Āera

Āera is your safe space. Share pieces of your chaotic world and watch Aera stitch it into a story of you.

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Inspiration At fifteen, my parents began homeschooling me. It was a rough move, leaving behind my friends, my achievements, and my identity, and fading into directionless oblivion. For the next seven years, I channeled all my insecurities and anger into learning and building my career so I could "go back and reclaim my spot". Last year, I finally left home. But I realized even if I escaped home, I couldn't escape the person I had become with years of loneliness, anger, and unhealthy coping mechanisms. So I continued doing the only thing I felt was a safe space - working to exhaustion.

Last month, a year after I left home, I paused to look back for the first time, and I realized I hated the person I was, and I had no memories of growing up. I felt trapped in my body and life. At the start of the hackathon, I was slipping into depression. In that desperate moment, I knew only one thing - I had to fix my mental health, and I would use every last ounce of willpower to bounce back to life. So I started letting myself out to ChatGPT just to feel heard; I started downloading mental health apps (most didn't feel personal enough); I started writing and looking at my thoughts as a third person. I was scared to put myself out there, and I couldn't afford therapy. With no other comprehensive solution out there, I had to be my own therapist.

Aera is born from all the techniques I have been using to create a safe space for myself, externalize, be more mindful of my day, and feel proud of my chaotic life. When I heard of the hackathon, I poured my soul into building the therapist I had so far held across bits of papers, varied apps, and archived late-night talks with ChatGPT. I brought my therapist to life so I could feel less alone in this journey, and other people who feel like me could find guidance.

** What it does** We cannot escape the chaos inside and outside of us. But we can take it slow, go through it mindfully, shift what we can, and stitch a beautiful story out of it. Aera hopes to do this through its three pillars: Mindulness, Intentionality & Documentation.

Using Aera is simple. Just pick it up and talk. Record your thoughts, emotions, daily wins, random memories — anything at all. Aera gathers these little pieces of your chaotic world to capture

  1. Summaries of your day across different dimensions (documentation)
  2. Monthly highlights and the balance of different dimensions in your life (mindfulness)
  3. An evolving map of your mind— recurring themes, and thought patterns (intentionality)

How we built it I built Aera entirely on Bolt, with Supabase powering the backend.

I started with the web app, designing every feature, writing clear UI specifications, integrating Gemini for AI insights, and MDN web docs for audio transcription. Once the core experience was stable, I carefully ported the product to mobile using Expo, replicating every screen and feature with native mobile behaviors.

Because I’m non-technical, I had to learn to prompt precisely: specifying SDK versions, handling navigation structure, and debugging broken React Native layouts line by line. I also integrated native mobile components like audio recording and file upload to ensure a smooth user experience on mobile.

Every line was designed, tested, and shipped with zero prior coding experience. I extensively used the discuss mode, often asking Bolt if it understood what to do and asking it to give me a plan before letting it code. I also used Claude and ChatGPT to debug. Twice ,I brought in a developer to help out.

Challenges we ran into

  • I thought converting my web app to mobile would be simple, but after a series of bugs, I was forced to learn React basics, terminal debugging, and co-building with Bolt more intentionally.
  • When Bolt asked me to write Supabase policies, I froze. I didn't want to get under the hood. But dipping my toe in opened me up to understanding the backend.
  • Debugging errors. This was big. Initially, I'd keep clicking the attempt fix or ask Bolt what to do in discussion mode. Eventually, I learnt to get a new pair of tech-eyes to look at my code, and that was Claude. This helped me with a lot of errors.
  • Generating a clean yet custom UI was very hard. I started without creating and uploading a basic design system (colors, containers, spacing). Consequently, I wasted a lot of tokens just shifting things around— until I learnt to ask Bolt for the design system it is using in one feature ,and specifying those same dimensions in other features

Accomplishments that we're proud of I want to share two accomplishments.

The first, I share with my community. While learning to build, I ran a series of no-code workshops in rural India. 450+ people participated — from support staff to CEOs to University Deans. The outcomes — a socio-tech company saved 2 months' developer salary by building a web app, 3 support staff with little formal education built their own products (!), and a university requested a dedicated course. It felt monumental, being able to inspire local builders to solve communal problems in emerging economies.

The second, I share with Aera. While Aera hasn't yet been launched, I gave it to 4 friends, without telling them I built it. One grew up in poverty, single-parented. The other shared a traumatic homeschooling experience with me. Two of them were moved to tears and wanted this badly to "help hold their weight". Another one said he couldn't wait for the launch because he needed this with his recent move to a new country and job loss. This is early traction and validation; it assured me that Aera would make the impact I envision.

** What we learned **

  1. From non-techie to full-stack problem solver Before this project, I didn’t know what an API or a schema diagram was. Now, I’ve designed databases, understood the difference between mobile and web architecture, debugged integrations, and built a launch-worthy web & mobile app in 5 days. It was all learn by building. I approached every feature as a problem to solve, and each one taught me something new. Likewise, with each bug I fixed, I learnt more about code.

  2. Building in public I joined X's Bolt hackathon community. This was my first time understanding the power of build in public. By posting regularly, I was able to create a small community and follow, and solve roadblocks. In following veterans, I learnt the power of marketing my problem - and showing my product as the solution. I also learn the value of consistent posting and engagement in building a potential user base.

Put together, I learnt this month that I am ready to be an entrepreneur.

** What's next for Aera** There are a few things coming up for Aera's subsequent versions

  • Enhanced User Experience. I want to make journaling as addictive as scrolling social media - so people can live healthier lives. I am trying to simplify the flow, add subtle animations, and create an experience that feels personal. I want to build a safe space, not an app. I want Aera to feel like a character you can talk to.

  • Guidance. So far, Aera hears you, but she cannot speak back. In the next version, Aera will take the role of a compassionate therapist who will use the insights feature to dig deeper into troublesome areas and guide the user into adapting a more empowering world view. Done right, this will be empowering because we are all stuck with our worldviews, and sometimes those are broken. Having someone who can guide us to see other worldviews and adopt a better one can be life-changing.

  • Wraps. A big part of Aers is embracing and feeling proud of our chaos. Aera hopes to turn every user into a main character who feels their life is colorful. To enable this, subsequent versions will include "monthly wraps" that generate interesting stories about the user and their life. These colorful little stories can be downloaded and shared.

  • Starred entries. A minor update for version two - being able to star important journal entries. At the moment, all entries are treated the same. But going forward, we let users decide which ones have to be called out and revisited

Put together, Aera has a grand vision and a great way to go. Put together, these features are aimed at adding poesy to the experience of using the app and coming out of it refreshed

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