matthewctechnology · matthewctechnology · Mar 3, 2026 · Mar 3, 2026 · Mar 3, 2026 · Mar 3, 2026
diff --git a/ideate/README.md b/ideate/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ A command line interface and web application for AI-powered creative idea genera
 ## Overview
 
 Ideate allows users to generate creative ideas based on optional topic.
-The app is built with Typer, Python, Pydantic, and OpenAI.
+The app is built with Python, FastAPI, Typer, Pydantic, and OpenAI.
 
 ## Features
 
@@ -60,6 +60,24 @@ python3 -m ideate.cli.ideate ideate --fallback
 python3 -m ideate.cli.ideate ideate -tf <topic>
 ```
 
+### Run App:
+
+```bash
+cd /workspaces/stacked/ideate && source .ideate/bin/activate && cd ..
+uvicorn ideate.api.ideate:app --reload
+curl 'http://localhost:8000/ideate?fallback=True'
+curl 'http://localhost:8000/ideate?fallback=True&topic=<topic>'
+curl 'http://localhost:8000/ideate?topic=<topic>'
+curl 'http://localhost:8000/ideate'
+```
+
+- Browse `https://<codespace>-8000.app.github.dev/ideate?fallback=True`
+- Browse `https://<codespace>-8000.app.github.dev/ideate?fallback=True&topic=<topic>`
+- Browse `https://<codespace>-8000.app.github.dev/ideate?topic=<topic>`
+- Browse `https://<codespace>-8000.app.github.dev/ideate`
+
+- Browse `https://<codespace>-8000.app.github.dev/docs`
+
 ### Run Tests
 
 ```bash

diff --git a/ideate/api/__init__.py b/ideate/api/__init__.py
diff --git a/ideate/api/ideate.py b/ideate/api/ideate.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+"""
+FastAPI app for ideate web API, matching CLI logic and supporting fallback.
+"""
+from fastapi import FastAPI, Response, Query
+from fastapi.responses import HTMLResponse
+
+from ideate.ai.ai_provider import get_ai_idea
+from ideate.fallback.fallback_provider import get_fallback_idea
+from ideate.option.option_provider import normalize_topic
+
+
+app = FastAPI()
+
+@app.get("/ideate", response_class=HTMLResponse)
+async def ideate(
+    topic: str = Query(default=None, description="Optional topic"),
+    fallback: bool = Query(default=False, description="Force fallback idea"),
+) -> Response:
+    """
+    Serves a basic HTML page with a creative idea, using AI provider with fallback.
+    """
+    canonical_topic = normalize_topic(topic) if topic else None
+
+    if fallback:
+        idea = get_fallback_idea()
+    else:
+        idea, _, status = get_ai_idea(canonical_topic)
+        if status != 200 or not idea:
+            idea = get_fallback_idea()
+    if canonical_topic:
+        idea = f"{canonical_topic} Idea: {idea}"
+
+    html = f"""
+    <!DOCTYPE html>
+    <html lang="en">
+    <head>
+        <meta charset="UTF-8">
+        <title>ideate - Creative Idea</title>
+        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
+        <style>
+            html, body {{
+                min-height: 100vh;
+                margin: 0;
+                padding: 0;
+                font-family: 'Inter', 'Segoe UI', 'Arial', sans-serif;
+                background: #000000;
+                color: #fafafa;
+            }}
+            .container {{
+                display: grid;
+                grid-template-rows: 20px 1fr 20px;
+                align-items: center;
+                justify-items: center;
+                min-height: 100vh;
+                padding: 32px 32px 80px 32px;
+                gap: 64px;
+            }}
+            @media (min-width: 640px) {{
+                .container {{
+                    padding: 80px 80px 80px 80px;
+                }}
+                .main {{
+                    align-items: flex-start;
+                }}
+            }}
+            .main {{
+                display: flex;
+                flex-direction: column;
+                gap: 32px;
+                grid-row: 2;
+                align-items: center;
+            }}
+            .idea {{
+                background: rgba(255,255,255,1);
+                color: rgba(0,0,0,1);
+                font-family: 'Fira Mono', 'Menlo', 'Monaco', monospace;
+                font-weight: 300;
+                padding: 4px 8px;
+                border-radius: 6px;
+                margin-bottom: 16px;
+                font-size: 1rem;
+                max-width: 600px;
+                text-align: center;
+                box-shadow: 0 2px 8px #0002;
+            }}
+            .footer {{
+                background: rgba(0,0,0,0.05);
+                color: rgba(255,255,255,0.25);
+                font-size: 9px;
+                font-family: 'Fira Mono', 'Menlo', 'Monaco', monospace;
+                font-weight: 300;
+                grid-row: 3;
+                display: flex;
+                gap: 24px;
+                flex-wrap: wrap;
+                align-items: center;
+                justify-content: center;
+                padding: 2px 0;
+            }}
+        </style>
+    </head>
+    <body>
+        <div class="container">
+            <main class="main">
+                <div class="idea">{idea}</div>
+            </main>
+            <footer class="footer">
+                <p>unvalidated responses inferred at individual risk</p>
+            </footer>
+        </div>
+    </body>
+    </html>
+    """
+
+    return HTMLResponse(content=html, status_code=200)
diff --git a/ideate/cli/ideate.py b/ideate/cli/ideate.py
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
 import os
 import random
 import time
-from typing import List, Optional
+from typing import Optional
 
 import typer
 
 from ideate.ai.ai_provider import get_ai_idea
 from ideate.fallback.fallback_provider import get_fallback_idea
-from ideate.option.option_provider import autocomplete_topics, get_topics
+from ideate.option.option_provider import autocomplete_topics, get_topics, normalize_topic
 
 
 app = typer.Typer(help="ideate Tool - Generates a creative idea.")
@@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ def ideate(
     """
     Generates a creative idea, by topic optionally, with a simulated thinking delay.
     """
-    topics: List[str] = get_topics()
-    canonical_topic = _normalize_topic(topic, topics) if topic else None
+    canonical_topic = normalize_topic(topic) if topic else None
 
     if topic and not canonical_topic:
         suggestions = autocomplete_topics(topic)
@@ -68,23 +67,6 @@ def echo_topics() -> None:
     for t in get_topics():
         typer.echo(f"{t}")
 
