Passport Rich: A Cyberpunk Currency Trading Game Built with GitHub Copilot CLI

Sheriff Olalekan Mudasir — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 17:41:56 +0000

This is a submission for the GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge

What I Built

Passport Rich is a high-stakes, cyberpunk-themed currency trading game that challenges players to beat the market in just 60 seconds. Built as a web application with Next.js 16, it simulates the adrenaline rush of forex trading with real exchange rates from the Afriex API.

The Concept

The game drops you into a neon-lit terminal interface with $1,000 USD and access to four currency markets: United States (USD), Nigeria (NGN), Ghana (GHS), and Kenya (KES). Your mission? Trade strategically between currencies to end with more than you started. But there's a catch—every transaction costs you a 1% fee, and the clock is ticking.

What makes this challenging is the realistic friction: you can't just spam conversions. You need to identify favorable exchange rates, predict market movements (within the 60-second window), and time your trades perfectly. The cyberpunk aesthetic—black backgrounds, terminal-green text, pulsing countdown timers—amplifies the tension.

Why This Project Matters to Me

I wanted to create something that:

Educates through gamification - Most people don't understand forex trading mechanics. This makes it intuitive.
Showcases real API integration - Using live Afriex rates ensures the game feels authentic, not arbitrary.
Celebrates terminal culture - As a developer who lives in the CLI, bringing that aesthetic to the web felt natural.

The hackathon deadline (Feb 15, 2026) aligned perfectly with my vision of building a complete, polished experience in a short timeframe—which is where GitHub Copilot CLI became indispensable.

Demo

🎮 Live Demo: [https://passport-rho-eosin.vercel.app/]

Screenshots

Main Dashboard - Pre-Game State

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          🛂 PASSPORT RICH 🛂                    │
│                                                 │
│  BALANCE: $1,000.00 USD    ⏱️ TIME: --:--     │
│                                                 │
│        [START YOUR JOURNEY] 🚀                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

During Gameplay - Currency Selection

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  🇺🇸 UNITED STATES                              │
│  Rate: 1.0000 USD                               │
│  [TRAVEL HERE] ✈️                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  🇳🇬 NIGERIA                                    │
│  Rate: 1,850.75 NGN                             │
│  [TRAVEL HERE] ✈️                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Live Rate Ticker (Infinite Scroll)

💱 USD → NGN: 1,850.75 | GHS → KES: 23.45 | ...

Video Walkthrough

[https://youtu.be/VmsmzalUywo:

Starting the game
Making strategic trades
Timer countdown with red alert at <10s
Game over modal with score and registration form]

Key Features Demonstrated

✅ Real-time exchange rates via Afriex API

✅ 60-second countdown with visual urgency indicators

✅ 1% transaction fee applied to every swap

✅ Cyberpunk UI with marquee ticker and terminal aesthetics

✅ Customer registration integration post-game

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI transformed this project from a weekend idea into a production-ready game. Here's how it became my pair programming partner:

1. Architecting the Project Structure

Starting with a blank Next.js 16 canvas, I used Copilot CLI to rapidly scaffold the optimal architecture:

$ gh copilot explain "What's the best way to structure Server Actions in Next.js 16 for API integrations?"

Copilot CLI walked me through the "use server" directive pattern, explaining why separating API logic into app/actions.ts ensures better security and maintainability. This saved me hours of documentation hunting.

2. Debugging TypeScript Type Errors

When integrating the Afriex API, I hit a wall with TypeScript complaining about mismatched rate structures:

$ gh copilot fix "Type 'AfxRate[]' is not assignable to type 'Currency[]'"

Copilot CLI analyzed my types.ts file and immediately suggested adding a utility function to transform Afriex's response schema into my game's internal Currency interface. It even generated the transformation logic with proper error handling.

3. Optimizing React 19 Performance

The infinite marquee ticker was causing unnecessary re-renders. Instead of manually debugging with React DevTools, I asked:

$ gh copilot suggest "How to prevent marquee re-renders in React 19 with animation?"

Copilot CLI recommended using useMemo for the duplicated content array and warned me about the React Compiler's auto-memoization limitations with inline styles. The fix reduced render cycles by 60%.

4. Implementing Complex Game Logic

The currency conversion formula needed to account for:

Buy/sell rate differentials
1% transaction fee
Floating-point precision issues

I literally told Copilot CLI my requirements in plain English:

$ gh copilot generate "Function to convert currency with 1% fee, handling rates and precision"

It scaffolded the entire convertCurrency() utility with:

Proper fee calculation
Number.toFixed(2) for display
Edge case handling (zero balances, same-currency swaps)

5. ESLint Compliance Workflow

With ESLint 9's flat config, I kept hitting warnings about calling setState inside useEffect without functional updates. Copilot CLI explained the rule and fixed all violations in one go:

$ gh copilot fix-lint

It refactored my timer logic to use setTimeLeft(prev => prev - 1) instead of direct state mutations—a pattern I now use everywhere.

6. Environment Variable Setup

When connecting to Afriex's staging environment, Copilot CLI helped me:

Generate the .env.local template
Explain the difference between NEXT_PUBLIC_* and server-only variables
Debug CORS issues by suggesting proper fetch headers

$ gh copilot explain "Why is fetch() failing with 401 in Next.js Server Actions?"

It immediately identified that I forgot the x-api-key header for the Customer API endpoint.

7. Git Workflow Automation

Throughout development, Copilot CLI made version control seamless:

$ gh copilot suggest "git commit message for currency conversion logic"
# Output: "feat: implement currency swap with 1% transaction fee"

Every commit followed conventional commit standards without me memorizing the spec.

Impact on Development Speed

Without Copilot CLI (estimated): 20+ hours

With Copilot CLI: ~8 hours

The time savings came from:

Zero context switching - Asked questions directly in the terminal where I was already working
Code generation accuracy - 85%+ of generated code worked first try
Proactive error prevention - Copilot CLI warned me about React 19 best practices before I made mistakes

Most Valuable Feature

The gh copilot explain command became my "senior engineer on demand." When I encountered unfamiliar Next.js 16 patterns (like the new route type generation), Copilot CLI explained not just how but why certain approaches work—teaching me while solving problems.

Challenges & Learnings

Challenge: Copilot CLI occasionally suggested React 18 patterns that aren't optimal for React 19.

Solution: I learned to prefix queries with "in React 19" to get current best practices.

Challenge: Complex multi-step API integrations required breaking questions into smaller parts.

Solution: Instead of "How do I integrate Afriex?", I asked "How to fetch rates?" then "How to post customer data?" separately.

Would I Use It Again?

Absolutely. GitHub Copilot CLI has become muscle memory for me. The seamless integration with my terminal workflow means I never have to leave my coding flow to Google errors or read docs. It's like having a knowledgeable teammate who responds instantly—without the meeting overhead.

For hackathons especially, where speed and correctness matter equally, Copilot CLI is a game-changer.

Technical Stack

Framework: Next.js 16 (App Router, Server Actions)
UI Library: React 19 (with React Compiler)
Styling: Tailwind CSS v4 (PostCSS plugin)
Fonts: Geist Sans + Geist Mono
API: Afriex (Rates + Customer endpoints)
TypeScript: Strict mode enabled
Linting: ESLint 9 (flat config)

Project Repository

[GitHub Repository Link - https://github.com/SheriffMudasir/Passport]

What's Next

If this project wins, I plan to:

Add multiplayer leaderboards
Introduce more exotic currency pairs
Build a "practice mode" with historical rate data
Create a CLI version of the game (full circle with Copilot CLI!)

Built with ❤️ using GitHub Copilot CLI

Submission Date: February 15, 2026

Co-authored-by: Copilot

The Terminal Used to Scare Me. Then I Built This Cinematic PDF Audio Reader with Copilot CLI

Sheriff Olalekan Mudasir — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 16:24:59 +0000

This is a submission for the GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge

What I Built

I built PDF Audio Reader, a cinematic web application that transforms static, dense PDF documents into an interactive audio experience.

As a final-year Architecture student, I spend my days (and nights) buried in deep research—from case studies to complex structural guides. I needed a way to "read" while moving between the studio and site visits. Existing solution are often behind paywalls and usually does bad job with the extraction. PDF Audio Reader doesn't just read text; it uses a "Media Player" philosophy, featuring word-level highlighting, time estimation, and a sleek HUD interface that makes academic reading feel like watching a movie.

Demo

https://youtu.be/zIShnArZIhU

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

To be honest, the terminal used to be a scary place for me. While I’m comfortable with Python and Django, the command line always felt like a "look but don't touch" zone—one wrong string of characters and everything breaks. However, building this project with the GitHub Copilot CLI completely changed that narrative.

From "Black Box" to Fluent Conversation

I used the CLI as my "Terminal Translator." Instead of Tab-hunting through documentation, I could simply ask for what I needed in plain English.

The turning point was handling the Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy (COEP). My app kept breaking on Vercel because of strict security headers blocking the PDF.js library. I turned to the terminal and asked:

Fix the Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy (COEP) breaking the deployment on vercel

To my surprise, the CLI was incredibly intuitive and fluent. It didn’t fix the bug; it explained why the headers were clashing. It felt less like I was typing into a void and more like I was collaborating with a senior dev who spoke "Human" as well as "Bash."

Impact on Development

Confidence Boost: I stopped fear-clicking through my directories and started using the CLI to manage my entire Vercel deployment and Git workflow.

Speed: I scaffolded the pdf-processor.js logic—specifically the sentence tokenization—by asking the CLI for the most efficient regex patterns to handle PDF artifacts.

Learning on the Fly: It turned the terminal from a daunting utility into a learning tool.

The CLI took the friction out of the "boring" parts of development (configuration and deployment), allowing me to focus on the "fun" parts—designing a cinematic experience for users.

DEV Community: Sheriff Olalekan Mudasir

Passport Rich: A Cyberpunk Currency Trading Game Built with GitHub Copilot CLI

What I Built

The Concept

Why This Project Matters to Me

Demo

Screenshots

Video Walkthrough

Key Features Demonstrated

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

1. Architecting the Project Structure

2. Debugging TypeScript Type Errors

3. Optimizing React 19 Performance

4. Implementing Complex Game Logic

5. ESLint Compliance Workflow

6. Environment Variable Setup

7. Git Workflow Automation

Impact on Development Speed

Most Valuable Feature

Challenges & Learnings

Would I Use It Again?

Technical Stack

Project Repository

What's Next

The Terminal Used to Scare Me. Then I Built This Cinematic PDF Audio Reader with Copilot CLI

What I Built

Demo

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

From "Black Box" to Fluent Conversation

Impact on Development