Part 1 of 2: the premise and the problem. Part 2 is the architecture deep-dive, how I cut the reply time from 30 seconds to 5.
The problem I kept having
I order a lot of packaged snacks off Swiggy Instamart. I almost never check the nutrition label before adding something to cart, not because I don't care, but because the label is a photo of tiny text three taps deep. By the time I find it, I've already decided I want the thing.
I built it end to end (Python, FastAPI, Redis, the Telegram Bot API) as a side project, without a team. It's still an early, working prototype, not a polished product. A few weeks in, it got approved into Swiggy's Builders Club, their official program for developers building on top of their platform (I posted about the approval on LinkedIn). That was the point where "side project" started feeling like something worth writing up properly.
The JTBD, in one line: see what you're eating before you buy it, without leaving your chat.
