Prove

A local-first startup idea validator. Runs a structured AI conversation that pressure-tests your idea across five stages and produces a clear verdict.

Quick start

npx validate-idea

On first run a setup wizard picks your AI provider and API key — then a local web UI opens at http://localhost:8674.

How it works

Submit your idea in one sentence. The AI guides you through five stages:

Stage	What it examines
Clarity	Is the idea specific and well-defined?
Pain & Urgency	Is the problem real, frequent, and urgent?
Differentiation	What exists already, and why does yours differ?
MVP & Validation	What's the smallest testable experiment?
Decision	Build, pivot, or drop — with reasoning

All project data is stored locally under ~/.prove/.

Providers

Provider	Env var
OpenAI	OPENAI_API_KEY
Google Gemini	GEMINI_API_KEY
OpenRouter	OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Config is saved to ~/.prove/config.json after first setup.

Optional: demand research

Set a Tavily API key to enable web research mode — the agent searches forums and discussion threads for real demand signals.

export TAVILY_API_KEY=your_key

CLI commands

prove              Start the server (runs setup on first launch)
prove reset        Clear saved config and re-run setup
prove whoami       Show current provider and model

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	8674	Server port
AI_MODEL	(from config)	Override the model
SEARCH_PROVIDER	none	Set to tavily to enable research
TAVILY_API_KEY	—	Required when SEARCH_PROVIDER=tavily

Development

bun install
bun dev          # starts API + web in watch mode
bun build:cli    # produces a self-contained dist/

Requires Bun ≥ 1.3.