Serve Agent

Inspiration

I wanted to help people who need food, health care, rent, or other support but do not know where to start. Benefit programs can be confusing, different in every state, and difficult for people who prefer Spanish.

What it does

ServeAgent helps a user understand possible benefit programs based on their state and household information. It gives a simple screening result, shows official links, lists useful documents, translates the same answer into Spanish, and creates action-plan PDFs. It does not apply for benefits or make the final government decision.

How we built it

I built the website with React and Vite for the frontend, and FastAPI for the backend.

The app uses simple rules to create the screening result. Qwen3 through Ollama can explain or translate that result, but it does not make the eligibility decision. I used SQLite for users, sessions, usage limits, and saved session context. I also added login, Google OAuth setup, PDF downloads, streaming updates, tests, and GitHub Actions.

Codex and GPT-5.6 helped me build features faster, improve the design, write tests, and organize the project.

Challenges we ran into

A major challenge was making sure the app did not give New Jersey information to a user from another state. Another challenge was making Spanish translation match the original English result instead of creating a different answer.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am proud that ServeAgent is a working full-stack project, not just a design idea. It has state selection, English and Spanish support, Qwen3 AI support, safe AI boundaries, user login, session memory, official-source links, downloadable preparation sheets, automated tests, and CI checks.

What we learned

I learned that AI should not make sensitive decisions by itself. The safer approach is to use simple rules for the decision and use AI only to explain, translate, and answer limited follow-up questions. I also learned the importance of privacy, clear wording, testing, and listening to user feedback.

What's next for Serve Agent

Next, I would add verified and regularly updated benefit rules for every state, more official local resources, a production database, stronger security, accessibility improvements, and better testing with real users. The goal is to make ServeAgent a trustworthy guide that helps people understand their next step without replacing government agencies.

Built With

• codex
• gemini
• openai
• vscode