ArthAstra 🚀 - Smart Financial Literacy Portal with AI Guidance

> Your Intelligent Financial Education Companion

SDG 8 – Decent Work & Economic Growth | Problem #19

ArthAstra is an AI-powered financial literacy portal that empowers every Indian to master their finances. Using Google's Agent Development Kit (ADK) and multi-agent AI systems, it provides personalized financial education on credit scores, budgeting, debt management, and smart money decisions. With voice-first accessibility in Hindi/English, ArthAstra makes financial literacy accessible to all.

---

🎯 Problem Statement Alignment

SDG 8 - Problem #19: "Smart financial literacy portal frontend with AI guidance"

Requirement	ArthAstra Solution
Smart Portal	Modern Next.js 16 dashboard with glassmorphism UI
Financial Literacy	Credit score education, DTI/LTV explanations, budgeting guidance
AI Guidance	Multi-Agent AI (Financial Council, Recovery Squad), RAG-powered chatbot
Frontend Focus	100% frontend-driven with React, Framer Motion animations

---

🏆 Executive Summary

ArthAstra is not just an app; it is an Intelligent Financial Education Platform. The combination of Voice Accessibility, Multi-Agent AI Guidance, and Interactive Learning Tools makes financial literacy accessible to every Indian.

1. 📚 Financial Learning Tools

Core features that teach users about personal finance.

Feature	Status	What It Teaches
Credit Score Optimizer	🚀 Innovative	How credit scores work through "What-If" simulations. "If I pay ₹20k debt, my score improves by 15%"
Eligibility Analyzer	📊 Detailed	Explains DTI (Debt-to-Income), LTV ratios, and what banks look for
Multi-Goal Planner	🎯 Strategic	Teaches financial sequencing - when to save, borrow, or invest
Peer Insights	👥 Gamified	"You're doing better than 78% of similar profiles" - motivates learning

2. 🤖 AI-Powered Guidance System

Multi-Agent AI that provides personalized financial education.

Feature	Status	How It Guides
Recovery Squad	🩺 Educational	3-agent pipeline that explains WHY financial issues occur and HOW to fix them
Financial Council	⚖️ Advisory	Simulates bank committees - Optimist vs Pessimist debate teaches decision-making
RAG Chatbot	💬 Contextual	Answers questions using RBI guidelines, tax rules - factually grounded advice
Document Vision	👁️ Intelligent	AI explains what valid documents look like, detects common mistakes

3. 🗣️ Accessibility for All Indians

Voice-first design for inclusive financial education.

Feature	Status	Accessibility Impact
Bilingual Voice AI	🎙️ Game Changer	Users learn in Hindi or English. Understands "5 Lakh" and "Pachaas Hazaar"
Voice Navigation	🧭 Hands-Free	"Explain my credit score" navigates and teaches simultaneously
Simple UI	✨ Intuitive	Glassmorphism design with clear visual explanations

4. 📖 Interactive Learning Center

Structured educational content with real video lessons.

Feature	Status	Learning Experience
Learning Modules	🎬 Video-based	4 modules with 13+ lessons, embedded YouTube videos from experts (Ankur Warikoo, CA Rachana Ranade)
Financial Quiz	🎮 Gamified	10 interactive questions with explanations, score tracking, and achievements
Progress Tracking	📊 Persistent	Completion badges, circular progress indicators, localStorage persistence
Content Categories	📚 Comprehensive	Credit Scores, Budgeting (50-30-20), Loans & EMI, Investment Basics

---

🧠 AI Architecture: The 4-Level Learning System

ArthAstra uses a 4-Layer Cognitive Architecture to provide intelligent financial education.

Level 1: Perception & Knowledge (Vision + RAG)

The system "Sees" and "Knows".

• 👁️ Document Vision: Uses gemini-2.5-flash to analyze documents, teaching users about validity and common issues
• 📚 RAG Brain: Uses text-embedding-004 to retrieve knowledge from RBI guidelines, tax rules for accurate guidance

Level 2: Analytic Reasoning (The Investigator)

Teaches by explaining the "Why".

