PathForge

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  Architecture diagram

Inspiration

People work hard toward their dreams, but success depends not just on effort—rather on what they work on. Many students and early professionals lack direction, not motivation. Seeing people struggle with scattered resources, no clear roadmap, and decision paralysis inspired us to build PathForge: a system that doesn’t just provide content, but guides the right path.

What it does

PathForge is an AI-powered living career roadmap generator that:

• Analyzes your current profile (resume, LinkedIn, GitHub)
  
• Identifies skill gaps based on your target goal
  
• Generates a dynamic, tree-structured roadmap
  
• Suggests:
  • What to learn
    
  • What to build
    
  • Who to connect with
    
• Continuously updates your roadmap as you progress
  

How we built it

• Frontend: Interactive canvas-based tree UI for roadmap visualization
  
• Backend: API-first architecture storing roadmaps as JSON graphs
  
• AI Layer (Gemini):
  • Resume & profile parsing
    
  • Gap analysis
    
  • Roadmap generation
    
  • Personalized recommendations
    
• Integrations:
  • Gmail (for outreach emails)
    
  • Google Calendar (task scheduling)
    
  • Notion (progress tracking)
    

Challenges we ran into

• Converting abstract career goals into structured, actionable steps
  
• Designing a dynamic tree system that updates in real-time
  
• Ensuring recommendations are relevant and not generic
  
• Handling changing user goals without breaking the roadmap
  
• Integrating multiple tools (email, calendar, Notion) smoothly
  

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Built a fully personalized roadmap system, not just static suggestions
  
• Created a living system that adapts as users progress
  
• Combined multiple data sources into one unified experience
  
• Designed a visual, intuitive tree interface for career planning
  
• Made AI actionable—not just informative
  

What we learned

• Personalization is more valuable than content volume
  
• Real-world data (people, paths, experiences) is key to guidance
  
• Users need direction + execution, not just learning resources
  
• Building adaptive systems is more impactful than static solutions
  
• Simplicity in UX is critical for complex systems
  

What's next for PathForge

• Real-time roadmap generation (streaming UI)
  
• Smarter peer comparison using anonymized data
  
• Browser extension for contextual recommendations
  
• Scaling for universities, bootcamps, and organizations
  

Built With

• canvas
• express.js
• gemini
• gmailmcp
• googlecalandermcp
• nextjs
• openclaw
• postgresql