Coverage: IB networking desk

A dashboard that handles the repetitive parts of investment banking recruiting:

1. Enrich contact info. Upload your recruiting .xlsx, view it as a spreadsheet, and fill in blank emails from each person's LinkedIn URL and name (Apollo, with Hunter as a fallback). Write the results back into the same file.
2. Find people. Google-search public LinkedIn profiles for each bank (via Serper). AI screens each profile against your criteria: Tech IB or NY Generalist, not Healthcare, UC grad or from Washington State, and based in CA or NY. Add matches to the right bank tab.
3. Email drafts. Select contacts, auto-assign templates (AI or keyword rules), have AI fill the personal [[AI: …]] lines, and create Gmail drafts with your resume attached.
4. Bank coverage. Every bank you could recruit at, sorted into reached out, have contacts but haven't emailed, and cold (no contacts yet), with a progress bar, this week's email count, and one-click next steps ("Draft emails", "Find people").
5. Follow-ups. Track each banker and each bank, split by SF and NY. Sync Sent mail and replies from Gmail, draft in-thread follow-ups, and get reminders by browser notification, phone push (ntfy), SMS (Twilio), or calendar (.ics).

How data is handled

Everyone brings their own keys. Contacts, templates, your resume, and the uploaded workbook are stored in the browser (IndexedDB). The /api/* routes forward each request to Apollo, Serper, Anthropic, or Twilio with the caller's key and store nothing. Gmail calls go straight from the browser to Google. Several people can use one deployment without seeing each other's data.

Trade-off: data lives in a single browser. Use Settings → Export backup to move it to another machine.

Which keys you need

Everything is set in Settings & keys in the app. Each service shows connected or not set, what it's for, and a link to get the key. The sidebar counts the four core services, and each feature tells you when a key it needs is missing.

• Every key is tested live before it's saved. Model lists and account endpoints are free to call. The one exception is Serper, which spends 1 search on the test. A bad key shows the provider's error and isn't stored.
• Several keys per service. Keys are tried top to bottom. If one is invalid, rate-limited or out of credits, the next is used automatically. Use the ↑ button to set the primary.
• Any AI provider: Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, GLM (Z.ai, or mainland open.bigmodel.cn), any OpenAI-compatible API, or a Vercel AI Gateway key. The model list comes from your key, and a model is switched to only after it answers a test prompt.

Service	Needed for	Cost
Apollo (or Hunter)	Enrich contact info: finds missing emails	Apollo free plan includes some credits · Hunter 25 free/month
Serper or Brave Search	Find people: web search of public LinkedIn profiles (Brave is the automatic backup)	Serper: 2,500 free searches · Brave: free plan
AI: Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, GLM…	AI screening, auto-assigning templates, writing personalized lines, organizing imported templates	Pay per use, usually cents per batch (Gemini has a free tier)
Google OAuth Client ID (no secret needed)	Creating Gmail drafts and syncing sent mail and replies	Free
ntfy topic · WhatsApp (CallMeBot) · Twilio	Phone reminders (all optional)	ntfy and CallMeBot free · Twilio paid

Without keys you can still upload your sheet, view and edit it, track statuses and follow-ups, fill templates (placeholders only, no AI), open drafts in your mail app, and export follow-ups to your calendar.

Reminders: text, push and WhatsApp

Follow-ups are due 7 days after your last email (Follow-up #1, then #2). After 2 follow-ups plus 7 more days, the app suggests moving on. All of these numbers are in Settings. The Follow-ups → Reminders & alerts tab groups everything due into one message per day at 9am.

Channel	Free?	Can schedule ahead?	Setup
Calendar (.ics)	✅	✅ any date	Download, open, and add to Google or Apple Calendar
ntfy push	✅	✅ up to 3 days	Install the app and subscribe to a topic
WhatsApp via CallMeBot	✅ (personal use)	❌ send-now only	Message the bot once to get a key
Browser notification	✅	❌ only while the dashboard is open	Click Enable
Twilio SMS	❌ ~$1/mo number + ~1¢/text	✅ 15 min – 35 days	See below

Free and zero-effort: download the .ics now and then, and your phone calendar handles the alerts. Add ntfy if you want real push notifications.

ntfy (free push)

1. Install ntfy (iOS or Android) and tap + to subscribe to a long random topic, e.g. coverage-yourname-8x2kq7. Anyone who guesses the topic can read it.
2. Paste the same topic into Settings, then go to Follow-ups → Reminders → Send test.
3. Schedule next 3 days queues the 9am digests. Press it again every few days.

WhatsApp (free, CallMeBot)

1. Save +34 694 23 41 84 as a contact and WhatsApp it: I allow callmebot to send me messages.
2. It replies with an API key within about 2 minutes. If nothing arrives, try again after 24h.
3. Put your WhatsApp number (with country code, e.g. +14255550123) and the key into Settings, then click WhatsApp me today's list.

This only messages your own number and can't schedule, so for now it's an on-demand "what's due today" ping. An automatic 9am ping is planned; see TODO.md.

