placed-interview-coach

# Placed Interview Coach

AI-powered interview preparation via the Placed API. No MCP server required — all calls are made directly with curl.

## API Key

Load the key from `~/.config/placed/credentials`, falling back to the environment:

```bash
if [ -z "$PLACED_API_KEY" ] && [ -f "$HOME/.config/placed/credentials" ]; then
  source "$HOME/.config/placed/credentials"
fi
```

If `PLACED_API_KEY` is still not set, ask the user:

> "Please provide your Placed API key (get it at https://placed.exidian.tech/settings/api)"

Then save it for future sessions:

```bash
mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/placed"
echo "export PLACED_API_KEY=<key_provided_by_user>" > "$HOME/.config/placed/credentials"
export PLACED_API_KEY=<key_provided_by_user>
```

## How to Call the API

```bash
placed_call() {
  local tool=$1
  local args=${2:-'{}'}
  curl -s -X POST https://placed.exidian.tech/api/mcp \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $PLACED_API_KEY" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"method\":\"tools/call\",\"params\":{\"name\":\"$tool\",\"arguments\":$args}}" \
    | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['result']['content'][0]['text'])"
}
```

## Available Tools

| Tool                         | Description                                  |
| ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `start_interview_session`    | Begin a mock interview for a specific role   |
| `continue_interview_session` | Submit your answer and get the next question |
| `get_interview_feedback`     | Get full performance analysis for a session  |
| `list_interview_cases`       | Browse system design cases                   |
| `start_system_design`        | Start a system design interview              |
| `get_behavioral_questions`   | Get STAR-format behavioral questions         |
| `save_story_to_bank`         | Save a STAR story for reuse                  |
| `get_interview_questions`    | Generate likely questions for a role/company |

## Usage Examples

**Start a mock interview:**

```bash
placed_call "start_interview_session" '{
  "resume_id": "res_abc123",
  "job_title": "Senior Software Engineer",
  "difficulty": "hard",
  "company": "Google"
}'
# Returns: session_id + first question
```

**Answer a question:**

```bash
placed_call "continue_interview_session" '{
  "session_id": "sess_abc123",
  "user_answer": "I would approach this by first clarifying requirements..."
}'
# Returns: feedback on your answer + next question
```

**Get session feedback:**

```bash
placed_call "get_interview_feedback" '{"session_id":"sess_abc123"}'
```

**List system design cases:**

```bash
placed_call "list_interview_cases"
# Returns: Design Twitter, Design URL Shortener, Design Netflix, Design Uber, etc.
```

**Start a system design interview:**

```bash
placed_call "start_system_design" '{"case_id":"design-twitter","difficulty":"senior"}'
```

**Get behavioral questions:**

```bash
placed_call "get_behavioral_questions" '{
  "target_role": "Engineering Manager",
  "focus_categories": ["leadership", "conflict-resolution", "failure"]
}'
```

**Save a STAR story:**

```bash
placed_call "save_story_to_bank" '{
  "situation": "Led team through major refactor",
  "task": "Reduce technical debt while shipping features",
  "action": "Created phased plan, mentored junior devs, set clear milestones",
  "result": "30% faster deployments, reduced bugs by 25%",
  "category": "leadership"
}'
```

## Interview Types

### Technical (Coding)

- Difficulty: `easy`, `medium`, `hard`
- Clarify requirements → code → explain trade-offs → test with examples

### System Design

Framework: Requirements → High-Level Architecture → Database Design → Scalability → Fault Tolerance → Trade-offs

### Behavioral

Use the **STAR method** for every answer:

- **Situation** — Context and background
- **Task** — Your responsibility
- **Action** — What you specifically did
- **Result** — Outcome with metrics

## Tips

- Think out loud during technical interviews — explain your reasoning
- Start system design with constraints and scale requirements
- Use specific metrics in STAR answers ("reduced latency by 40%")
- Save strong stories to the bank so they're reusable across interviews
- Practice the same case at different difficulty levels to build confidence