Portfolio Coach
Family portfolio tracker with live valuations, UK planning tools, and AI reviews
A private dashboard for holdings, family members, projections, and CSV imports is a credible weekend build. Reliable live pricing for UK funds, a ledger-correct Vanguard importer, household data boundaries, maintained tax rules, and AI advice grounded in every account turn the complete product into a multi-day project.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- reliable live pricing and UK fund symbol mapping
- ledger-backed Vanguard history import
- secure cloud accounts, family sharing, and support access
- maintained UK tax and estate-planning assumptions
- hosted AI reviews with current web context
Why people still pay
The core tracker is free to start. Paid AI credits cover the convenient part: a hosted coach already connected to the household's live holdings, while the product maintains pricing, imports, security boundaries, and UK planning logic.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- A supported Node release, a writable local data directory and a separate backup location. Bind to localhost; remote use requires authentication and HTTPS first.
- Implementation components: Node.js, TypeScript and Express with server-rendered HTML and small browser modules. SQLite through better-sqlite3 with migrations, prepared statements and a single background worker. Integer minor units or a decimal library for money; CSV parsers with explicit date, currency and sign mapping. Server-rendered SVG or browser Canvas charts for explicit scenario projections; no React-only chart package. An optional provider receives only a reviewed calculated summary.
- Scope boundary: Live brokerage access, investment suitability and tax filing are not implemented.
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Optional external skill: xlsx — Create, edit and inspect spreadsheet files, formulas, formatting and tabular imports or exports. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: sharp-edges — Review security-sensitive APIs and configuration for dangerous defaults and easy-to-misuse interfaces. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: web-design-guidelines — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Project rule — data model: household members, accounts/wrappers, holdings, dated valuations, assumptions and evidence-linked review notes
Project rule — preserve this invariant: No personalized investment or tax recommendation is inferred; unknown fees, prices and tax assumptions remain visible, and projected returns are scenarios.
Project rule — acceptance evidence: A holding without a current price is shown stale and excluded or explicitly estimated; changing growth assumptions never changes actual recorded balances.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Enter a family portfolio, inspect allocation and compare explicitly chosen projection assumptions. Allow an optional AI explanation of the supplied numbers, with any UK tax references separately source-dated and marked for professional review. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Live brokerage access, investment suitability and tax filing are not implemented.
Phase 2
Durable model. Model household members, accounts/wrappers, holdings, dated valuations, assumptions and evidence-linked review notes Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: No personalized investment or tax recommendation is inferred; unknown fees, prices and tax assumptions remain visible, and projected returns are scenarios.
Phase 3
Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Use short SQLite transactions and persist job state before starting work. Give retries stable operation IDs; report incomplete or unknown results instead of silently repeating them.
Phase 4
Permissions and integration failure. Reject unexpected origins and unbounded request bodies even on localhost. Keep credentials outside the database export and redact sensitive text from logs. No bank credentials in uploads or logs; restrict exports and backups to the owner. Never initiate transfers or infer investment suitability. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.
Phase 5
Portable handoff. Use a consistent SQLite backup and an attachment manifest. Export portable JSON/CSV, then restore to a new directory without overwriting the original data. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.
Phase 6
Acceptance scenarios. A holding without a current price is shown stale and excluded or explicitly estimated; changing growth assumptions never changes actual recorded balances. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.
WORKING SLICE Enter a family portfolio, inspect allocation and compare explicitly chosen projection assumptions. Allow an optional AI explanation of the supplied numbers, with any UK tax references separately source-dated and marked for professional review. Build this scoped Portfolio Coach-inspired workflow with a documented data model and visible failure states. Architecture - Node.js, TypeScript and Express with server-rendered HTML and small browser modules. - SQLite through better-sqlite3 with migrations, prepared statements and a single background worker. - Integer minor units or a decimal library for money; CSV parsers with explicit date, currency and sign mapping. - Server-rendered SVG or browser Canvas charts for explicit scenario projections; no React-only chart package. An optional provider receives only a reviewed calculated summary. Prerequisites and limits A supported Node release, a writable local data directory and a separate backup location. Bind to localhost; remote use requires authentication and HTTPS first. Outside this release: Live brokerage access, investment suitability and tax filing are not implemented. Data model and correctness household members, accounts/wrappers, holdings, dated valuations, assumptions and evidence-linked review notes Invariant: No personalized investment or tax recommendation is inferred; unknown fees, prices and tax assumptions remain visible, and projected returns are scenarios. Use short SQLite transactions and persist job state before starting work. Give retries stable operation IDs; report incomplete or unknown results instead of silently repeating them. Security and privacy Reject unexpected origins and unbounded request bodies even on localhost. Keep credentials outside the database export and redact sensitive text from logs. No bank credentials in uploads or logs; restrict exports and backups to the owner. Never initiate transfers or infer investment suitability. Recovery and export Use a consistent SQLite backup and an attachment manifest. Export portable JSON/CSV, then restore to a new directory without overwriting the original data. Implementation order 1. Phase 1 — Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Enter a family portfolio, inspect allocation and compare explicitly chosen projection assumptions. Allow an optional AI explanation of the supplied numbers, with any UK tax references separately source-dated and marked for professional review. