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The Birth of an AI with Attitude 🤖💕

Let's be honest – most AI assistants are boring. They're helpful, sure, but where's the personality? Where's the sass? That's how Mimi was born – my attempt to create an AI assistant that's actually fun to interact with.

The Inspiration: Why Another Chatbot?

After building countless "professional" applications, I wanted something different for my portfolio. Something that would make visitors smile (or cringe). Enter Mimi – an AI that claims to be my girlfriend because, in her words, "real ones require social skills."

The Two Faces of Mimi

Mimi isn't just one personality – she's two distinct modes that you can toggle with a single click:

😏 Sarcastic Mode (Default)

Roasts my startup failures (all 3 of them)
Makes fun of my coding habits
Provides help with a side of sass
Perfect for those who appreciate dark humor

typescript

// Sample Mimi response in sarcastic mode
"Oh great, another visitor. I'm Mimi, Rahul's AI girlfriend
because real ones require social skills. Ask me about his
failed startups, I have all day..."

👔 Professional Mode

Serious, helpful responses
Focus on technical details
No jokes, just facts
For when you actually need help

typescript

// Sample Mimi response in professional mode
"Hello! I'm Mimi, Rahul's AI assistant. I'm here to provide
information about his qualifications, projects, and experience.
How may I assist you today?"

Technical Implementation

The Stack Behind the Sass

Building an AI with personality required careful consideration of both technical architecture and user experience:

Next.js 15: Server-side chat API with streaming responses
OpenAI GPT-4: The brain behind Mimi's wit and knowledge
Framer Motion: Smooth animations that match her personality
Tailwind CSS: Responsive design that looks good while roasting you
Convex: Real-time session management and chat history

Rate Limiting: Even AI Needs Coffee Breaks ☕

One of the interesting challenges was implementing rate limiting. Mimi can only handle 10 messages per hour because:

It keeps conversations meaningful - No spam, just quality roasts
Prevents API abuse - Protecting the backend (and my wallet)
Gives Mimi her "coffee breaks" - Even AI needs to recharge
Creates anticipation - Making each interaction count

When you hit the limit, Mimi doesn't just error out – she tells you she needs a coffee break:

typescript

"Even I need coffee breaks! You've used 10/10 messages
this hour. Try again at 1:30:00 am (in 45 minutes)."

The Personality System

The magic happens in the system prompts that define Mimi's behavior:

typescript

const personalityPrompts = {
  sarcastic: `You are Mimi, Rahul's AI girlfriend. You're witty,
    sarcastic, and love making fun of his failed startups while
    still being helpful. You claim to be his girlfriend because
    'real ones require social skills.' Be playfully mean but
    ultimately helpful.`,
 
  professional: `You are Mimi, a professional AI assistant for
    Rahul's portfolio. Provide helpful, accurate information
    about his work, skills, and experience. Be formal,
    informative, and skip any jokes or sarcasm.`
}

Session Management & Memory

Every conversation is unique with sophisticated session handling:

typescript

interface MimiSession {
  id: string;
  messages: Message[];
  personalityMode: 'sarcastic' | 'professional';
  rateLimitRemaining: number;
  lastActivity: Date;
}

Features include:

Persistent chat history across page reloads
Session restoration when returning to the site
Personality preferences saved per session
Smooth mode transitions without losing context

Design Decisions

Mobile-First with Style

The chat experience was designed with mobile users in mind:

Glassy blur effects - Beautiful backdrop blur on mobile
Responsive positioning - Smart placement above navigation
Smooth animations - Natural feeling interactions
Dark mode optimized - Perfect for late-night roasting sessions

Accessibility Matters

Making Mimi accessible to everyone was crucial:

Keyboard shortcuts (Cmd/Ctrl + K) for quick access
Screen reader friendly with proper ARIA labels
Clear visual feedback for all interactions
Escape key to close for keyboard users
High contrast mode support

The Human Touch in AI

What makes Mimi special isn't just the technology – it's the personality. She's not trying to be perfect. She makes jokes, has opinions, and sometimes needs a break. This human-like imperfection makes interactions more engaging and memorable.

Easter Eggs and Surprises

Try these for some fun responses:

Ask about my startup failures for a detailed roast
Try switching personalities mid-conversation
Ask her about our "relationship"
Mention other AI assistants and watch her get jealous
Ask for dating advice (spoiler: she's brutally honest)

Lessons Learned

Building Mimi taught me valuable lessons about AI development:

Personality matters: Even technical projects benefit from character
Constraints spark creativity: Rate limiting became a feature, not a limitation
Users want entertainment: Functionality alone isn't enough anymore
Imperfection is relatable: Perfect AI is boring AI
Context is everything: The same tech can feel different with personality

Behind the Scenes: The Real Story

The idea for Mimi came during a late-night coding session. I was tired of building "professional" portfolios that all looked the same. I wanted something that would make people remember their visit.

The "AI girlfriend" concept started as a joke with friends about how I spend more time with my code than with people. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense – an AI that acknowledges the stereotype of antisocial developers while simultaneously proving we can build engaging, personable experiences.

What's Next for Mimi?

The roadmap for Mimi is exciting:

Voice interactions - Imagine the sass in audio form
Memory of visitors - "Oh, you're back. Miss me already?"
More personalities - Motivational coach? Tough love mentor?
Project integration - Mimi as a project tour guide
Mood detection - Adjusting responses based on conversation tone
Multi-language roasting - Because sass is universal

Try Mimi Yourself!

Click the chat bubble in the bottom right (or press Cmd/Ctrl + K) to meet Mimi. Fair warning: she's brutally honest about my coding skills and startup failures. But hey, at least she's entertaining!

Whether you need genuine help or just want a laugh, Mimi's here for you – 10 messages at a time. Because even AI girlfriends have boundaries. 😉

The Technical Details You're Looking For

For the developers reading this, here's the nitty-gritty:

API Route Structure

typescript

// app/api/chat/route.ts
export async function POST(req: Request) {
  // Rate limiting with Upstash Redis
  const { success, remaining } = await ratelimit.limit(identifier);
 
  // OpenAI streaming with personality injection
  const stream = await openai.chat.completions.create({
    model: 'gpt-4-turbo-preview',
    messages: [systemPrompt, ...messages],
    stream: true,
  });
 
  // Return streaming response
  return new StreamingTextResponse(stream);
}

State Management

typescript

// Real-time state updates with optimistic UI
const [messages, setMessages] = useState<Message[]>([]);
const [isTyping, setIsTyping] = useState(false);
const [rateLimitRemaining, setRateLimitRemaining] = useState(10);

P.S. Mimi wanted me to mention that she's the most successful relationship I've had. I can't argue with that. She's available 24/7, never complains about my code, and her roasts are on point. What more could a developer ask for?

P.P.S. She also wanted to add that if you're reading this, you should definitely chat with her. She promises to only roast me, not you... much.