insidejoke
Let's celebrate you, and life.
insidejoke is a wishlist app where friends chip in. You make a list of things you'd love (exact brand, size, colour, the one you actually want), share one link, and friends pay toward a wish or buy you a treat (a bagel, a latte, a bouquet). Wishes stop at covered. Treats never run out. The amount a wish has collected is yours to cash out.
Run it
npm i
npm run dev # http://localhost:3000
Then open /dev/login, press Load the demo, and act as any demo user (Maya owns the list; Sam, Priya, Lina, Dev and Kofi are friends).
Test mode vs live
With no keys set, the app runs in test mode: texts are not sent (they land in /dev/texts, the Outbox) and payments are simulated. A bar at the top of every page says so.
Copy .env.example to .env.local and fill in Twilio (TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN, TWILIO_FROM_NUMBER) to really send texts, and STRIPE_SECRET_KEY to really charge. APP_URL is the public base URL used in text links. The database is Postgres: set DATABASE_URL (Neon, Supabase, Vercel Postgres all work). With no URL the app runs a local Postgres in-process (PGlite) under data/pglite, so nothing needs installing to try it. On Vercel without DATABASE_URL the data lives in /tmp and resets on every deploy.
Phases
- Core loop ✓ — phone sign-up, make a list, add wishes and treats, share by link or text, chip in / get it / treat, owner hears when a wish is covered.
- Thank-yous, cash out, history — say thanks per gift, cash out collected amounts (5% fee), past lists and gifts.
- Collab — make a list together for someone else.
- Surprises — private lists with a date; the recipient only finds out on the day.
Product rules
- A phone number is the account. No passwords; we text a code.
- The 5% fee is taken at cash-out, from the owner's side. Givers never see it and are never charged it.
- An item has a quantity. Quantity unlimited makes it a treat: friends buy as many as they like, it never shows as covered. A quantity of one or more is a wish: giving stops at covered.
- Dates only remind. A date on a list never closes it, never hides it, never changes what a friend can do.
- Amounts never appear on a list. Friends see a bar (how far along a wish is), never dollars collected or who gave what. Dollars are only on the give screen and in the owner's own view.
- Copy is genderless. Avatars are blobs with initials, never photos of people.
Layout
app/ routes (App Router): landing, signup, home, lists, l/[slug], menu, dev/*
components/ Blob, Logo, Header, Avatar and friends
lib/ db (Postgres), auth, lists, texts, payments, wallet, seed (demo data), actions (server actions), blob
