Guest Preview Generation Flow with One-Time Free Access & Improved Onboarding UX

[PranshuPujara]

Description

Closes #148

Implemented a Guest Preview Generation flow that allows anonymous users to try the platform once before signing in, creating a smoother onboarding experience while keeping the existing authenticated workflow unchanged.

The implementation mainly focuses on frontend UX improvements with lightweight guest tracking and minimal backend adjustments.

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What Changed

Frontend — Guest UI

app/(protected)/generate/components/GeneratePage.tsx

• Added guest generation gating logic
• Added local guest usage tracking using localStorage/cookies
• Added isGuestLocked state handling
• Integrated GuestSignupPrompt modal flow
• Updated handleGenerate flow to:
  • Parse backend output
  • Update generated data
  • Increment and persist guest usage
• Added locked-state UI and guest CTAs after free usage
• Disabled Generate button once guest limit is reached
• Improved loading/streaming UX for a cleaner experience

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app/(protected)/generate/components/GuestSignupPrompt.tsx (New)

• Added reusable signup/login modal for guest users
• Highlights benefits like:
  • Save to History
  • Access previous generations
  • Continue generating

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app/(protected)/generate/components/index.ts

• Exported the new GuestSignupPrompt component

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Frontend — Hooks & Layout Updates

app/(protected)/generate/hooks/useGenerateSystem.ts

• Removed strict client-side auth requirement for generation
• Guests can now access the generation API
• History refetch only runs for authenticated users

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app/(protected)/generate/layout.tsx

app/(protected)/layout.tsx

• Updated protected layouts to allow guest access specifically for:

/generate

• Other protected routes still require authentication

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Backend — API Updates

app/api/generate/route.ts

Added guest-aware generation support:

• Detects guest/authenticated users from server session

• Guests:

  • Skip DB writes
  • Skip user metrics updates
  • Skip authenticated rate-limit logic

• Authenticated users retain existing behavior

• Preserved:

  • AI streaming
  • SSE streaming
  • JSON + Mermaid parsing

• Added support for:

userApiKeys.geminiApiKey || undefined

so guest requests can still use the system key when available.

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Sanity Checks Performed

1. Confirmed there is no mock/test-only guest flow implementation
2. Confirmed no hardcoded dummy API keys were introduced
3. Verified authenticated workflow still behaves normally
4. Verified guest users can generate successfully without login
5. Verified locked-state UI appears correctly after guest limit usage

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Notes

• No existing authenticated workflow was broken
• Guest flow remains lightweight and maintainable
• No unnecessary backend complexity introduced
• Implementation is modular and easy to extend later

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Demo

Trying to make second generation

Pop up by clicking "View benefits"

By clicking "Create New Account"

Thank you!
Pranshu Pujara🕵️‍♂️

[netlify]

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