MindArena

An AI-powered rhetoric and debate training platform. Practice argumentation against AI opponents, analyze your logical consistency, and improve critical thinking through structured debate.

Features

• Live Debate Arena — real-time transcript with phased debate rounds (Opening, Cross-Examination, Rebuttal, Closing, Verdict), support for 2v2 mode, and an AI judge
• AI Opponents — debate against AI agents with adjustable rigor levels from Casual to Elite (Socratic Master)
• In-Arena Tools — Fact Check and Logic Audit quick actions during live debates
• Knowledge Base — curated philosophical frameworks and rhetorical techniques (Socratic Questioning, Logical Fallacies, Kantian Deontology, Heuristics & Biases, Game Theory, Stoic Resolve, and more)
• Performance Insights — Elo rating tracking, win rate, skill balance radar (Logical Consistency, Rhetorical Flair, Evidence Integration, Response Countering, Emotional Intelligence), and AI feedback from the Obsidian Core engine
• Competition System — live tournaments with prize pools and global leaderboards
• Neural Tuning — calibrate your AI assistance levels for Rhetoric, Extraction, and Empathy

Tech Stack

• Framework: React 19 + TypeScript
• Build: Vite 6
• Styling: Tailwind CSS v4
• Animations: Motion (Framer Motion)
• Icons: Lucide React

Getting Started

Prerequisites: Bun

1. Install dependencies:

   bun install
   

2. Copy the example env file:

   cp .env.example .env.local
   

3. Start the dev server:

   bun dev
   

The app runs on http://localhost:3000.

Scripts

Command	Description
bun dev	Start development server
bun run build	Build for production
bun run preview	Preview production build
bun run lint	Type-check with TypeScript

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
APP_URL	Deployment URL for self-referential links
DATABASE_URL	Neon Postgres connection string used by Drizzle and the server

Neon Database

MindArena now defaults to Neon Postgres for the database layer.

1. Create a database in Neon.
2. Copy its pooled connection string into .env.local as DATABASE_URL.
3. Run the schema migration commands:

   bun run db:generate
   bun run db:migrate

For password reset email delivery, also set:

• RESEND_API_KEY
• EMAIL_FROM

If those are missing, the server falls back to printing reset codes in the dev log.

The current schema includes:

• user/session tables
• persisted user settings and quotas
• debate templates, stage timers, scorecards, replay highlights, exports/imports
• knowledge documents, chunks, collections, shares, citations, and table cards
• background jobs, audit events, scripted opponent profiles, and tool-call logs