Brian Seo — Portfolio

A personal website where I keep my work, experiments, and a lightweight chat that answers questions about me and my projects.

Developer: Brian Seo

About

It's a Next.js app for my portfolio. You'll find a short intro, selected projects, and a simple chatbot you can ask about my background, tech stack, and what I've built. The goal: fast to load, easy to read, and easy for me (or you) to extend.

Quick start

# 1) Install dependencies
npm install
# (or: yarn / pnpm / bun)

# 2) Run the dev server
npm run dev

# App runs at:
# http://localhost:3000

Requirements (if you want to use the chatbot)

1. Install deps (npm install).

2. Put your LLM API key(s) in .env.local.

3. Adjust the intent/knowledge files to match your info:

   • intent.js
   • knowledgeBase.js
   • data.js

4. Install your model/client of choice (OpenAI shown below, but any LLM client works).

Example .env.local:

# Use whichever provider/model you prefer, make sure that chatbot matches the LLM model you use
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
# Optional public config:
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME=Brian Seo — Portfolio

Scripts

npm run dev       # Start local dev
npm run build     # Production build
npm run start     # Run the built app
npm run lint      # Lint (if configured)

Customizing the chatbot

All the "who is Brian / what's this project" answers come from a tiny knowledge layer—no vector DB needed to get started.

• intent.js – lightweight routing for question types (about me, projects, contact, etc.)
• knowledgeBase.js – your facts/answers live here, gets converted into searchable chunks for the AI
• data.js – structured project portfolio data (titles, descriptions, tech stacks, links)

Swap the LLM client if you want: OpenAI, Groq, Anthropic, LM Studio, local models—just adapt the small API wrapper you'll see in the code.

Project structure (simplified)

src/app/
  page.js               # Landing page
  components/           # React components
  utils/
    intent.js           # Intent routing logic
    knowledgeBase.js    # RAG knowledge extraction
  data.js               # Project portfolio data
  api/chat/
    route.js            # Chatbot API endpoint
public/
  (images, fonts)       # Static assets
.env.local              # Your API keys (not committed)

Common gotchas (and fixes)

"It won't start / weird build errors."
You may need to rebuild the ephemeral folders that are in .gitignore.

# Remove and rebuild
rm -rf .next node_modules
npm install
npm run build

Make sure .gitignore contains:

.next/
node_modules/

API keys not found: Verify .env.local exists at the project root and you restarted the dev server after edits.

Deployment

You can deploy anywhere that supports Next.js.

• Vercel: Zero-config for Next.js; connect the repo and set your env vars.
• Self-host: npm run build then npm run start behind your reverse proxy.

Remember to set your environment variables in the hosting platform before going live.

Why I built this

I wanted a clean place to point people to my work and a small, configurable chat that answers common questions about me without over-engineering. It's simple on purpose.

License & reuse

All content (projects, copy, images) is mine. Feel free to use the structure as reference, but please don't copy my personal content verbatim.

Contact

Have a question or feedback? Open an issue or ask the site's chat.
Thanks for visiting!