chore: Dev to Main merge

[Shreyas-Microsoft]

Purpose

This pull request significantly improves the local development setup documentation by clarifying Azure infrastructure requirements, standardizing environment variable configuration, and providing more robust, platform-specific instructions for role assignments and service startup. The guide is now more step-by-step, with clearer separation between setup phases and better guidance for both Linux/macOS and Windows users.

Key improvements include:

Azure Infrastructure & Role Assignment:

• Added a clear prerequisite to deploy Azure infrastructure before local development, with explicit instructions and references to the deployment guide.
• Provided both Linux/macOS and Windows PowerShell commands for assigning Azure RBAC roles (App Configuration, Cosmos DB, Storage Queue), making the guide more accessible for all users. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Processor & Backend API Setup:

• Clarified and reorganized the processor setup, including explicit instructions for creating and placing .env files, and improved dependency installation commands for both platforms. [1] [2]
• Updated and separated instructions for running the processor in queue-based (preferred for local dev) and direct execution modes, and improved role assignment guidance for Storage Queue access.
• Standardized the backend API setup, including .env configuration, dependency installation, and running instructions, with a warning about the --reload flag on Windows. [1] [2]

Frontend (UI) Setup & Authentication:

• Updated the UI .env example to use correct Azure AD client IDs and scopes, clarified the use of VITE_ENABLE_AUTH, and improved authentication setup notes for local and production environments. [1] [2]
• Removed unnecessary build step for local development, clarifying that npm run dev is sufficient.

Verification & Workflow:

• Improved the verification checklist with more detailed terminal/service instructions and expected outputs, including updated health check endpoints and troubleshooting tips. [1] [2]

These changes make the setup process more robust, reduce common sources of confusion, and help new developers get started more quickly and reliably.

Does this introduce a breaking change?

• Yes
• No

Golden Path Validation

• I have tested the primary workflows (the "golden path") to ensure they function correctly without errors.

Deployment Validation

• I have validated the deployment process successfully and all services are running as expected with this change.

What to Check

Verify that the following are valid

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