AI agent that monitors commodity prices, forex rates & fuel prices across East Africa. Real-time alerts via WhatsApp/Telegram.
# Market Price Tracker Agent — Concept Note
## Overview
An AI agent that monitors and reports commodity prices, forex rates, and market data relevant to East African businesses. Users subscribe to price alerts via WhatsApp/Telegram and get real-time updates when prices move.
## Problem
Traders, farmers, and businesses in East Africa make buying/selling decisions based on outdated price information. Commodity prices (maize, beans, coffee, fuel) fluctuate daily across markets. Forex rates change hourly. Getting accurate, timely data requires checking multiple sources manually.
## Solution
A configurable price tracking agent that:
- Scrapes/aggregates prices from multiple sources (UNBS, commodity exchanges, forex APIs, fuel stations)
- Sends price alerts when thresholds are hit
- Provides daily/weekly market summaries
- Answers natural language queries ("What's the price of maize in Kampala today?")
- Tracks historical trends and provides simple analytics
- Supports custom watchlists
## Architecture
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Market Price Tracker Agent │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Data Sources │ Core Engine │
│ ├─ Forex APIs │ ├─ LLM Provider (any) │
│ ├─ Commodity DBs │ ├─ Price Aggregator │
│ ├─ Web Scrapers │ ├─ Alert Engine │
│ └─ RSS/News │ ├─ Trend Analyzer │
│ │ └─ Report Generator │
│ Channels │ │
│ ├─ WhatsApp │ Storage │
│ ├─ Telegram │ ├─ SQLite (prices) │
│ └─ Web Dashboard │ └─ Time-series data │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
## Tech Stack
- **Runtime:** Node.js
- **LLM:** Any provider (for natural language queries and report generation)
- **Data:** Web scraping (Cheerio/Puppeteer), REST APIs, RSS feeds
- **Channels:** Baileys (WhatsApp), Telegraf (Telegram), Express (Web)
- **Database:** SQLite (price his …