Rant And Heal

Rant & Heal Logo

Inspiration

Many people silently carry emotional burdens because they don’t have access to therapists or simply don’t feel comfortable talking to someone.
I wanted to create a space where anyone could speak freely, feel heard, and begin their healing journey — even if it's just with a voice and a bit of empathy. That’s how Rant and Heal was born, with MomoBuddy as a comfort-first AI psychologist designed to listen without judgment.

What it does

Rant and Heal is an AI-powered mental health platform that gives users a safe space to express their emotions through voice and text. It helps users in three core ways:

Let it go: A safe space where users can type what's on their mind, helping them release emotional tension privately.
Talk to MomoBuddy (AI Companion): Users can have real-time voice conversations with an empathetic AI agent named MomoBuddy, powered by Google's Gemini API. The AI listens, understands, and responds with warmth and care — no judgment, no diagnosis.
Book Appointments with Real Therapists – When users are ready, they can schedule real therapy appointments directly through the app by selecting a date, time, and sharing a note about what they're going through.

How we built it

I built the app using:

Next.js for the frontend framework
Clerk for seamless authentication
Google Gemini API for empathetic, human-like AI responses
Vapi to enable real-time voice communication between users and the AI
Tailwind CSS and ShadCN for the UI
Firebase Firestore for database

I designed each part of the flow to feel warm, human-like, and emotionally intuitive.

Challenges we ran into

I had trouble accessing Clerk’s userId on the server, which made it hard to link users to their data in Firebase.
Real-time voice transcription wasn’t always accurate, which affected how naturally the AI could respond.
With limited time, I had to skip features like real-time emotion analysis and professional therapist dashboards, which I originally planned to include.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a working AI voice psychologist that feels emotionally present.
Created a full support flow: speak → feel heard → book real help.
Designed a safe, warm UI that doesn't feel clinical or robotic.

What we learned

How to work with multiple APIs and services and keep them in sync across client/server boundaries.
The importance of UI when dealing with emotional health tools — even button text and colors matter.

What's next for Rant And Heal

Add a therapist dashboard to let professionals manage appointments and view sessions (with user consent).
Integrate video calling feature with the AI agent
Improve the mood detection and sentiment analysis using facial expression and voice tone.
Expand language support for better cultural accessibility.