Twilio SMS (paid, schedulable)

1. Sign up at twilio.com. A trial account can text only your own verified number, which is all this needs.
2. Phone Numbers → Buy a number with SMS capability.
3. Messaging → Services → Create Messaging Service and add that number as a sender. Copy the service ID (MG…). Scheduled texts need it.
4. From the console home page, copy the Account SID and Auth Token.
5. In Settings, fill in Account SID, Auth token, From number (or the MG… ID), and your own phone number.
6. Text me today's list sends right away. Schedule upcoming queues daily texts up to 35 days out.

For US numbers, Twilio may require A2P 10DLC registration (a short form, a few days) before texts deliver reliably. Toll-free numbers need toll-free verification instead.

Why not fully automatic daily texts?

All data lives in your browser, so the server doesn't know who's due, and a server cron job has nothing to send. Scheduling ahead (ntfy, Twilio, calendar) covers this. Real server-side daily sends need a small database plus a Vercel Cron job. That's planned; see TODO.md.

Run locally

npm install
npm run dev   # http://localhost:3000
npm run check:workbook -- "your file.xlsx"   # verify the parser against a real workbook
npm run check:templates -- "templates.docx"  # preview how a templates doc will be imported

Deploy to Vercel

Easiest: push to GitHub, then at vercel.com/new import the repo. Every push to main deploys to production, and other branches get preview URLs.

Or from the CLI:

npm i -g vercel
vercel        # first deploy, links the project
vercel --prod

No environment variables are required. Optional: NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID sets a default Gmail Client ID for everyone using your deployment, so each user only has to be added as a test user. Put it in .env.local for local dev. It is not a secret.

Gmail setup (one time, ~10 minutes)

You only need the Client ID. You don't need the Client secret. The app signs in with Google's popup in the browser (token model), which uses only the Client ID. A secret must never be put in a web page, so keep it private or delete it. The same steps are in the app under Settings → Gmail → step-by-step setup, along with a Test Gmail connection button that tells you which step is wrong.

1. Create a project: console.cloud.google.com/projectcreate.
2. Enable the Gmail API: Gmail API → Enable.
3. Consent screen: Google Auth Platform → Get started. Enter an app name and your email, choose audience External. Then go to Audience → Test users and add every Gmail address that will use the app. Leave the app in Testing; no Google verification is needed for up to 100 test users.
4. Client ID: Clients → Create client → Web application.
   • Authorized JavaScript origins: your site, e.g. https://your-app.vercel.app, and http://localhost:3000 for local dev. No trailing slash.
   • Authorized redirect URIs: leave empty (the popup flow doesn't use them).
5. Copy the Client ID (ends in .apps.googleusercontent.com) into Settings → Gmail, or set NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID in Vercel.
6. Click Test Gmail connection. Google will warn that the app "hasn't been verified". That's expected for your own test app: click Continue and tick both Gmail permissions.

Common errors:

• Error 400: origin_mismatch: the exact site URL isn't in Authorized JavaScript origins. Changes take a few minutes to apply.
• Access blocked / access_denied: your Gmail isn't listed under Test users.
• "Gmail API has not been used in project…": step 2 was skipped.

Scopes: gmail.compose (create drafts) and gmail.readonly (sync sent mail and replies). The app never sends email itself; drafts wait for you in Gmail. Official walkthrough: Gmail API JavaScript quickstart.

Finding people on LinkedIn

Two ways, and you can use both:

1. Search APIs (Serper, or Brave as a backup) look up public LinkedIn profiles through a web search for each bank, and AI screens them. The default queries are kept under Google's 32-word limit, because longer queries get silently cut off. The query editor warns you if one gets too long.
2. "Send to Coverage" bookmark. On Find people, drag the button to your bookmarks bar. Then run a normal LinkedIn People search using LinkedIn's filters (Current company, School, Locations), scroll so the results load, and click the bookmark. The profiles on screen open in Find people and get AI-screened. The bank is guessed from each headline, or taken from the AI's "current employer". Clicking it on a single profile captures much more detail (education, past roles).

Why there's no automatic LinkedIn scraper: LinkedIn's User Agreement (§8.2) bans bots and scrapers, and it restricts accounts that load pages in an automated pattern, especially from cloud servers (which is where this app runs). The bookmark only reads the page you already have open, never loads LinkedIn pages itself, and runs only when you click it. That makes it about as risky as copy-pasting.

Bank coverage

The bank list is built from your contacts, every bank tab (even empty ones), and any list of firms in the spreadsheet. That means a tab with an "Institution Name" column (plus an optional "Institution Type"), or a tab with one category per column like "Investment Banks (Bulge Bracket)". Only IB and PE categories are used from those. Name variants are merged (JPMorgan = JP Morgan, Jeffries = Jefferies, FinTech Partners = FT Partners…). Hide banks you're not recruiting for, add any by hand, or switch on a standard IB target list. A bank is reached once any email to someone there has gone out. It's gone quiet when it was reached, nobody replied, and nothing's been sent in 3+ weeks.

