Integrating Python NLP with Laravel Step-by-Step

Websolutionstuff | Nov-28-2024 | Categories : Laravel Python

In this guide, I’ll show you how to integrate Python’s powerful Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities with your Laravel application. We’ll create a simple system where Laravel sends user input to a Python script for analysis and receives the processed data.

This is especially useful for features like sentiment analysis, text classification, or keyword extraction. Let’s dive in step by step, ensuring each step is easy to follow and implement.

Steps to Integrate Python NLP with Laravel

Step 1: Set Up Your Laravel Project

First, create or use an existing Laravel project. If you don’t have one, start by creating a new Laravel project:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel laravel-nlp

Step 2: Install Python and Required NLP Libraries

Ensure Python is installed on your system. Install the necessary Python libraries using pip. For this example, we’ll use the TextBlob library for sentiment analysis.

pip install textblob flask

Step 3: Create a Python Script for NLP

Create a Python script (nlp_service.py) to handle the NLP processing.

from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
from textblob import TextBlob

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/analyze', methods=['POST'])
def analyze():
    data = request.get_json()
    text = data.get('text', '')

    # Perform sentiment analysis
    analysis = TextBlob(text)
    response = {
        'polarity': analysis.sentiment.polarity,
        'subjectivity': analysis.sentiment.subjectivity
    }
    return jsonify(response)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(port=5000)

Run the Python script:

python nlp_service.py

This starts a Flask server on port 5000, which will act as the NLP API.

Step 4: Create a Laravel Controller

In Laravel, create a controller to handle user input and communicate with the Python API.

php artisan make:controller NLPController

Open app/Http/Controllers/NLPController.php and update it.

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

class NLPController extends Controller
{
    public function analyze(Request $request)
    {
        $text = $request->input('text');

        // Call the Python NLP API
        $response = Http::post('http://127.0.0.1:5000/analyze', [
            'text' => $text,
        ]);

        return response()->json($response->json());
    }
}

Step 5: Set Up a Route

Define a route in routes/web.php to access the NLP feature.

use App\Http\Controllers\NLPController;

Route::post('/analyze', [NLPController::class, 'analyze']);

Step 6: Create a Blade View for Input

Create a simple form in a Blade template (resources/views/nlp.blade.php) to send text input for analysis.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>NLP Integration</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>NLP Sentiment Analysis</h1>
    <form method="POST" action="/analyze">
        @csrf
        <textarea name="text" placeholder="Enter text here" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br><br>
        <button type="submit">Analyze</button>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Step 7: Test the Application

Run the Laravel application: