Pathfinder: An AI-Powered Platform to Discover Opportunities Smarter

vanshita — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:24:40 +0000

This is a submission for the DEV Weekend Challenge: Community

The Community

Pathfinder is built for students and early-career individuals who constantly struggle to discover relevant opportunities — internships, fellowships, hackathons, conferences, and fully funded programs.

These opportunities exist, but they’re scattered across platforms, posts, and websites. There’s no central place that personalises them or helps users understand what suits them best.

This project is built for that community — students who feel overwhelmed, unsure where to apply, and tired of missing deadlines.

What I Built

Pathfinder is an AI-powered opportunity discovery platform.

It allows users to:

Complete a short onboarding profile (interests, skills, goals)
View a curated feed of 45+ opportunities
Get AI-ranked recommendations based on their profile
Bookmark opportunities and track deadlines

The goal is simple:

Make opportunity discovery smarter and less overwhelming.

Demo

🌍 Live Demo: https://pathfinder-beryl-chi.vercel.app

💻 GitHub: https://github.com/Vanshita519/pathfinder-github

Code

The full source code is available here:

https://github.com/Vanshita519/pathfinder-github

The project uses:

React (Vite)
Tailwind CSS
Gemini API (for ranking logic)
Vercel Serverless Functions
Custom fallback ranking algorithm
LocalStorage for bookmarks

How I Built It

Frontend

React (Vite)
Modular component structure
Tailwind CSS for styling
Dark mode support
LocalStorage for saving bookmarks

AI Integration
Gemini API is used to intelligently rank opportunities based on user profile data.

To ensure security and prevent API key exposure:

All AI logic was moved to a Vercel serverless function (/api/gemini)
The API key is stored securely in environment variables
The frontend communicates only with /api/gemini
No direct Gemini API calls are made from the browser

Fallback Matching
If AI is unavailable, a custom scoring algorithm ranks opportunities based on skills, interests, and goals.

Pathfinder aims to make discovering opportunities easier, more personalised, and less overwhelming for students.

Testing a Cofounder Matching Platform

vanshita — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 09:47:07 +0000

I'm testing a simple platform.

Problem: Finding the right person to build with is harder than building the product.

Solution: A simple form + personal matching.

You tell me what you want. I match you.

Form:(https://forms.gle/jYG8J86sTd1Za2td8)

If you're a developer (or designer, or business person) with ideas
but no partner - would appreciate your feedback!

Takes 2 minutes.

#Startup #Indie #Cofounders

DEV Community: vanshita

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