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Live brokerage access, investment suitability and tax filing are not implemented. 2. Phase 2 — Durable model. Model household members, accounts/wrappers, holdings, dated valuations, assumptions and evidence-linked review notes Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: No personalized investment or tax recommendation is inferred; unknown fees, prices and tax assumptions remain visible, and projected returns are scenarios. 3. Phase 3 — Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Use short SQLite transactions and persist job state before starting work. Give retries stable operation IDs; report incomplete or unknown results instead of silently repeating them. 4. Phase 4 — Permissions and integration failure. Reject unexpected origins and unbounded request bodies even on localhost. Keep credentials outside the database export and redact sensitive text from logs. No bank credentials in uploads or logs; restrict exports and backups to the owner. Never initiate transfers or infer investment suitability. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results. 5. Phase 5 — Portable handoff. Use a consistent SQLite backup and an attachment manifest. Export portable JSON/CSV, then restore to a new directory without overwriting the original data. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README. 6. Phase 6 — Acceptance scenarios. A holding without a current price is shown stale and excluded or explicitly estimated; changing growth assumptions never changes actual recorded balances. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder. Acceptance A holding without a current price is shown stale and excluded or explicitly estimated; changing growth assumptions never changes actual recorded balances. Use real source data or clearly labeled fixtures. Explain unsupported input and provider failures; do not fabricate analytics, delivery receipts, accuracy claims or security guarantees. Optional agent guidance Optional external skill: [xlsx](https://github.com/anthropics/skills/blob/main/skills/xlsx/SKILL.md) — Create, edit and inspect spreadsheet files, formulas, formatting and tabular imports or exports. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [sharp-edges](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/main/plugins/sharp-edges/skills/sharp-edges/SKILL.md) — Review security-sensitive APIs and configuration for dangerous defaults and easy-to-misuse interfaces. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [web-design-guidelines](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md) — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Project rule — data model: household members, accounts/wrappers, holdings, dated valuations, assumptions and evidence-linked review notes Project rule — preserve this invariant: No personalized investment or tax recommendation is inferred; unknown fees, prices and tax assumptions remain visible, and projected returns are scenarios. Project rule — acceptance evidence: A holding without a current price is shown stale and excluded or explicitly estimated; changing growth assumptions never changes actual recorded balances.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md
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Portfolio Coach pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| free portfolio tracking | $0 | $0 | Portfolio tracking/planning do not consume credit; £2 AI credit included (about $2.71 at the ECB 2026-08-12 reference rate); no card requiredVendor does not publish numeric account, profile or holding caps. |
| ai credit top-ups | — | — | Prepaid top-ups start at £5 (about $6.76); AI usage is charged at the selected model provider's cost +20%Usage-based, not a subscription. GBP amounts converted using the ECB 2026-08-12 reference rates. |
free tier£2 of AI credit (about $2.71); portfolio tracking and planning do not consume credit; no card required
billingno subscription; prepaid AI credit top-ups from £5 (about $6.76)
hidden costsAI usage is variable and charged at the selected model provider's cost plus 20%; minimum top-up is £5 (about $6.76).
pricing sources checked 2026-08-13 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Portfolio Coach
Can you build your own Portfolio Coach with AI?
Partly. A private dashboard for holdings, family members, projections, and CSV imports is a credible weekend build. Reliable live pricing for UK funds, a ledger-correct Vanguard importer, household data boundaries, maintained tax rules, and AI advice grounded in every account turn the complete product into a multi-day project.
What does the Portfolio Coach build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Enter a family portfolio, inspect allocation and compare explicitly chosen projection assumptions. Allow an optional AI explanation of the supplied numbers, with any UK tax references separately source-dated and marked for professional review. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: reliable live pricing and UK fund symbol mapping; ledger-backed Vanguard history import; secure cloud accounts, family sharing, and support access. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Portfolio Coach prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Portfolio Coach project take?
The catalogue estimate is weekend for a local version, multi-day for the hosted product for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Portfolio Coach?
reliable live pricing and UK fund symbol mapping; ledger-backed Vanguard history import; secure cloud accounts, family sharing, and support access; maintained UK tax and estate-planning assumptions; hosted AI reviews with current web context. The core tracker is free to start. Paid AI credits cover the convenient part: a hosted coach already connected to the household's live holdings, while the product maintains pricing, imports, security boundaries, and UK planning logic.
What can I use instead of building Portfolio Coach?
The prior-art section lists Ghostfolio, Portfolio Performance as starting points. Review their current scope, license and maintenance before adopting one.