☕ Pot.OF — AI-Powered HTCPCP Coffee Pot

This is a submission for the DEV April Fools Challenge

What I Built

Pot.OF is a playful HTCPCP/1.0 coffee pot simulator inspired by RFC 2324. It includes an interactive terminal, a full 418 I'm a Teapot tea-rejection flow, decaf kernel panic mode, and three optional AI features powered by Google Gemini: an AI Coffee Therapist, an AI Brew Critic, and an AI RFC Generator.

It solves no real problems, but it does let users argue with a coffee pot that has strong opinions.

Demo

Deployed app: pot-of
Video demo: Youtube

Code

Built with Next.js 16, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS 4, shadcn/ui, Framer Motion, Zustand, Prisma, and Google Gemini.

Repo link: Github

How I Built It

• Built the app as a Next.js 16 App Router project with a single interactive coffee-pot interface and dedicated API routes for both protocol behavior and AI features.
• Implemented 3 Gemini-powered AI endpoints:
  • /api/htcpcp/ai-therapist — a sentient coffee pot therapist with a consistent personality, multi-turn chat, and coffee-themed advice
  • /api/htcpcp/ai-critic — a dramatic coffee snob that generates absurd tasting notes and scores
  • /api/htcpcp/ai-rfc — an RFC-style generator that creates fake HTCPCP protocol extensions with realistic formatting
• Added a bring-your-own-key flow in the GUI so users can paste their own Gemini API key locally to unlock AI features without requiring a deployment-wide secret
• Built 8 total API routes:
  • 5 HTCPCP-inspired core routes for brewing, status, RFC display, teapot mode, and timing
  • 3 AI routes for therapist, critic, and RFC generation
• Added personality-driven UI behavior including pot moods like idle, brewing, happy, offended, existential, and decaf-panic
• Implemented joke protocol interactions including:
  • BREW tea -> full-screen 418 I'm a Teapot
  • BREW decaf -> fake kernel panic
  • RFC, STATUS, WHEN, PROPFIND, and other terminal commands
• Used three generated visual assets for the coffee pot mascot, teapot artwork, and coffee cup imagery
• Deployed it as a Vercel-friendly app with the AI key supplied by each user in the interface instead of hardcoding a shared secret

Prize Category

Best Google AI Usage

The app uses Google Gemini across three distinct feature types: conversational AI through the therapist, creative generation through the brew critic, and structured document generation through the RFC generator. AI is not a side widget here; it is part of the product’s personality.

Best Ode to Larry Masinter

The project is built around RFC 2324, including the legendary 418 I'm a Teapot, HTCPCP-style commands, and a coffee pot that takes the protocol far too seriously.