The latest articles on DEV Community by Kalyan S (@kalyan_s). https://dev.to/kalyan_s https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3785652%2F335e9dc9-4f8f-479c-9c2a-5b7b0f7e730e.jpg https://dev.to/kalyan_s en Kalyan S Mon, 23 Feb 2026 04:48:22 +0000 https://dev.to/kalyan_s/starcoach-v01-behavioral-interview-coach-1pod https://dev.to/kalyan_s/starcoach-v01-behavioral-interview-coach-1pod <p>This weekend I tried to get Claude Code to code a v0.1 version of <a href="https://github.com/kalyanaramansanthanam/STARCoach" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/kalyanaramansanthanam/STARCoach</a>. It is a local-first interview prep tool which lets you practice<br> your behavioral interview questions like "Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a teammate" or "Describe a project where you had to make a quality vs speed tradeoff".</p> <p>It is simple to get started:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>git clone https://github.com/kalyanaramansanthanam/STARCoach.git cd STARCoach cp .env.example .env # add your GOOGLE_API_KEY docker compose up # builds &amp; starts everything </code></pre> </div> <p>The web app lets you record yourself practicing and then uses Whisper to transcribe the video and Gemini 3 Flash to evaluate your answer as a coach.</p> <p>This idea is inspired by two different experiences:</p> <ul> <li>Listening to Tony Robbins' quote — "You are rewarded in public for what you practice in private"</li> <li>Taking the <a href="https://ultraspeaking.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://ultraspeaking.com</a> which uses games to help you practice your speaking and various techniques like pausing for clarity, summarizing often, etc.</li> </ul> <p>Practice &amp; Recording</p> <ul> <li>8 curated SWE behavioral interview questions across 8 categories</li> <li>Zoom-like recording UI with webcam preview and coach avatar</li> <li>Configurable timer (1, 2, 3, or 5 minutes)</li> </ul> <p>AI Analysis &amp; Feedback</p> <ul> <li>Local Whisper transcription (no external API calls for transcription)</li> <li>Gemini AI coaching with detailed STAR method analysis</li> <li>Dual speech analytics: <ul> <li>Rule-based: filler words, pause detection, words per minute</li> <li>LLM-based scoring (1-5): clarity, confidence, structure with justifications</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p>Progress Tracking</p> <ul> <li>Review all past attempts for each question</li> <li>Progress charts showing improvement trends</li> <li>Dashboard with practice stats and GitHub-style activity calendar</li> </ul> <p>Privacy &amp; Data Ownership</p> <ul> <li>100% local-first: Everything runs on your machine</li> <li>All recordings stored in ./data/ (SQLite + video files)</li> <li>Only external call is Gemini API for coaching feedback (no videos sent)</li> <li>Easy to back up, move, or delete</li> </ul> <p>Check out the <a href="https://github.com/kalyanaramansanthanam/STARCoach" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/kalyanaramansanthanam/STARCoach</a> and let me know what you think!</p> interview