• Role: Analyzes user's financial data
• Teaching Method: Explains each factor (DTI, credit history, employment stability)
• Output: Educational breakdown of financial health

Level 3: Strategic Planning (The Negotiator & Architect)

Provides actionable learning paths.

• The Negotiator: Teaches how to present financial strengths
• The Architect: Creates personalized roadmaps: "Save ₹5k/month for 6 months → Score hits 750"

Level 4: Adversarial Judgment (The Financial Council)

Teaches balanced decision-making.

• ⚡ The Optimist: Shows potential and opportunities
• 🔒 The Pessimist: Highlights risks to understand
• ⚖️ The Judge: Demonstrates how balanced financial decisions are made

---

🔧 AI Tools Used

Technology	Purpose
Google Gemini 2.5 Flash	Multi-agent reasoning, document vision, chat
Google Text-Embedding-004	RAG embeddings for knowledge retrieval
Google Agent Development Kit (ADK)	Multi-agent orchestration (Council, Recovery Squad)
Web Speech API	Voice recognition for accessibility

---

⚡ Demo Mode vs Real AI Mode

ArthAstra includes a DEMO_MODE toggle for hackathon presentations and testing, significantly reducing API costs.

Mode	Setting	Behavior
Demo Mode	DEMO_MODE = true	Returns pre-computed, cached AI responses instantly. Zero API calls.
Real AI Mode	DEMO_MODE = false	Full Gemini API integration with live multi-agent responses.

How to Toggle:

// In: app/api/chat/route.ts, app/api/council-meeting/route.ts, app/api/rejection-recovery/route.ts

const DEMO_MODE = true   // For demos (no API usage)
const DEMO_MODE = false  // For real AI (requires GOOGLE_API_KEY)

Benefits of Demo Mode:

• ✅ Zero API costs during testing and demos
• ✅ Instant responses - no network latency
• ✅ Consistent results for reproducible demos
• ✅ Works offline - no API key needed

When to Use Real Mode:

• 🔥 Production deployment
• 🧪 Testing new AI features
• 📊 Evaluating actual Gemini responses

---

🏗️ Technical Stack

Component	Technology
Frontend	Next.js 16, React 19, TypeScript
Styling	Tailwind CSS, Glassmorphism, Framer Motion
AI Backend	Google GenAI SDK, Vertex AI
Deployment	Google Cloud Run (Serverless)

---

📂 Project Structure

├── app/                    # Next.js App Router
│   ├── api/               # AI API endpoints
│   │   ├── chat/          # RAG-powered chatbot
│   │   ├── council-meeting/   # Financial Council AI
│   │   └── rejection-recovery/ # Recovery Squad AI
│   └── dashboard/         # Learning dashboard pages
├── components/            # React UI components
│   ├── dashboard/         # Credit optimizer, eligibility, insights
│   └── landing/           # Hero section, features
├── lib/
│   ├── agents/            # Multi-agent definitions (ADK)
│   ├── ai/                # Vision, embeddings, RAG
│   ├── tools/             # Financial calculators
│   └── knowledge/         # Company knowledge base
└── docs/                  # Documentation

---

🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone & Install:

   git clone https://github.com/your-repo/arth-astra.git
   npm install

2. Environment Setup:

   GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY=your_gemini_key

3. Run:

   npm run dev

---

🌐 Live Demo

Deployed on Netlify: [https://arthastra.netlify.app]

---

📊 Evaluation Criteria Alignment

Criteria	Weight	How ArthAstra Meets It
Alignment with Track	25%	Direct match: AI-powered financial literacy portal with voice accessibility
Innovation & Creativity	25%	Multi-Agent AI (Council debates), What-If credit simulator, Bilingual voice
Technical Strength	30%	Next.js 16, Google ADK, Gemini Vision, RAG, Production-ready code
Real-world Relevance	20%	Addresses India's financial literacy gap, Hindi/English accessibility

---

👥 Team

Built with ❤️ for the Frontend Development using AI 2026 Hackathon

---

Empowering every Indian to master their finances through AI-powered education.