BalanceBite: An .exe that assists you to plan your meal and says whether a dish is safe to eat

Saumili Dutta — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 22:32:17 +0000

This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Weekend Challenge: Build for a Friend

What I Built

I built BalanceBite for someone I love (gotta keep the "who" anonymous). They are having some health issues and from there I got the idea to work on an .exe that uses open weight model at its core and assists them to plan their meal while considering the groceries in stock and the nutrients required.

Demo

Since it is an application that runs locally on your machine, I have posted a video demo and if you want to try out I have uploaded a zip file, download and run the BalanceBite.exe.

Code

I have also uploaded the code to GitHub, check it here

How I Built It

I have used gemma3:4b-it-q4_K_M, an open-weight model, which is the core of the application and running locally on my machine through node-llama-cpp. An Electron app wraps it as a Windows .exe. The user's health issue, restrictions and allergies are saved once as an encrypted profile and added to the model's instructions on every request. The model's output is forced into a fixed JSON format (recipes, nutrients, warnings), and a code-level filter removes any recipe containing an allergen. A second mode checks whether a new food is safe, with the portion size and likely after-effects.

Why Does Open Innovation Matter?

This app handles sensitive health data, so sending it to a closed API would be a poor fit. Open weights let me keep the model and the data on the user's machine, work fully offline, and pay nothing per use. They also let me control the model's output format and add my own safety checks. Anyone can swap in another open model or adapt the app to another condition.

Feedback

I shared the executable file with them along with a brief idea. It was a surprise and they loved the idea. They shared the feedback:

the model accurately predicted the nutrients from the ingredients and the after-effect from the dish in "Choose a new food" mode. The project was overall helpful
the model hallucinated at times even when the health issue was saved in the profile, it took some other issue
The prompts need to be fine-tuned along with fine-tuning the model
A feature that can be added is instead of just typing there is an option to upload pics and parse the text as input from the picture

Prize Categories

Best Use of Gemma

CrisisWin - Helpline Directory

Saumili Dutta — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:35:01 +0000

This is my submission for the GitHub Finish-Up-A-Thon Challenge*

What I Built

CrisisWin is an open-source platform that consolidates helplines from every country in the world into an easy-to-navigate resource. Whether you're new to the neighborhood or a traveller travelling solo or with your pet, in times of crisis, finding the right number quickly can save lives.
This site includes all sorts of helpline - fire, ambulance, police, mental health, domestic violence, animal rescue, tourists, new residents, etc.

Demo

I have recorded a demo showcasing the features of the new site. You can visit both the old site and new site. Here's the link to github repo if you would like to contribute.

This is a snap of the old site:

And this is a snap of the new one:

The Comeback Story

I initially deployed the old site and opened for Hacktoberfest contributions but I was not satisfied with the UI and search bar functionality was not unified.
So there was a major update in the new site including the UI, About and Team section, PWA support so it can be installed and used as an application and is accessible on any screen.

My Experience with GitHub Copilot

I have used Copilot to generate more than 50% of the code, from the CSS file to adding the unified search functionality or fetching the github details of the contributors in the Teams sections.
I created a new repository for the new site and it was hectic to migrate the data from the old repository that too in a new key-value format. So I had GitHub Copilot take care of it.
Also, several data has been added in the new site from information available all across the trusted sources in internet and I used Copilot to convert the raw data to structured JSON.
While I was deciding to change the name, I gave a few options and asked Copilot which is the best suited for my project and support its choice with reasons and it chose the one I already had in my mind and also gave some solid reason to support.

DEV Community: Saumili Dutta

BalanceBite: An .exe that assists you to plan your meal and says whether a dish is safe to eat

What I Built

Demo

Code

How I Built It

Why Does Open Innovation Matter?

Feedback

Prize Categories

CrisisWin - Helpline Directory

What I Built

Demo

The Comeback Story

My Experience with GitHub Copilot