SymfonyCon Amsterdam 2025 - Ancient Artefact Matcher

A Symfony application that uses AI to match photos and descriptions with ancient artefacts from the "Below the Surface" dataset.

Watch Pauline demonstrate the application in Amsterdam:

Prerequisites

• PHP 8.2 or higher
• Composer
• MongoDB PHP Extension
• MongoDB Atlas account (or local MongoDB instance)
• OpenAI API key
• Voyage AI API key

Installation

1. Clone the Project

git clone <repository-url> amsterdam-artefact-matcher
cd amsterdam-artefact-matcher

2. Install MongoDB PHP Extension

Install the MongoDB extension using pie:

pie install mongodb/mongodb-extension

Verify the installation:

php --ri mongodb

You should see MongoDB extension information if it's properly installed.

3. Install Dependencies

composer install

4. Set Up MongoDB Atlas

Create a free MongoDB Atlas cluster:

1. Go to MongoDB Atlas
2. Sign up for a free account
3. Create a new cluster (the free M0 tier is sufficient for this project)
4. Create a database user with read/write permissions
5. Whitelist your IP address (or use 0.0.0.0/0 for testing)
6. Get your connection string from the "Connect" button

Note: The free M0 tier on MongoDB Atlas provides:

• 512 MB storage
• Shared RAM
• No credit card required
• Perfect for development and small projects

5. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env.local file in the project root:

cp .env .env.local

Edit .env.local and set your configuration:

# MongoDB Atlas connection string
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@<cluster>.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority

# Database name
MONGODB_DB=symfonycon-amsterdam

# Voyage AI API key (for embeddings)
VOYAGE_API_KEY=your_voyage_api_key_here

# OpenAI API key (for AI features)
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here

# Application URL
DEFAULT_URI=http://localhost:8000

Getting API Keys:

• Voyage AI: Sign up at Voyage AI to get your API key
• OpenAI: Get your API key from OpenAI Platform

6. Create MongoDB Schema

Create the required indexes:

bin/console doctrine:mongodb:schema:create

7. Load Artefacts Dataset

Import the artefacts from the "Below the Surface" dataset:

bin/console app:load-artefacts

This command will:

• Download the dataset from the Below the Surface API
• Parse the CSV data
• Create artefact documents with summaries and images
• Persist them to your MongoDB database

This process may take several minutes depending on your connection speed.

8. Vectorize the Artefacts

Generate embeddings for all artefacts using AI:

bin/console ai:store:vectorize

This command will:

• Process artefacts in chunks of 500
• Generate vector embeddings using the Voyage AI API
• Store the embeddings in MongoDB for similarity search

Note: This process can take a while depending on the number of artefacts and API rate limits.

Running the Application

Start the Symfony development server:

symfony serve

Visit http://localhost:8000 in your browser to start matching artefacts!

Features

• Text Search: Describe an artefact you're looking for
• Image Search: Upload a photo or use your camera to find similar artefacts
• Drag & Drop: Drag images directly onto the upload area
• Search History: Recent searches are saved in your browser (including images)
• AI-Powered Matching: Uses embeddings and vector similarity search

Available Commands

• bin/console app:load-artefacts - Load artefacts from the dataset
• bin/console ai:store:vectorize - Generate embeddings for artefacts
• bin/console doctrine:mongodb:schema:create - Create MongoDB schema

Troubleshooting

MongoDB Extension Not Found

If you get "Extension mongodb not found":

• Make sure you've installed it with pie install mongodb/mongodb-extension
• Check your php.ini file includes extension=mongodb.so
• Restart your web server/PHP-FPM

Connection to MongoDB Atlas Failed

• Verify your connection string in .env.local
• Make sure your IP is whitelisted in MongoDB Atlas
• Check your username and password are correct
• Ensure the database user has proper permissions

API Key Errors

• Verify your API keys are correctly set in .env.local
• Check that your OpenAI/Voyage AI accounts have sufficient credits
• Ensure there are no extra spaces or quotes around the keys

Credits

Dataset provided by Below the Surface Amsterdam. Project created by Pauline Vos for SymfonyCon 2025 Amsterdam.