Actify AI

An AI shopping assistant on WhatsApp that learns your taste, finds better products on eBay, and can securely shop for you with built-in approvals and spending limits.

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*Inspiration

Every AI agent demo just chats. I wondered: what happens when it can actually spend your money? That's when identity becomes everything. It's the trust layer holding it all together. Most agent frameworks don't handle "this AI can spend $50 on gadgets for this exact person." We built Actify to show how Auth0 can secure autonomous shopping from start to finish: authenticating you, authorizing the agent, and settling real transactions on-chain, all without you touching a browser.

*What It Does

Actify is a full production AI shopping agent. You browse and buy real eBay stuff right in WhatsApp, locked down by Auth0 identity and settled via on-chain escrow. Here's the flow:

  1. Sign up with Auth0 (Google, email, social) and drop into a 3D "eBay Mall" powered by Three.js. Live listings, real prices, walkable stores.
  2. Set up your agent in the dashboard: max budget in ACT tokens, approval limits, allowed categories like electronics or fashion, and actions like browse, compare, or buy.
  3. Link WhatsApp with a one-time code (like ACT-XXXX) from your secure dashboard, text it to us, and your Auth0 identity ties to your phone.
  4. Message the agent: "headphones under 50 ACT." Gemini parses it, hits eBay live, checks your rules, and replies fast.
  5. Tokens lock in a Solidity escrow. Released to the seller on delivery, refunded if there's a dispute.

Three safeguards keep it safe: a hard budget cap it can't break, pauses for approval on bigger buys, and strict whitelists for categories and actions.

*How We Built It

Auth0 owns identity: sessions, JWTs, and the auth0Id that keys every record. Convex runs the real-time backend with 17 tables for users, wallets, orders, WhatsApp chats, agent logic, and escrow. Everything's typed and validated.

Gemini 2.5 Flash turns messages into JSON intents (browse, compare, buy, status) with budget and category smarts. Twilio handles WhatsApp in: verifies signatures, links to your Auth0 ID, runs the agent, and replies in one go. eBay's API feeds live inventory, prices, ratings, and images.

On-chain: ActifyToken.sol (ERC-20 with testnet faucet) and ActifyEscrow.sol (locks per order, releases on confirmation, refunds disputes), all on Sepolia. Three.js builds the 3D mall: walk around with WASD KEY CONTROLS, pick a character, hit interactive shops with real eBay cards.

*Why Auth0 Is the Backbone

It's not just login. It's the guardrail for AI spending:

  1. Maps WhatsApp numbers to your Auth0 profile, wallet, and rules. No ID? No action.
  2. Policies (budget, thresholds, categories) load live per message. Update in the dashboard, it sticks instantly.
  3. Secure linking: Generate a timed code in your session, text it, bind the phone. No code or expired? Log back in.
  4. One auth0Id rules dashboard, WhatsApp, wallets, eBay, and orders. Consistent everywhere.
  5. Convex demands auth0Id for every query. Zero anonymous access.

*Challenges

  • Deciding when the AI buys solo vs. asks: Dual thresholds (hard cap + approval pause)
  • Bridging stateless WhatsApp to stateful identity without phone logins. Solved with one-time codes.
  • Syncing off-chain DB with on-chain escrow: Heavy on error handling and logs.
  • Live eBay quirks like rate limits and flaky data. Built in graceful fallbacks.

*What We're Proud Of

  • AI that hunts real eBay deals, honors your rules, and escrows tokens. All from a text.
  • Immersive 3D mall for browsing live products.
  • Zero-trust: Agent permissions come solely from your Auth0 policies.
  • Solid contracts for per-order token flows.
  • Unbreakable identity chain: Auth0 to Convex to Gemini to eBay to blockchain.

*Key Lesson Auth0 shines when identity means "who greenlit this AI spend?" It turns every session into delegated power. The chain from login to payout has to be ironclad.

*Next Steps

  • Multi-agents per category, each with their own Auth0-bound budgets.
  • Biometrics for big buys via Auth0 MFA.
  • Mainnet on an Ethereum L2 for real money.
  • Seller agents that haggle with yours.

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