1. Overview

Trendsta is an AI-powered content growth platform designed to help creators and digital brands discover trends, generate high-performing content ideas, and make data-driven decisions. It combines trend analysis, automated data pipelines, and AI-generated insights into a unified system that reduces guesswork in content creation.

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2. Problem Statement

Content creators face several challenges:

• Difficulty identifying emerging trends early
• Lack of consistency in content performance
• No clear understanding of why content goes viral
• Heavy reliance on intuition instead of data

Existing tools either:

• Provide raw analytics without actionable insights, or
• Offer generic suggestions without context

Additionally:

• Many users do not have the time to interpret dashboards and analytics
• Even when insights are available, they are not always easy to act upon

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3. Solution

Trendsta addresses these challenges by:

• Collecting and processing trend signals from multiple sources
• Using AI to generate:
  • Content ideas
  • Hooks
  • Scripts
• Providing actionable insights instead of raw data
• Providing a conversational AI consultant for intuitive interaction
  The system focuses on delivering usable outputs, not just analytics.

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4. System Architecture

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5. n8n Workflow (Trend Detection & Scraping)

Trendsta currently uses an n8n workflow as the core automation layer for trend detection and data collection.

Purpose of the Workflow

The n8n workflow is responsible for:

• Scraping or collecting data from socials
• Extracting relevant signals (engagement, patterns, formats)
• Structuring this data for further processing
• Adds an intelligence layer using LLMs

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High-Level Workflow Steps

1. Trigger

   • Invoked by backend API request or scheduled trigger for a particular user

2. Data Collection

   • Scrapes data from across socials media platform

3. Preprocessing

   • Cleans and filters raw data
   • Removes irrelevant entries

4. Intelligence layer

   • Identifies useful indicators such as:
     • Engagement patterns
     • Repeated formats
     • Viral hooks or structures
   • Generates scripts and hashtags for user

5. Structuring Output

   • Converts processed data into a consistent format
   • Saves it to relevant tables in the database

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Why n8n?

• Enables rapid prototyping of data pipelines
• Easy to modify and experiment with workflows
• Reduces initial backend complexity
• Allows quick iteration on scraping and trend logic

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6. AI Consultant (Conversational Interface)

Trendsta includes a conversational AI consultant that allows users to interact with the system in a natural, chat-based format.

Purpose

• Provides an alternative to traditional dashboards and analytics
• Allows users to directly ask questions and receive actionable insights
• Reduces the effort required to interpret complex data

Capabilities

• Answers queries based on processed trend and research data
• Suggests content ideas, hooks, and strategies
• Explains why certain content performs well
• Assists in decision-making for content direction and growth

Implementation

• Uses a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) approach to generate responses grounded in processed trend data
• Retrieves relevant insights from the database (generated via n8n workflows)
• Incorporates context management to maintain conversation continuity
• Uses memory mechanisms to retain user-specific context across interactions
• Ensures responses are:
  • Context-aware
  • Data-backed
  • Actionable

This allows the AI consultant to function as a stateful, personalized assistant, rather than a stateless chatbot.

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7. Project Directory Structure

Here is a high-level overview of how the Trendsta repository is structured:

• /app - Next.js App Router root containing pages, layouts, and style tokens:
  • /app/dashboard - Main user dashboard displaying trends, competitors, and growth analytics.
  • /app/ai-consultant - Chat interface to interact with the AI assistant Stella.
  • /app/components - Reusable UI components (buttons, input fields, modals, cards) styled with Tailwind CSS.
  • /app/api - Backend route handlers for triggering research, processing webhooks, and interacting with the AI consultant.
  • /app/checkout & /app/subscription - Dodo Payments integration pages and flows.
• /lib - Core business logic, configuration modules, and helpers:
  • /lib/auth.ts - User authentication configuration via Better Auth.
  • /lib/prisma.ts - Single database client instance.
  • /lib/research - Parsing and formatting utilities for n8n-generated research results.
• /prisma - Database design:
  • schema.prisma - Postgres schema definition detailing model relationships (Users, Wallets, StellaTransactions, Subscriptions, Commissions, Conversations, AnalysisJobs).
  • seed.ts - Script to initialize default subscription plans (Silver, Gold, Platinum) and top-up Stella credit bundles.

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8. Tech Stack

• Framework: Next.js
• Auth: Better Auth
• Database: PostgreSQL (via Prisma ORM)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• State Management: Zustand
• Automation & Pipelines: n8n workflows
• AI/LLM orchestration: LangChain & OpenRouter
• Payments: Dodo Payments
• Email Dispatch: Resend
• Analytics: PostHog

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9. Future Improvements

• Replace n8n workflows with a custom LangGraph-based pipeline to improve efficiency
• Improve scalability and performance of trend detection
• Multi-platform support (YouTube, LinkedIn, X)

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10. Getting Started & Running Locally

Follow these steps to set up and run the Trendsta development server locally:

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+ recommended)
• PostgreSQL instance (running locally or hosted)

Steps

1. Clone the Repository & Install Dependencies

   npm install

2. Configure Environment Variables Copy the template env file:

   cp .env.example .env

   Open .env and fill in the required configuration:

   • DATABASE_URL: Connection URL for your PostgreSQL database.
   • BETTER_AUTH_SECRET & BETTER_AUTH_URL: Configurations for user auth.
   • DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY: Credentials for subscription checks.
   • OPENROUTER_API_KEY: Key to invoke OpenRouter models.

3. Set Up Database Schema & Seed Data Run the following commands to initialize PostgreSQL tables and seed predefined plans (Silver, Gold, Platinum) along with credit bundles:

   # Push schema changes to your database
   npx prisma db push
   
   # Generate Prisma Client types
   npx prisma generate
   
   # Seed the database with plans and credit bundles
   npx prisma db seed

4. Start the Development Server

   npm run dev

   Open http://localhost:3000 in your web browser.

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11. Limitations

• AI output depends on LLM quality
• Trend detection is not fully real-time
• Current workflow takes some minutes to complete the analysis

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12. Use Cases

• Content creators (Instagram, YouTube, short-form platforms)
• Influencers and personal brands
• AI faceless channels
• Marketing teams and agencies
• Growth-focused startups