Refactor demo creation to match HF Spaces documentation pattern - create directly at module level

app.py

@@ -831,10 +831,19 @@ def main():
 
 
 # For Hugging Face Spaces: create demo at module level
-# Spaces will import this module and look for a 'demo' variable
-def create_demo_for_spaces():
-    """Create demo for Hugging Face Spaces - called at module level"""
+# Following the HF Spaces pattern: create the Gradio app directly at module level
+# Spaces will import this module and look for a Gradio Blocks/Interface object
+# Pattern: demo = gr.Interface(...) or demo = gr.Blocks(...)
+# DO NOT call demo.launch() - Spaces handles that automatically
+
+# Check if we're on Spaces
+IS_SPACES = os.getenv("SPACE_ID") is not None or os.getenv("SYSTEM") == "spaces"
+
+# Create demo at module level for Spaces (similar to HF docs example)
+# For local execution, main() will create its own demo
+if IS_SPACES:
     try:
+        logger.info("Initializing for Hugging Face Spaces...")
         # Initialize with default args for Spaces
         parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
         parser.add_argument('--model', type=str, default='meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct')
@@ -861,35 +870,14 @@ def create_demo_for_spaces():
         if bot.vector_retriever is None:
             raise Exception("Vector database not available")
         
-        # Create and return the demo interface
-        demo_obj = create_interface(bot, use_inference_api=True)
-        logger.info("Demo interface created successfully")
-        return demo_obj
+        # Create the demo interface directly at module level (like HF docs example)
+        demo = create_interface(bot, use_inference_api=True)
+        logger.info(f"Demo created successfully: {type(demo)}")
     except Exception as e:
-        logger.error(f"Error in create_demo_for_spaces: {e}", exc_info=True)
-        # Return a simple error demo so Spaces doesn't crash
-        with gr.Blocks() as error_demo:
-            gr.Markdown(f"# Error\n\n{str(e)}")
-        return error_demo
-
-# For Hugging Face Spaces: create demo at module level
-# Spaces will import this module and look for a 'demo' variable
-# Pattern: demo = gr.Interface(...) or demo = gr.Blocks(...)
-# DO NOT call demo.launch() - Spaces handles that automatically
-
-# Check if we're on Spaces
-IS_SPACES = os.getenv("SPACE_ID") is not None or os.getenv("SYSTEM") == "spaces"
-
-# Create demo unconditionally at module level - Spaces needs this
-# For local execution, main() will create its own demo
-if IS_SPACES:
-    logger.info("Initializing for Hugging Face Spaces...")
-    demo = create_demo_for_spaces()
-    logger.info(f"Demo created successfully: {type(demo)}")
-    # Verify demo is a valid Gradio object
-    if not isinstance(demo, (gr.Blocks, gr.Interface)):
-        logger.error(f"Demo is not a valid Gradio object: {type(demo)}")
-        raise TypeError(f"Expected gr.Blocks or gr.Interface, got {type(demo)}")
+        logger.error(f"Error creating demo for Spaces: {e}", exc_info=True)
+        # Create a fallback error demo so Spaces doesn't show blank
+        with gr.Blocks() as demo:
+            gr.Markdown(f"# Error Initializing Chatbot\n\nAn error occurred while initializing the chatbot.\n\nError: {str(e)}\n\nPlease check the logs for details.")
 else:
     # Local execution: demo will be created in main()
     demo = None