Gasel

A research project on AI, Creativity, and design decision making at the University of California, Irvine.

Gasel guides students through structured software-design analysis using Generative AI & the GACIOD Matrix, created by Andre van der Hoek for the use of teaching Software Design I at UC Irvine. GACIOD stands for Goals, Assumptions, Constraints, Ideas, Opinions, and Decisions.

Tech Stack

• Framework: Next.js 16 (App Router)
• Database: PostgreSQL on Neon with Drizzle ORM
• Auth: Neon Auth (email OTP)
• AI: OpenAI GPT-5-mini
• Styling: Tailwind CSS 4

Features

• GACIOD Matrix Management — Create and manage structured analysis sessions with items across six categories
• Four AI Interaction Modes:
  • Generate — Create, update, or delete GACIOD items
  • Insight — Get feedback and analysis on your matrix
  • Critique — Identify gaps, conflicts, and weaknesses
  • Improve — Strengthen existing items with refined alternatives
• Session Persistence — All sessions, items, and chat history saved to PostgreSQL
• Import/Export — Share or back up your sessions

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• A Neon database
• An OpenAI API key

Environment Variables

Create a .env.local file:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-...
NEON_AUTH_BASE_URL=https://...
NEON_AUTH_COOKIE_SECRET=...

Setup

npm install
npx drizzle-kit push    # apply database schema
npm run dev              # start dev server at http://localhost:3000

Project Structure

app/
├── page.tsx              # Home — lists all sessions
├── HomeClient.tsx        # Main client component (state management hub)
├── actions.ts            # Server actions for DB operations
├── db/
│   ├── schema.ts         # Drizzle schema (matrices, items, conversations)
│   └── index.ts          # DB client
├── api/
│   ├── chat/route.ts     # OpenAI chat endpoint (4 AI modes)
│   └── auth/[...path]/   # Neon Auth handlers
└── auth/[path]/          # Auth UI pages

components/
├── Chat.tsx              # Chat interface with structured response rendering
├── ChatSidebar.tsx       # Session switcher
├── GACIODCard.tsx        # Matrix display
├── EditableTable.tsx     # Inline-editable matrix table
└── SuggestionsTimeline.tsx  # AI suggestion timeline

lib/
├── auth/                 # Neon Auth client/server helpers
└── chatStorage.ts        # Chat history utilities

Database Schema

Table	Purpose
matrices	GACIOD sessions (title, question, context)
matrix_items	Individual items per category with sort order
conversations	Chat messages with sequence tracking
user_roles	Role assignments (future RBAC)

License

MIT