LLM-SETUP-GUIDE.md

LLM Setup Guide for Lead Generation System

Quick Start with Groq (Recommended)

Step 1: Get Your FREE Groq API Key

1. Go to https://console.groq.com/keys
2. Sign up for a free account
3. Generate an API key
4. Add to your .env.local:

GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_your_api_key_here

Step 2: Configure AI Provider

Your system is already configured to use Groq. The provider selection is automatic based on availability.

API Key Setup

Option 1: Groq (FREE - Recommended)

# Free tier: 30 req/min, 14,400 req/day
GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_your_api_key_here

• Best for: Lead extraction, data parsing
• Speed: 300+ tokens/second
• Cost: FREE
• Get key: https://console.groq.com/keys

Option 2: OpenAI (Paid - Good balance)

# GPT-4o-mini: $0.15/1M input, $0.60/1M output
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your_api_key_here

• Best for: Email generation, versatile tasks
• Speed: Fast
• Cost: ~$15-20/month for 1000 leads/day
• Get key: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

Option 3: Anthropic Claude (Paid - Best quality)

# Claude 3 Haiku: $0.25/1M input, $1.25/1M output
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your_api_key_here

• Best for: Professional emails, proposals
• Speed: Moderate
• Cost: ~$25-30/month for 1000 leads/day
• Get key: https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys

Usage Estimates

Daily Volume	Groq (Free)	OpenAI Mini	Claude Haiku
100 leads	$0	~$1.50/mo	~$2.50/mo
500 leads	$0	~$7.50/mo	~$12.50/mo
1000 leads	$0	~$15/mo	~$25/mo
5000 leads	Need paid	~$75/mo	~$125/mo

Feature Comparison

Feature	Groq	OpenAI	Anthropic
Lead Extraction	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
Email Generation	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Upwork Proposals	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Speed	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
Cost	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐
Rate Limits	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐

Current System Configuration

The system automatically selects the best available provider:

1. Lead Extraction: Uses Groq if available (fastest, free)
2. Email Generation: Uses OpenAI if available (best balance)
3. Fallback: Pattern-based extraction (no API needed)

Testing Your Setup

After adding your API key, test it at:

• /[lang]/test-import - Test lead creation
• /[lang]/leads - Full lead management with AI extraction

Troubleshooting

If AI extraction isn't working:

1. Check console for error messages
2. Verify API key is correctly set in .env.local
3. Check rate limits (Groq: 30 req/min)
4. System will fallback to pattern matching if no API keys are configured

Rate Limit Handling:

• Groq: 30 requests/minute → Process in batches
• OpenAI: 3,500 requests/minute → Usually sufficient
• Anthropic: 1,000 requests/minute → Good for most cases

Recommendations by Use Case

High Volume (>1000 leads/day):

• Primary: OpenAI GPT-4o-mini
• Fallback: Groq (for overflow)

Cost-Conscious (<1000 leads/day):

• Primary: Groq (free tier)
• Fallback: Pattern matching

Quality-Focused (emails/proposals):

• Primary: Anthropic Claude
• Secondary: OpenAI GPT-4o

Balanced Approach:

• Lead Extraction: Groq
• Email Generation: OpenAI
• Proposal Writing: Anthropic