DMP '25 Week04 Update by Harshit Verma

src/constants/MarkdownFiles/posts/2025-06-29-dmp-25-therealharshit-week04.md

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+---
+title: "DMP ’25 Week 04 Update by Harshit Verma"
+excerpt: "Developed a working prototype."
+category: "DEVELOPER NEWS"
+date: "2025-06-29"
+slug: "2025-06-29-dmp-25-therealharshit-week04"
+author: "@/constants/MarkdownFiles/authors/harshit-verma.md"
+tags: "dmp25,sugarlabs,week04,therealharshit"
+image: "assets/Images/c4gt_DMP.png"
+---
+
+<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
+
+# Week 04 Progress Report by Harshit Verma
+
+**Project:** [LLM-powered Debugger for Pippy](https://github.com/sugarlabs/Pippy/issues/95)  
+**Mentors:** [Walter Bender](https://github.com/walterbender), [Ibiam Chihurumnaya](https://github.com/chimosky), [Kshitij Shah](https://github.com/kshitijdshah99)  
+**Assisting Mentors:** [Devin Ulibarri](https://github.com/pikurasa)  
+**Reporting Period:** 2025-06-23 - 2025-06-29   
+
+---
+
+## Goals for This Week
+
+- **Goal 1:** Design a UI mockup for the debugging terminal.
+- **Goal 2:** Develop the debugging terminal in Pippy.
+- **Goal 3:** Connected the debugger LLM server with Pippy.
+- **Goal 4:** Feed LLM responses into the debugging terminal.
+
+---
+
+## This Week’s Achievements
+
+1. **Design a UI mockup for the debugging terminal**  
+   - Plan the layout and user experience for how debug tips should appear inside Pippy.
+   - Design the UI of the debugging terminal, prioritized clarity and accessibility, especially for children.
+
+2. **Develop the debugging terminal in Pippy**  
+   - Added a new Virtual Terminal Emulator (VTE) widget to Pippy using GTK.
+   - Integrated the terminal into the existing layout with proper toggling between output and debug views.
+   ![Pippy UI: Output Terminal](assets/Images/pippy_output-terminal.png)
+   ![Pippy UI: Debug Terminal](assets/Images/pippy_debug-terminal.png)
+
+3. **Connected the debugger LLM server with Pippy**  
+   - Wired up Pippy to make API calls to the FastAPI server.
+   - Verified complete flow: `code is extracted → sent to /debug → response displayed in the debug terminal`.
+
+4. **Feed LLM responses into the debugging terminal**  
+  - Successfully passed LLM-generated debug suggestions into the terminal.
+  - Added simple formatting: newline, spacing, removed markdown syntax elements.
+---
+
+### Complete Demo: &nbsp; [Watch here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dzomam9dc3U4tHjHhYFGjRbs7-cwJHmM/view?usp=drive_link)
+
+---
+
+## Challenges & How I Overcame Them
+
+- **Challenge:** GTK app crashing on API call.  
+  **Solution:** The crash was due to API response handling on the main GTK thread. I fixed it by offloading the network request to a separate thread using Python’s `threading` module and updating the UI safely with `GLib.idle_add()` to avoid blocking or GTK context violations.
+
+- **Challenge:** Rendering formatted output inside the terminal widget.  
+  **Solution:** GTK doesn’t support Markdown, so I simulated structure using spacing, and removed marksown syntax elements to enhance readability.
+
+---
+
+## Key Learnings
+
+- Gained hands-on experience with Python threading to perform non-blocking API calls and prevent UI freezes or crashes.
+- Learned how to work with GTK widgets and using CSS in GTK, especially Gtk.Stack, Gtk.Box, and VTE terminal building responsive interfaces.
+
+---
+
+## Next Week’s Roadmap
+
+- Format the LLM response to be more child friendly.
+- Develop a custom mardown parser for GTK.
+- Begin working on model selection logic and performance optimization.
+
+---
+
+## Resources & References
+
+**Repository**
+- [Pippy](https://github.com/therealharshit/Pippy/tree/DMP2025/Pippy-Debugger) : I have pushed my code for Pippy here.
+- [pippy-debugger-server](https://github.com/therealharshit/pippy-debugger-server) : The FastAPI server which I am using as of now.
+
+---
+
+## Acknowledgments
+
+Thank you to my mentors, the Sugar Labs community, and fellow contributors for your continued guidance and support!
+
+---