector/tree/master#installation-notes---linux-and-mac) if you run into issues

### Windows

Ensure [C++ support in Visual Studio](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/building-on-the-command-line?view=msvc-170#download-and-install-the-tools) is installed, and run:

```cmd
call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat"
```

Note: The exact path will vary depending on your Visual Studio version and edition

Then use `nmake` to build:

```cmd
set "PGROOT=C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\16"
cd %TEMP%
git clone --branch v0.8.0 https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector.git
cd pgvector
nmake /F Makefile.win
nmake /F Makefile.win install
```

See the [installation notes](https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector/tree/master#installation-notes---windows) if you run into issues

---

## Google OAuth Setup (Optional)

SurfSense supports both Google OAuth and local email/password authentication. Google OAuth is optional - if you prefer local authentication, you can skip this section.

To set up Google OAuth:

1. Login to your [Google Developer Console](https://console.cloud.google.com/)
2. Enable People API.
![Google Developer Console People API](/docs/google_oauth_people_api.png)
3. Set up OAuth consent screen.
![Google Developer Console OAuth consent screen](/docs/google_oauth_screen.png)
4. Create OAuth client ID and secret.
![Google Developer Console OAuth client ID](/docs/google_oauth_client.png)
5. It should look like this.
![Google Developer Console Config](/docs/google_oauth_config.png)

---

## File Upload's

SurfSense supports two ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) services for converting files to LLM-friendly formats:

### Option 1: Unstructured 

Files are converted using [Unstructured](https://github.com/Unstructured-IO/unstructured)

1. Get an Unstructured.io API key from [Unstructured Platform](https://platform.unstructured.io/)
2. You should be able to generate API keys once registered
![Unstructured Dashboard](/docs/unstructured.png)

### Option 2: LlamaIndex (LlamaCloud)

Files are converted using [LlamaIndex](https://www.llamaindex.ai/) which offers superior file format support (50+ formats vs 34+ with Unstructured)

1. Get a LlamaIndex API key from [LlamaCloud](https://cloud.llamaindex.ai/)
2. Sign up for a LlamaCloud account to access their parsing services
3. LlamaCloud provides enhanced parsing capabilities for complex documents

**Note**: You only need to set up one of these services. LlamaIndex offers broader file format support, while Unstructured provides a generous free tier.

---

## LLM Observability (Optional)

This is not required for SurfSense to work. But it is always a good idea to monitor LLM interactions. So we do not have those WTH moments.

1. Get a LangSmith API key from [smith.langchain.com](https://smith.langchain.com/)
2. This helps in observing SurfSense Researcher Agent.
![LangSmith](/docs/langsmith.png)

---

## Crawler 

SurfSense have 2 options for saving webpages:
- [SurfSense Extension](https://github.com/MODSetter/SurfSense/tree/main/surfsense_browser_extension) (Overall better experience & ability to save private webpages, recommended)
- Crawler (If you want to save public webpages)

**NOTE:** SurfSense currently uses [Firecrawl.py](https://www.firecrawl.dev/) for web crawling. If you plan on using the crawler, you will need to create a Firecrawl account and get an API key.


---

## Next Steps

Once you have all prerequisites in place, proceed to the [installation guide](/docs/installation) to set up SurfSense.