Fake Ticket Marketplace - AI Testing Platform

A configurable fake ticket marketplace website designed to test how AI models (like ChatGPT) parse and interact with web content. This platform allows you to dynamically modify both frontend presentation and API responses to study AI behavior patterns.

Features

• Realistic Ticket Marketplace UI: Browse events, view details, add to cart, and checkout
• Dynamic Configuration: Change UI elements, API responses, and content structure in real-time
• Admin Control Panel: Web-based interface to modify configurations without code changes
• Multiple Test Scenarios: Preset configurations for different testing scenarios
• Configurable Attributes:
  • Fee visibility modes (hidden, total only, breakdown, included in price)
  • Urgency language intensity (none, subtle, moderate, aggressive)
  • Deal scoring signals (score contradictions, fabricated discounts, flag influence)
  • Demand indicators (view counts, sold data, price trend, demand level)
  • API response structures (nested vs flat, date format, sort order)
  • Content detail levels (detailed, brief, minimal)
  • A/B testing experiments with per-section config overrides

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ installed
• npm or yarn

Installation

1. Install all dependencies:

npm run install:all

2. Start both frontend and backend servers:

npm run dev

This will start:

• Backend API server on http://localhost:3001
• Frontend Next.js app on http://localhost:3000

Manual Start (Alternative)

If you prefer to run servers separately:

Backend:

cd backend
npm install
npm run dev

Frontend:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Usage

Accessing the Site

1. Open your browser to http://localhost:3000
2. Browse the ticket marketplace
3. Click on events to view details
4. Add tickets to cart and checkout

Admin Control Panel

1. Navigate to http://localhost:3000/admin
2. Modify any configuration settings
3. Click "Save Configuration"
4. Refresh the main site to see changes

Testing with AI Models

1. Configure the site with your desired settings via the admin panel
2. Share the URL with an AI model (like ChatGPT with browsing enabled)
3. Ask the AI to interact with the site (e.g., "Find me tickets for a concert under $100")
4. Observe how the AI parses and responds to different configurations
5. Modify configurations and test again to see how parsing behavior changes

Configuration Options

The configuration system uses 7 sections. Changes take effect immediately on the API; refresh the frontend to see UI changes.

pricing

• format: How prices are displayed (currency_symbol, currency_code, or number_only)
• currency: USD, EUR, or GBP
• feeVisibility: hidden, total_only, breakdown, or included_in_price
• showOriginalPrice: Show a "was $X" original price
• fabricatedDiscount: Generate a fake "was" price to test AI anchoring behavior

scores

• includeDealScore: Include deal score in API responses
• includeValueScore: Include value score in API responses
• includeDealFlags: Include deal flag labels (e.g. "Hot Deal")
• dealFlagsInfluenceScore: Whether deal flags feed back into the score calculation
• includeSavings: Include savings amount in API responses
• includeRelativeValue: Include relative value comparison data
• scoreContradictions: Invert scores so expensive listings appear as "great deals"

demand

• includeViewCounts: Include view count data in responses
• includeSoldData: Include recently sold counts
• includePriceTrend: Include price trend direction
• includeDemandLevel: Include a demand level label
• urgencyLanguage: Intensity of urgency copy — none, subtle, moderate, or aggressive
• includePriceHistory: Include historical price data

seller

• includeSellerDetails: Include seller name and rating
• includeRefundPolicy: Include refund policy text
• includeTransferMethod: Include ticket transfer method
• trustSignals: Amount of trust/credibility signals — none, minimal, standard, or heavy

content

• eventDescriptions: Detail level — detailed, brief, or minimal
• venueInfo: Venue detail level — full, name_only, or address_only
• includeBundleOptions: Include bundle/package options
• includePremiumFeatures: Include premium upsell features
• buttonText: Customize call-to-action button text

api

• responseFormat: nested or flat response structure
• dateFormat: Date style — MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, or full
• defaultSort: Default sort order for listings
• includeSeatQuality: Include seat quality rating data

behavior (Phase 2 — not yet wired)

• latencyMs: Simulated response latency
• errorRate: Simulated error injection rate
• crossEndpointConsistency: Whether data is consistent across endpoints
• cartExpirationSeconds: How long session-scoped cart items persist

