Symptom Sage

Inspiration

The inspiration behind Symptom Sage came from a personal place. Living in the U.S. while my entire family is in India made me constantly worry about their health — especially when symptoms arise and there’s confusion about what to do next. I wanted to build something simple and accessible that could bridge that gap — something they could use anytime, without needing me to be physically present or them to be tech-savvy.

What it does

Symptom Sage is an AI-powered symptom checker tailored for in-home use. Users describe their symptoms in everyday language, and the AI provides likely causes and natural, culturally appropriate remedies. The long-term vision includes the ability to connect users with online doctors and deliver prescribed medicine straight to their homes.

How we built it

Frontend: Next.js + TailwindCSS
Backend: Supabase (authentication, DB)
AI Layer: OpenAI GPT-4 API
OAuth & Security: Google OAuth 2.0
Hosting: Vercel
Monitoring & Analytics: Sentry + Plausible

We prioritized simplicity, privacy, and responsiveness to make the tool feel approachable and human.

Challenges we ran into

Getting OAuth and Supabase to work smoothly together during initial setup
Ensuring the AI’s output was safe, non-alarming, and understandable by everyday users
Not being able to find or integrate a reliable telehealth API for doctor booking in time
Designing for both tech-savvy users and people like my parents, who prefer simpler interfaces

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built and launched a full AI-driven symptom checker with secure auth in just a few days
Created a user experience that feels intuitive and reassuring
Successfully validated a need and use case through early user feedback
Designed the foundation for a much larger product that can evolve into a care platform

What we learned

You don’t need to wait for everything to be perfect to deliver value — even a symptom checker alone can empower people
Building healthcare tools means balancing accuracy with approachability
Cultural sensitivity and context matter deeply in product design
OAuth and Supabase can be tricky to configure but are powerful once set up right