What it is
Resilience Coach is an adult-guided, evidence-informed practice app for children ages 6–8. It helps a child rehearse what to do during small, hard everyday moments such as waiting and sharing, making a mistake, or coping with a change of plans. It is not therapy, diagnostic, or a replacement for professional care. Activities are intentionally short and designed for a trusted grown-up to participate nearby. I run a website called skillforchildren.com and I focus on providing free resources to caregivers to help children build the skills they need to get though life. I am a social worker by trade so having tools like Codex and models like GPT 5.6 are incredible so my ideas can come to life.
How it works
Children and grown-ups can choose between two complementary experiences:
- Picture Story: illustrated, tap-based scenarios that follow a simple resilience arc: notice, choose, practice, check, and plan.
- Talk It Through: a bounded conversation in which the child taps clear choices or enters a few made-up words and receives a brief, age-appropriate response.
A transcript-free Grown-up View summarizes the skill practiced, what support helped, and one next-time plan—without scores, diagnoses, disclosure rewards, or surveillance-style transcripts.
GPT-5.6, Codex, and safety
Codex was used throughout the primary build session to turn the concept and fixed child-facing behavior specification into the database schema, TypeScript server, MCP tools, Apps SDK widget, safety logic, automated tests, responsive interface, deployment, and documentation.
GPT-5.6 powers the narrow conversational coaching loop through the OpenAI Responses API. Responses are constrained to a strict structure: one short child-friendly message and up to three tappable choices. Requests use low reasoning effort and store: false.
Before text reaches the model, deterministic server-side screening checks for possible danger, abuse, neglect, or self-harm. If detected, the activity locks and displays fixed language directing the child to a trusted adult. The flagged content is not sent to the model.
The public MCP endpoint exposes three bounded tools: load a synthetic child practice profile, save a small non-clinical summary, and record a simulated safety handoff. Supabase stores the synthetic practice data, while Vercel hosts the working application and server.
Codex also directed the production of the original illustration system: it documented character consistency, prompts, accessibility criteria, cropping and optimization requirements, and helped integrate and verify the finished assets.
Try it
Open the live demo, choose a Picture Story or Talk It Through, and practice together with a grown-up. No account or credentials are required.
Built With
- codex
- express.js
- model-context-protocol-(mcp)
- openai-apps-sdk
- openai-gpt-5.6
- openai-responses-api
- supabase
- typescript
- vercel