-def _normalize_topic(topic: Optional[str], topics: List[str]) -> Optional[str]:
-    """
-    Returns canonical topic from list if case-insensitive match, else None.
-
-    :return: Optional[str]
-    """
-    if not topic:
-
-        return None
-
-    for t in topics:
-        if t.lower() == topic.lower():
-
-            return t
-
-    return None
-
 def _should_skip_delay() -> bool:
     """
     Returns True if IDEATE_TEST_MODE=1 is set in the environment.

diff --git a/ideate/option/option_provider.py b/ideate/option/option_provider.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """
 Provides options for ideate tool.
 """
-from typing import List
+from typing import List, Optional
 
 from ideate.option.topics import topics
 
@@ -21,3 +21,20 @@ def autocomplete_topics(incomplete: str) -> List[str]:
     """
 
     return [t for t in get_topics() if t.lower().startswith(incomplete.lower())]
+
+def normalize_topic(topic: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
+    """
+    Returns canonical topic from topics if case-insensitive match, else None.
+
+    :return: Optional[str]
+    """
+    if not topic:
+
+        return None
+
+    for t in get_topics():
+        if t.lower() == topic.lower():
+
+            return t
+
+    return None
diff --git a/ideate/tests/api/__init__.py b/ideate/tests/api/__init__.py
diff --git a/ideate/tests/api/ideate_test.py b/ideate/tests/api/ideate_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+"""
+Tests FastAPI ideate web API root endpoint with AI provider and fallback.
+"""
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+from ideate.api.ideate import app
+from ideate.fallback.fallback_responses import responses
+
+
+client = TestClient(app)
+
+def test_ideate_api_returns_disclaimer() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests GET /ideate returns 200 and includes disclaimer in the HTML.
+    """
+    with patch(
+        "ideate.api.ideate.get_ai_idea",
+        return_value=("A sketchbook that encourages practice", None, 200),
+    ):
+        response = client.get("/ideate")
+
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "unvalidated responses inferred at individual risk" in response.text
+        assert "<html" in response.text
+
+def test_ideate_api_returns_ai_idea() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests GET /ideate returns 200 and includes AI idea in the HTML.
+    """
+    with patch(
+        "ideate.api.ideate.get_ai_idea",
+        return_value=("A sketchbook that encourages practice", None, 200),
+    ):
+        response = client.get("/ideate")
+
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "A sketchbook that encourages practice" in response.text
+        assert "<html" in response.text
+
+def test_ideate_api_returns_ai_idea_with_topic() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests GET /ideate returns 200 and includes topical AI idea in the HTML.
+    """
+    with patch(
+        "ideate.api.ideate.get_ai_idea",
+        return_value=("Art Idea: A sketchbook that encourages practice", None, 200),
+    ):
+        response = client.get("/ideate?topic=art")
+
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "Art Idea: A sketchbook that encourages practice" in response.text
+        assert "<html" in response.text
+
+def test_ideate_api_returns_fallback_on_ai_error() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests GET /ideate returns fallback idea if AI provider fails.
+    """
+    with patch(
+        "ideate.api.ideate.get_ai_idea",
+        return_value=(None, "server misconfigured", 500),
+    ):
+        response = client.get("/ideate")
+
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert any(idea in response.text for idea in responses)
+        assert "<html" in response.text
+
+def test_ideate_api_returns_fallback_on_ai_error_with_topic() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests GET /ideate returns topical fallback idea if AI provider fails.
+    """
+    with patch(
+        "ideate.api.ideate.get_ai_idea",
+        return_value=(None, "server misconfigured", 500),
+    ):
+        response = client.get("/ideate?topic=art")
+
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert any(idea in response.text for idea in responses)
+        assert "<html" in response.text
+
+def test_ideate_api_fallback_query_param() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests GET /ideate?fallback=true returns fallback idea.
+    """
+    response = client.get("/ideate?fallback=true")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert any(idea in response.text for idea in responses)
+    assert "<html" in response.text
+
+def test_ideate_api_fallback_query_param_with_topic() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests GET /ideate?fallback=true returns topical fallback idea.
+    """
+    response = client.get("/ideate?fallback=true&topic=art")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert any(idea in response.text for idea in responses)
+    assert "<html" in response.text
diff --git a/ideate/tests/option/option_provider_test.py b/ideate/tests/option/option_provider_test.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """
 Tests for topic provider.
 """
-from ideate.option.option_provider import autocomplete_topics, get_topics
+from ideate.option.option_provider import autocomplete_topics, get_topics, normalize_topic
 
 
 def test_get_topics() -> None:
@@ -14,6 +14,16 @@ def test_get_topics() -> None:
     assert all(isinstance(t, str) for t in topics)
     assert len(topics) == 36
 
+def test_normalize_topics() -> None:
+    """
+    Tests normalize_topics returns a non-empty list of strings.
+    """
+    topic = "Art"
+    normal_topic = normalize_topic(topic=topic)
+
+    assert isinstance(normal_topic, str)
+    assert all(isinstance(t, str) for t in normal_topic)
+
 def test_autocomplete_topics() -> None:
     """
     Tests autocomplete_topics returns a non-empty list of strings.