NeoSearch: A Search Engine Forged by Determination

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WLH Challenge: Building with Bolt Submission

💡 A Passion Rooted in Code

I am a woman deeply passionate about computer science.
A passion that didn’t begin yesterday, but has long been rooted at the very core of who I am. I’ve always had this drive to understand how systems work—how lines of code can build worlds, solve problems, and bridge ideas with reality. I carried this passion alone, often in silence, but always with unwavering faith. It’s what led me to this hackathon—a competition that would change my life, or at least, my perception of my own limits.

🖥️ A Broken Computer, an Unshakable Will

I didn’t have a powerful computer. My PC could best be described as a survivor: old, damaged, unpredictable. It would restart for no reason, as if it too had moods. The screen had long lost its colors and displayed only shades of gray, like an old television.
And yet, it was with this machine that I decided to go for it. With this machine that I chose to fight. Because deep inside, I knew that true power doesn’t come from tools, but from vision and determination.

🌍 A Gap in My Country, a Vision to Fill It

In my country, there isn’t yet a search engine specialized in computer science made by one of us. No local solution created by a fellow national to serve the specific needs of students, developers, researchers, or self-learners in tech.
It was out of that void that the idea for NeoSearch was born—an intelligent search engine, focused on computer science, but above all, capable of understanding the real needs of the person behind the query.

🎯 NeoSearch: More Than a Search Engine

My vision was simple but ambitious: to elevate search to something more human, more guided, more contextual. NeoSearch had to be more than a tool.
It had to be a mentor, a companion, a platform that not only delivers relevant results, but also holds conversations, offers guidance, and supports the user on their learning journey

🛠️ Learning New Tools Overnight

I started with tools I hadn’t even heard of the day before: Supabase, Netlify, MongoDB, Tavus. All new. All on me.
At first, I used Supabase to host my database. Then I wanted to go further. I wanted users to talk to NeoSearch—not via keyboard, but through voice.
With Tavus, I made that idea possible. The engine could now listen, understand, and respond. A living search engine.

🤖 My AI Allies: Bolt & ChatGPT

Then came Bolt, my ally. An AI agent that helped turn my ideas into code. With Bolt, I coded faster, clearer, and cleaner. It felt like having an invisible right hand—always ready, always sharp.
And ChatGPT was my notepad, my strategist, my flashlight. Together, we were a team.

⚙️ A Breakthrough and Then… the Bugs

One of the key moments in this journey was when I had a version of NeoSearch that worked perfectly. The indexing was smooth, the results accurate, filtered precisely to user needs. I was proud.
But because I always aim higher, I tried to add more features. That’s when the bugs came. The engine no longer returned the right results. I spent hours—nights—fixing, testing, retrying.
I couldn’t recover all the original precision. But I built a search engine that works, that helps, and above all, that doesn’t return garbage.
And that alone was already a victory.

🎨 A Design That Finally Spoke for Me

The design journey was no easier. The first draft didn’t reflect my story—it felt too generic, too empty. I asked Bolt to help again.
After countless trials, I finally created an interface that reflects me. Simple. Clear. Lively. An invitation to explore and learn.

🔁 When the Machine Fought Against Me

And all the while, my PC kept letting me down. Restarting, losing files, crashing processes.
Sometimes I cried. Sometimes I wanted to give up.
But I kept telling myself:
"You didn’t come this far to quit."

And I didn’t.

🧪 Conquering Technical Challenges

Despite all these obstacles, I managed to overcome the biggest technical challenges of this project.
Setting up Netlify with Supabase—something I had never done before—was a real struggle. But with experimentation, documentation, and endless prompts, I eventually figured it out and stabilized the integration.
As for Tavus, learning to use this voice-based tool was an adventure on its own. It doesn’t communicate directly with MongoDB, since MongoDB is a NoSQL database.
However, I designed a system where Tavus voice data could be processed, analyzed, and routed through an API layer to interact indirectly with the database. It was a difficult challenge—but I did it.
I achieved all of this with limited resources, but an abundance of belief.

🚀 NeoSearch Exists, and That’s My Victory

Today, NeoSearch may be imperfect. It’s not exactly what I envisioned. But it’s real. Functional. Useful.
It addresses a need. It proves that even with very little, something impactful can be built. And above all, it shows that where there is will, there is a way.

🏁 Beyond the Code: A Journey of Discovery

This hackathon didn’t just allow me to code a project.
It helped me discover myself, push beyond my limits, and realize what I’m capable of, even when everything feels like it’s falling apart.

And that, more than anything else, is my greatest victory.