LitePolis Router Default

A drop-in backend for the Polis 1.0 frontend, built on the LitePolis infrastructure.

If you're running a Polis instance (the civic engagement platform with opinion clustering) and want a lightweight, modular backend, this package provides the full /api/v3/* API surface that Polis clients expect — including client-admin, client-participation, and client-report.

What This Is

litepolis-router-default is an API router package for LitePolis. It handles authentication, conversations, participants, comments, votes, and invites — everything the Polis frontend needs to function.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• LitePolis installed (pip install litepolis)

Deploy with LitePolis

The recommended way to use this package is through litepolis-cli, which manages all router and database packages for you.

LitePolis uses a packages.txt file (like requirements.txt) to declare which packages your deployment needs. The default location is ~/.litepolis/packages.txt. You can add into the packages.txt file instead of using litepolis-cli deploy.

1. Install the LitePolis CLI

pip install litepolis

2. Confirm this router is in your deployment

litepolis-router-default is included by default if you install with litepolis[default]. You can verify:

litepolis-cli deploy list-deps

If it's not listed, add it:

litepolis-cli deploy add-deps litepolis-router-default

3. Initialize configuration

litepolis-cli deploy init-config

Edit the generated config file to set your secret key and other settings:

nano ~/.litepolis/config.conf

4. Start the server

litepolis-cli deploy serve

Your Polis-compatible API will be available at http://localhost:8000/api/v3/.

You can now point any Polis frontend (e.g. the CivicTechTo/polis clients) at this URL as the backend.

Configuration

Key settings in ~/.litepolis/config.conf:

Connecting a Polis Frontend

Once your LitePolis server is running, configure the Polis frontend to point to your server's address. In the CivicTechTo/polis repo, this is typically the API_URL environment variable in the client configuration.

The API base path is:

http://<your-server>:<port>/api/v3

Supported Polis API Endpoints

This router implements the full Polis v3 API:

• Auth — register, login, logout, password reset
• Users — profile read/update
• Conversations — create, list, update, open/close
• Participants — join conversations, session init
• Comments — submit, moderate, get next for voting
• Votes — agree / disagree / pass
• Invites — create and join via invite code

Note: Math/visualization endpoints (/math/pca, /math/pca2) currently return stub data. Full clustering output requires a separate math service.

Known Limitations

• Math/PCA visualization is not yet computed (stub endpoints)
• Email notifications are not implemented
• Social/OIDC login is not yet supported

Related

• LitePolis — the core platform
• LitePolis Database Default — the default database layer
• Polis (CivicTechTo) — the frontend this router is compatible with
• Awesome LitePolis — browse available LitePolis packages

License

See LICENSE.