app.py

import gradio as gr
import requests
from PIL import Image
from io import BytesIO
from transformers import pipeline

# Load OCR pipeline once (server-side)
ocr = pipeline("image-to-text", model="microsoft/trocr-base-stage1")

def ocr_from_url(image_url: str):
    try:
        # Download image
        resp = requests.get(image_url, timeout=10)
        resp.raise_for_status()
        img = Image.open(BytesIO(resp.content)).convert("RGB")

        # Run OCR
        result = ocr(img)
        # pipeline returns list of dicts like [{'generated_text': 'ABC123'}]
        text = result[0].get("generated_text", "UNKNOWN")
        return text
    except Exception as e:
        return f"ERROR: {str(e)}"

# Gradio interface: single text input (image URL) -> text output (plate)
demo = gr.Interface(fn=ocr_from_url,
                    inputs=gr.Textbox(label="Image URL"),
                    outputs=gr.Textbox(label="Detected Plate"),
                    title="License Plate OCR")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    demo.launch()