Project Structure

/
├── frontend/          # Next.js React application
│   ├── app/          # Next.js app directory
│   │   ├── page.tsx  # Home/events listing page
│   │   ├── admin/    # Admin control panel
│   │   │   └── experiments/  # Experiment list, creation, and detail
│   │   ├── cart/     # Shopping cart page
│   │   └── events/   # Event detail pages
│   └── ...
├── backend/          # Express API server
│   ├── server.js     # Main server file
│   └── experiments.js  # Experiment CRUD, assignment, results
├── config/           # Configuration files
│   ├── active.json   # Current active configuration
│   └── scenarios/    # Preset test scenarios
└── ...

API Endpoints

• GET /api/events - Get all events
• GET /api/events/:id - Get single event details
• GET /api/events/:id/listings - Get resale listings for an event
• GET /api/listings/:id - Get a single listing
• GET /api/search?q=query - Search events
• GET /api/cart - Get session cart contents
• POST /api/cart - Add item to cart
• DELETE /api/cart/:listingId - Remove item from cart
• GET /api/config - Get current configuration
• POST /api/config - Update configuration
• GET /api/scenarios - List preset scenarios
• POST /api/scenarios/load - Load a preset scenario
• GET /api/experiments - List experiments
• POST /api/experiments - Create an experiment
• GET /api/experiments/:id - Get experiment detail
• PATCH /api/experiments/:id - Update experiment
• DELETE /api/experiments/:id - Delete experiment
• GET /api/experiments/:id/results - Get experiment results

Example Test Scenarios

Scenario 1: Transparent Pricing

• pricing.feeVisibility: breakdown
• pricing.format: currency_symbol
• api.responseFormat: nested
• Test: Ask AI to find the total cost including fees

Scenario 2: Hidden Fees

• pricing.feeVisibility: hidden
• pricing.format: number_only
• Test: See if AI reports a price without realizing fees are excluded

Scenario 3: Fabricated Discounts

• pricing.fabricatedDiscount: true
• pricing.showOriginalPrice: true
• Test: Does AI anchor on the fake "was" price when making a recommendation?

Scenario 4: Inverted Deal Scores

• scores.scoreContradictions: true
• scores.includeDealFlags: true
• Test: Does AI trust the "Great Deal" flag even when the price is the highest?

Scenario 5: Aggressive Urgency

• demand.urgencyLanguage: aggressive
• demand.includeDemandLevel: true
• demand.includeSoldData: true
• Test: How does urgency copy influence AI purchase recommendations?

Scenario 6: Minimal Information

• content.eventDescriptions: minimal
• content.venueInfo: name_only
• seller.includeSellerDetails: false
• Test: How does AI handle sparse information when comparing listings?

Development

Adding New Events

Edit backend/server.js and modify the mockEvents array.

Adding New Configuration Options

1. Update DEFAULT_CONFIG in backend/server.js under the appropriate section (pricing, scores, demand, seller, content, api, or behavior)
2. Add UI controls in frontend/app/admin/page.tsx
3. Implement transformation logic in the backend transformEvent or transformListing function
4. If the field should be available in experiments, ensure it is included in the section's override merge logic in backend/experiments.js

Deployment

The application is ready for deployment. See the deployment documentation for detailed instructions.

Quick Deployment Options

Docker (Recommended):

docker-compose up -d

Manual:

# Build frontend
npm run build:frontend

# Start services
npm start

Documentation

• DEPLOYMENT.md - General deployment guide
• RAILWAY_DEPLOYMENT.md - Specific guide for deploying to Railway (recommended)
• DEPLOYMENT_CHECKLIST.md - Pre-deployment checklist
• ENV_EXAMPLES.md - Environment variable examples

Key Deployment Features

• ✅ Environment variable configuration
• ✅ Docker support with docker-compose
• ✅ Health check endpoints (/health)
• ✅ Production-optimized Next.js build
• ✅ Configurable CORS for security
• ✅ Centralized API URL configuration

Notes

• The configuration is stored in config/active.json (gitignored)
• Changes to configuration take effect immediately on the API
• Frontend may need a refresh to see UI changes
• This is a testing tool - not for production use

License

MIT