STARCoach v0.1 - Behavioral interview coach

#interview

This weekend I tried to get Claude Code to code a v0.1 version of https://github.com/kalyanaramansanthanam/STARCoach. It is a local-first interview prep tool which lets you practice
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".

It is simple to get started:

git clone https://github.com/kalyanaramansanthanam/STARCoach.git
cd STARCoach
cp .env.example .env         # add your GOOGLE_API_KEY
docker compose up             # builds & starts everything

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.

This idea is inspired by two different experiences:

Listening to Tony Robbins' quote — "You are rewarded in public for what you practice in private"
Taking the https://ultraspeaking.com which uses games to help you practice your speaking and various techniques like pausing for clarity, summarizing often, etc.

Practice & Recording

8 curated SWE behavioral interview questions across 8 categories
Zoom-like recording UI with webcam preview and coach avatar
Configurable timer (1, 2, 3, or 5 minutes)

AI Analysis & Feedback

Local Whisper transcription (no external API calls for transcription)
Gemini AI coaching with detailed STAR method analysis
Dual speech analytics:
- Rule-based: filler words, pause detection, words per minute
- LLM-based scoring (1-5): clarity, confidence, structure with justifications

Progress Tracking