Huf

Inspiration

The idea for Huf came to me during my daily commute to work. Every day, I have a bazillion things running through my mind: tasks I need to remember, interesting facts I've heard, and random thoughts I want to save for later. Keeping track of it all gets overwhelming. I wished I had an assistant i could simply talk to, one that knew what to remind me about and what to remember. Alexa isn't always around, and Siri doesn't quite do the job. So i decided to build Huf, an assistant that takes the mental load of remembering things off my plate!

What it does

Huf works by letting you speak your thoughts naturally, just like you're talking to a friend. You tap the mic, say what's on your mind, and Huf figures out what needs to be saved as a memory and what needs a reminder. It organizes everything into cards that you can review, edit, and save. Later, you can ask Huf questions about anything you've shared, and it finds the relevant information, showing you the original memories so you know exactly where the answers came from. The more you share with Huf, the more useful it becomes, building a searchable memory of the little details of your everyday life.

How I built it

I built Huf using React, TypeScript, and Vite for the frontend, with a Python FastAPI backend. Chrome's Web Speech API handles speech-to-text, while Claude Sonnet 5.5 does the heavy lifting of understanding what users say, separating memories from reminders, and answering questions. I used structured outputs to keep Claude's responses consistent and SQLite to store everything. To make sure Huf doesn't make up memories, it can only answer using saved information, and the backend verifies the sources it references. For the development process, I used the Devpost Learn Skill Pack with Claude Code, starting with a clear scope, PRD, and technical specifications.

Challenges I ran into

The biggest challenge was scoping down my ideas to an MVP that could work reliably in the limited time I had. I had plenty of features in mind, like smart notifications, but had to make the tough decision to save them for later and focus on getting the core experience right.

Another challenge was making sure Huf never made up memories. I addressed this by requiring Claude to reference saved memories and having the backend verify those references before returning an answer. Voice recognition was also tricky because Chrome would stop listening after a pause, so I had to make sure Huf could keep listening without losing what was already said.

Accomplishments that I am proud of

I'm proud of building Huf with responsible and trustworthy AI at its core. Huf doesn't make up memories or pretend to know things it doesn't. Every answer is grounded in information the user actually saved, and nothing gets stored without their review and approval. I wanted users to feel in control of what Huf remembers. I'm also proud that I managed to turn a much bigger idea into a working MVP without losing what made the idea special in the first place.

What I learned

One of my biggest takeaways was how useful skills can be during development. Using the Devpost Learn Skill Pack with Claude Code kept me grounded, helped me make thoughtful decisions, and gave me a structured approach to building. I'll definitely be using skills to plan future projects! I also learned how to choose the right tech stack and, more importantly, understand why each technology was needed. Another valuable lesson was keeping the infrastructure simple. Drawing architectural flow diagrams helped me visualize how different components would communicate before writing code.

What's next for Huf

Next, I want to make Huf something I can actually carry with me on my daily commute, so a proper mobile experience is high on my list! I also want to add smart notifications that remind me of commitments at the right time, and eventually help me follow through on things I keep putting off, without turning Huf into another productivity app. I'd also love for Huf to connect the dots across memories, so I could ask things like 'What am I forgetting this week?' The bigger vision is for Huf to become a personal memory assistant that doesn't just remember things for me, but helps me make better use of what I've remembered

Built With

• anthropic
• claude
• css
• fastapi
• pydantic
• python
• react
• sqlite
• typescript
• vite
• web-speech-api