Gmail sync

Once Gmail is connected (one click per browser session; the sidebar shows Connect Gmail sync), the app reads your Sent mail and inbox every 20 minutes while it's open:

• the real date of each first email, how many follow-ups went out (counted up to the first reply), and whether they replied;
• for contacts whose email is missing, it searches Sent mail by their name. If the recipient's name or address matches, the email is filled in (marked gmail as the source), along with the dates.

Statuses only move forward (it never un-does a "replied" or lowers a follow-up count you set). Google doesn't let a web page get a Gmail token without a click, so fully background sync with the tab closed needs a server-side setup (see TODO.md).

Signatures, formatting and backup models

• Emails are created in Gmail with the same formatting as Gmail's own editor: full-width lines and single blank lines between paragraphs. Your signature line ([email protected] | LinkedIn) is added under your name, with the email and LinkedIn as blue, clickable links. Set your email and LinkedIn URL in Settings → profile, or write a custom line: the word "LinkedIn" in it links to your profile, and phone numbers stay plain text (not clickable). Drafts use Garamond by default (Settings → Email font).

Working with Claude Code on this repo

Messages you send while Claude is mid-task get handed over as soon as its current step finishes. To make a request wait until the whole task is done, send it as /later <request> (a project command in .claude/commands/later.md). Slash commands are held until the turn ends.

• Backup models: if your main AI model hits a rate or daily limit (e.g. Gemini's free tier), the app automatically moves to the next model: other models from the same provider first (each has its own quota), then your other providers. You'll see a notice when it switches. Settings → AI shows the order, and you can customize it.
• Drafting with context: the Drafts page has a collapsible At this firm panel. It shows who you've already emailed or talked to at the banks you've selected (dates, follow-ups, replies, notes, your 2-live-per-bank limit) and can show those rows spreadsheet-style.

Email templates

The app ships with 14 ready-to-use templates adapted from a real IB networking playbook:

• Standard, and VP/MD-and-above.
• Same-school, business-school, club, UC and same-city alums, plus USC.
• Hometown, and hometown high school.
• Non-target school, and same major.
• Two follow-ups.

Fill in your profile in Settings (name, school, school nickname and city, major, club, hometown, and a one-line background) and they're ready. "Auto-assign" picks the right template for each contact from your notes and their school/title.

Import your own: Drafts → Templates → Import doc takes a Word .docx, a Google Doc (download as .docx, or paste a link to a doc shared as "anyone with the link"), or .txt/.md. It works best when:

• each template is its own tab, heading or bold title;
• the subject line sits just above "Hi NAME,";
• blanks are written in ALL CAPS (NAME, FIRM, POSITION, SCHOOL, HOMETOWN, CLUB, CITY, X HIGH SCHOOL…);
• instructions to yourself are in [brackets].

NAME is resolved by position: in the greeting it's the contact, after "My name is" or as the sign-off it's you.

Is the import 100% accurate? Not guaranteed, which is why nothing is saved until you review it. The rule-based parser handles documents structured like the above very reliably. Every substitution is listed and highlighted, and unfamiliar ALL-CAPS words are flagged. The optional AI pass only names templates and resolves flagged blanks. If it changes any of your wording, its edits are thrown out automatically. For a one-time import, a two-minute skim of the review screen gets you to 100%.

Spreadsheet format

Any tab with a Name column (or First Name + Last Name) plus an Email or LinkedIn column counts as a contact table. Optional columns: Position, Location/Team, Status, Connection / Comment, Company. The bank comes from a tab title like "JP Morgan Application Tracker", or from the tab name. SF and NY people live in the same bank tab; the region comes from the Location/Team column (for example NY · Tech). Rows with no location default to SF. Old (NY) tabs still work.

Status values: "Sent" means emailed. "Pending" means queued and not sent yet. Each bank has a cap on live people (default 2: emailed and still waiting for a reply). The bank view shows who's next when a slot opens.

Write-back only changes: emails found, status changes (e.g. "Sent", "Followed up (1x)", "Replied"), and new people added into blank numbered rows of the right bank tab, or into a new Prospects tab. Everything else in the workbook is left as is.

Notes and limits

• Saving back to your .xlsx works in Chrome and Edge (File System Access API). If the file lives in OneDrive, right-click it and choose Always keep on this device, and close it in Excel before saving. If the file changed on disk since you imported it (Excel autosave, OneDrive sync), the app re-reads it first and applies its changes on top, so your Excel edits aren't lost. "An operation that depends on state cached in an interface object…" means OneDrive or Excel touched the file mid-read. The app now retries automatically; if it persists, close Excel and wait for OneDrive to finish syncing.

• Find people never logs in to LinkedIn or scrapes it. It only reads public Google search snippets, so a school or hometown sometimes can't be confirmed. Those people land under Maybe for you to review.

• Apollo's search endpoint hides last names. Enabling Apollo in Find people spends credits to reveal each person.