🗺️ Pathwise

An AI-powered travel itinerary planner with route optimization

Pathwise helps you plan multi-destination trips with ease. Add locations to your itinerary, optimize the route using the Christofides algorithm, and get AI-powered recommendations—all in one seamless experience.

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✨ Features

• 🔍 Location Search - Search for places using Google Maps integration
• 📋 Drag-and-Drop Itinerary - Easily reorder your destinations
• 🚀 Route Optimization - Uses the Christofides algorithm to find the optimal path
• 📍 Start/End Points - Designate specific start and end locations for your trip
• 🤖 AI Travel Assistant - Chat with Pathwise AI agent powered by Google Vertex AI (Gemini)
• 📍 AI Location Cards - Get structured place recommendations you can add directly to your map
• 💾 Save & Load Trips - Store your itineraries with Firebase for later access
• 🏷️ AI-Generated Trip Names - Trips automatically get creative names like "Manhattan Art Walk"
• 📤 Export to Google Maps - Open your optimized route directly in Google Maps

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• Next.js 15 with React 18
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• Firebase SDK for authentication and data storage
• @hello-pangea/dnd for drag-and-drop functionality
• react-hot-toast for notifications

Backend

• Python 3.11 with Flask
• Google Cloud Vertex AI (Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite) for AI features
• Google Maps API for geocoding and place search
• NetworkX for graph algorithms (Christofides TSP)
• Firebase Admin SDK for server-side auth and Firestore

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Python 3.11+
• Google Cloud account with APIs enabled:
  • Maps JavaScript API
  • Places API
  • Geocoding API
  • Vertex AI API
• Firebase project with Authentication and Firestore enabled

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/yashc73080/Pathwise.git
cd Pathwise

Backend Setup

cd backend

# Create and activate conda environment
conda create --name trip python=3.11
conda activate trip

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Create .env.local with your credentials
# NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=your_key_here
# GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=your_project_id
# GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/service-account.json

Frontend Setup

cd frontend

# Install dependencies
npm install

Run the Application

1. Desktop Development (Standard)

Start the backend (in backend/ directory):

conda activate trip
python app.py

Start the frontend (in frontend/ directory):

npm run dev # for web
npm run dev -- -H 0.0.0.0 # for mobile browser testing

Visit http://localhost:3000 to use the app.

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📖 Development & Testing

For detailed instructions on:

• Mobile browser testing
• Running as a native app with Capacitor
• Live Reload development
• Deployment to Cloud Run & Firebase

Please refer to notes.md.

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📁 Project Structure

Pathwise/
├── frontend/               # Next.js frontend
│   ├── app/
│   │   ├── components/     # React components (Map, Sidebar, ChatWidget, etc.)
│   │   ├── context/        # React Context (TripContext, AuthContext)
│   │   ├── firebase/       # Firebase config and Firestore helpers
│   │   └── page.js         # Main page
│   ├── ios/                # Capacitor iOS project
│   ├── android/            # Capacitor Android project
│   └── package.json
│
├── backend/                # Flask backend
│   ├── app.py              # Main Flask application
│   ├── agent.py            # Vertex AI agent with tool calling
│   ├── trip_naming.py      # AI trip name generation
│   ├── christofides.py     # TSP route optimization algorithm
│   ├── session_service.py  # Chat session persistence
│   └── requirements.txt
│
└── README.md

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🗺️ How It Works

1. Search & Add Locations - Use the search bar to find places and add them to your itinerary
2. Organize Your Trip - Drag and drop to reorder, set start/end points if needed
3. Optimize Route - Click "Optimize" to calculate the most efficient path using the Christofides algorithm
4. Chat with AI - Ask Pathwise AI for recommendations; add suggested places directly to your map
5. Save Your Trip - Log in to save trips with auto-generated AI names
6. Export - Open your route in Google Maps for navigation