123tutors
From a no-code ceiling to a platform with an AI tutor that is always awake.
123tutors matches students with tutors. The platform had outgrown the no-code foundation it launched on, and students needed help at 11pm the night before an exam, when no tutor is online. The work was to move the platform onto a foundation it could grow on and give students an AI tutor that is always available.
The brief
An undocumented Bubble application, little runway, and a user base that could not be interrupted.
Tutor onboarding was a five-day manual review involving identity checks, qualifications and screening.
Constraints
- Zero downtime for existing students and tutors during the migration.
- POPIA obligations for learner and tutor data, including identity documents.
- A small team: the stack had to be one people can hire for.
The system, piece by piece.
- 01
The migration
Bubble to Next.js and TypeScript on Prisma and Supabase, with Vercel for the app and AWS Lambda and EventBridge for scheduled jobs. Cut over behind a feature flag, staging first.
- 02
A security and codebase review
Critical production risks closed, secrets management and row-level authorisation designed in.
- 03
The AI tutor
Claude-powered streaming chat with intent classification, worked examples and generated interactive mind maps so a concept can be laid out visually.
- 04
Tutor vetting automation
KYC, biometrics and AML screening wired into onboarding, turning a five-day manual review into a two-hour automated one with a human gate.
The calls that shaped it.
Migrate behind a flag, not with a big bang
The new stack ran alongside the old one until it was proven. Nobody noticed the cutover, which was the point.
Boring, hireable infrastructure
Next.js, Postgres, Prisma, Vercel. A platform the team can inherit and a buyer can read.
Automate vetting with a human gate
The automation does the checks; a person still approves. That kept the compliance story honest and the queue short.
Outcome
Migration live, AI tutor in daily use, onboarding automated. The platform now runs on a stack the team can extend instead of one they had to work around.
Credits
- Technical strategy, migration lead, security review and AI tutor: Oryares's founder, as CTO.
- Built with the 123tutors team.