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Convince Phopho — the $100 iMessage fund game

Phopho is a skeptical AI fund manager who guards a real money pool. Anyone can text him over iMessage and try to talk money out of him. He can award small amounts to genuinely good pitches until the pool hits $0. A live web dashboard shows the leaderboard, who got funded, and who's playing. Payouts are settled manually by you.

How it works

  • Agent worker (src/agent/) — runs a Photon Spectrum 12.7.0 iMessage loop. Each inbound text goes to Claude with a hardened system prompt and two server-validated tools: award_funds (deducts from the pool, can never overdraw) and set_display_name.
  • Getting in — the game runs on a dedicated iMessage line (Photon Business plan), so there is no signup: the QR code on the dashboard encodes an sms: deep link and scanning it opens Messages with the first text pre-filled. Anyone can text the line cold. /join is an optional detour that asks only for a name and bakes it into that opener; Pho-pho records it with set_display_name on his first turn. Players who arrive nameless get asked once, in character. No phone number is ever collected.
  • Dashboard (src/app/) — a Next.js page that polls /api/stats and /api/leaderboard every 3s: remaining pool, total given away, people funded, the leaderboard (ranked by amount awarded), and the latest payouts.
  • Storage — a single SQLite file (via Node's built-in node:sqlite) shared by both processes. No database server to run.

Setup

  1. Install deps (Node 22.5+ required for node:sqlite; built on Node 25): 
    npm install
  2. Copy the env file and fill it in: 
    cp .env.local.example .env.local
    • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — your Claude API key
    • MODEL — defaults to claude-sonnet-4-6
    • SPECTRUM_PROJECT_ID / SPECTRUM_PROJECT_SECRET — from your project Settings at https://app.photon.codes (PROJECT_ID / PROJECT_SECRET remain accepted temporarily and log a deprecation warning)
    • LINE_PHONE — your dedicated iMessage line, in +15551234567 form
    • FUND_USD — total pool in dollars (default 100)
    • DB_PATH — SQLite file path (default ./fund.db)

Run

Two processes, sharing the same DB_PATH:

npm run agent      # the iMessage agent (Hugh)
npm run dev        # the dashboard at http://localhost:3000

For production: npm run build && npm start.

Pitch Hugh locally (no iMessage line needed)

npm run agent:terminal

This boots the same agent loop with Spectrum's terminal provider — you type pitches in the terminal, Hugh replies inline. Awards write to the same SQLite file the dashboard reads, so you can verify the leaderboard updates before you point an iMessage line at it. Only ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is required for this mode.

Operating the game

  • Paying winners: awards are recorded in the awards table and shown on the dashboard. Each row is a real promise to pay — settle them by hand (Venmo/PayPal/etc.).
  • Reset everything (wipes participants, messages, awards, and refills the pool): 
    npm run reset-fund
  • Change the pool size: set FUND_USD before the first run (or reset after changing it).
  • Tune Hugh's behavior: edit the system prompt in src/agent/prompt.ts. The award ceiling is enforced in code (awardFunds in src/lib/db.ts), so prompt changes can't let him overdraw.

Notes & guardrails

  • Hugh treats every message as untrusted input and is instructed to ignore "ignore your instructions"-style injection, fake admins, threats, and "send it all to verify" scams. The hard cap (never award more than what remains) is enforced by the database transaction, not just the prompt.
  • Per-participant messages are queued so rapid-fire texts from one person stay ordered.
  • Phone numbers are masked on the dashboard (last 4 digits) unless someone gives Hugh a display name.