Building My First AI Note-Taking Assistant: A Journey with Next.js, TypeScript, and OpenAI

2024-07-20

Today, I'm thrilled to share my latest personal project with you all: an AI-powered note-taking assistant! This project marks my first venture into the world of artificial intelligence, and I couldn’t be more excited about the outcome. I used Next.js for the framework, TypeScript for the language, Drizzle for database management, OpenAI for the AI model, Firebase for image storage, and deployed the entire full-stack application on Vercel. It’s been an incredible journey, and I’m delighted to walk you through the process and features of this innovative app.

Project Overview:

Authentication with Clerk Auth

To ensure a secure and personalized user experience, I integrated Clerk Auth for user authentication. Upon signing in, users are redirected to their personalized dashboard where they can manage their notes.

Creating a New Note

Users can easily create a new note by entering a title. The title is sent to OpenAI, which generates a matching image that is stored on Firebase and displayed alongside the note. This makes the note-taking experience more visually appealing and engaging.

AI-Powered Autocomplete

As users type the content of their notes, they can click the submit button to let the AI autocomplete their sentences. This feature leverages the power of OpenAI to enhance productivity and creativity, making note-taking faster and more intuitive.

CRUD Functionality

The application supports full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations. Users can create new notes, read and update existing ones, and delete notes they no longer need. This functionality is implemented using REST endpoints, ensuring a seamless and efficient user experience.

Deployment on Vercel

Deploying the project on Vercel was a breeze. Vercel’s robust platform allowed me to focus on development without worrying about deployment complexities. The integration with Next.js is seamless, making it the perfect choice for this project.

Challenges and Learnings

Working on this project was a great learning experience. Integrating various technologies and ensuring they work harmoniously was both challenging and rewarding.

• Here are a few key takeaways:

1. Integration with OpenAI: Getting the AI model to generate relevant content and images was fascinating. It required fine-tuning and testing to ensure high-quality results.
2. Database Management with Drizzle: Managing the database operations efficiently was crucial for the app’s performance. Drizzle provided a smooth and reliable way to handle data.
3. Deploying on Vercel: Understanding the deployment process and optimizing the app for production was an invaluable experience.

A Note on OpenAI Billing

One thing to keep in mind is that the OpenAI API is not free. If you encounter any issues creating a new note, it might be because I need to renew my billing plan. I’m committed to maintaining the app’s functionality, but there might be occasional downtimes due to billing constraints.

To see the AI note-taking assistant in action, check out this video. It provides a comprehensive overview of the app’s features and functionality.

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating this AI note-taking assistant has been an incredibly rewarding journey. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and excited to see how users will benefit from this tool. Click here to view the website. Click here to view the Github for this project. To see the AI note-taking assistant in action, check out the video below.