Akshat Mittal

📝 Context
Back after a 10-day vacation and some much-needed time with family. Feeling a bit under the weather today, so taking it slow while ramping back up.

✅ What did I get done?

• Read Fast architecture papers and diagrams, gaining a clear understanding of how we will access the database and how the Python and Next.js pipeline will operate.
• Initialized a clean microservice repository in Python with proper import structure; migrated legacy code to begin integration.
• Completed GCP verification steps to enable access and begin validating the cloud environment for CI/CD setup.

💡 Learnings / New Thoughts

• Stepping away from coding for a few days helped me return with renewed focus and a broader strategic lens. I was able to see technical decisions more clearly and prioritize better.
• Beginning a meditation practice revealed how crucial mental clarity is to sustaining deep work. It's prompted me to rethink my daily schedule to better support focus and energy management.

🚧 What is limiting right now?

• Insufficient cloud quota in the Netherlands region is preventing access to GPUs, which is slowing down testing and deployment of resource-intensive components.
• Need greater clarity on the direction and requirements for image, table, and formula extraction, especially regarding output format and integration with the rest of the pipeline.

🎯 Goals for this week

• Finalize the CI/CD pipeline such that Python services are integrated with GROBID and the Next.js frontend, enabling full deployment and testing. This will create a stable foundation for building and iterating on further extraction and integration features.
• Ensure that all extracted images are accurately matched to their corresponding figure metadata and correctly referenced in the paragraphs where they should be displayed.
• Test the end-to-end pipeline using Gemini-generated keywords and structured GROBID-extracted data to validate the integration and information flow.