🐾 Pet Travel Guide

AI-powered research tool for international pet travel requirements

⏱️ Build time: ~3 hours
🛠️ Built with: Replit, Perplexity AI
🎯 Purpose: Help pet owners research travel requirements for dogs and cats across countries

What It Does

This web application helps pet owners navigate the complex requirements for traveling internationally with pets. It uses AI-powered research through the Perplexity API to search official government sources and present organized, actionable requirements.

Key capabilities:

• 🤖 AI-powered research using Perplexity to find official government sources
• 📝 Organizes requirements into entry (destination) and exit (origin) phases
• 🏷️ Smart categorization by health, documentation, quarantine, and general requirements
• ⚠️ Flags critical mandatory requirements
• ⚡ 24-hour intelligent caching to reduce API calls
• 📱 Mobile-first responsive design

Tech Stack

Frontend:

• React 18 with TypeScript
• Wouter - Client-side routing
• TanStack Query - Server state management
• Tailwind CSS with shadcn/ui components
• Vite - Build tooling

Backend:

• Node.js with Express
• Perplexity AI API - AI-powered research
• Zod - Runtime validation
• In-memory caching system

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Perplexity API key (Get one here)
• Replit account (for easy deployment) or local development environment

Setup

Option 1: Deploy on Replit (Easiest)

1. Fork this repository on Replit
2. Add your Perplexity API key in Secrets:
   • Key: PERPLEXITY_API_KEY
   • Value: Your API key
3. Click "Run"
4. Your app will be live at your Replit URL

Option 2: Local Development

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/irivelez/PetTravelGuide.git
cd PetTravelGuide

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file:

PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
NODE_ENV=development

4. Run the development server:

npm run dev

The app will be available at http://localhost:5000

How It Works

The System

The application combines a React frontend with an Express backend that interfaces with Perplexity AI:

1. User Input: Select origin country, destination country, and pet type (dog/cat)
2. AI Research: Backend queries Perplexity AI with structured prompts to search official sources
3. Data Processing: Response is parsed and organized into entry/exit requirements
4. Smart Categorization: Requirements are automatically categorized and critical items are flagged
5. Caching: Results are cached for 24 hours to improve performance
6. Display: Frontend presents organized, easy-to-understand requirements

Output

The application provides:

• Entry Requirements: What the destination country requires
• Exit Requirements: What the origin country requires for departure
• Categorized Information: Health, documentation, quarantine, and general requirements
• Critical Alerts: Mandatory requirements highlighted
• Source References: Links to official government sources when available

Features

• AI-powered research from official government sources
• Dual-phase requirement organization (entry/exit)
• Smart categorization system
• Critical requirement flagging
• 24-hour intelligent caching
• Mobile-responsive design
• Clean, trustworthy UI inspired by travel platforms
• TypeScript for type safety
• Real-time loading states and error handling

Limitations

• Requires active Perplexity API key (paid service)
• Research quality depends on availability of official government sources
• Cached results may not reflect very recent regulation changes
• Currently supports dogs and cats only
• English language interface only
• No database persistence (in-memory cache only)

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⚡️ Built in ~3 hours • Part of thexperiment.dev