Founder Directory
Discover founders, what they are building, and where to find them.
A working, public Next.js product and a contributor-friendly example of app
functions powered by Weft underneath. Visitors browse stored profiles, search
by name and filter by category, country or city. Each founder has an indexable
/u/{handle} page with source links. The hosted directory is at
https://foundersdirectory.app; its About page explains the source trend and
credits Nittarab and Weft Labs.
Run locally
Use Node 24.21.0 and pnpm 10.33.4. With Mise,
run mise install and prefix the commands below with mise exec --:
pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
cp .env.example .env.local
pnpm dev
Open http://127.0.0.1:3000. With blank credentials, the UI renders an empty
directory. To collect real data, provision your own Neon DATABASE_URL, get a
server-only WEFT_API_KEY from the
Weft buyer dashboard, and run
pnpm exec tsx scripts/bulk.ts from your terminal. Work against a local
PostgreSQL copy, not production: set DATABASE_URL to it and
DATABASE_TRANSPORT=postgres. Results reach production through releases. Never prefix these with
NEXT_PUBLIC_.
Deploy safely: non-main branches get Vercel Git previews, merges to main
deploy a separate Vercel preview through CD, and a vX.Y.Z tag deploys
production. The deployed app never buys data: collection runs locally and
reaches production through a reviewed release. Configure wallet limits before
collecting. A Vercel clone does
not come with a database, funded wallet, or free provider calls. Read the
deployment guide first.
What Weft does
Server functions discover public X introductions, hydrate profiles, and normalize
free-text locations. The app uses the Weft SDK rather than separate provider
credentials or an AI gateway. Provider/payment UI is not part of browsing.
Current per-request ceilings are $0.01 for X search/profile requests and
$0.002 for place normalization. These are caps, not quoted prices. Retries
can add cost; a scan is multiple requests. See payment and failure semantics.
The current collection searches latest intro phrases for solo founders,
founders, builders, and indie hackers, then hydrates first-person intros it
has not stored yet. Each local scripts/bulk.ts run is time-boxed and capped
(16 searches and 30 profile hydrations). Search cursors and leftover intros
persist so the next run resumes history and
still imports everyone already found. It keeps walking through retweet-only
pages. Per-request Weft caps stay $0.01 / $0.002.
The product is not limited to one template. It does
not verify identities, guarantee location accuracy,
collect private accounts, message founders or automate outreach. Signal labels
are explainable heuristics, not reputation scores.
Contribute
pnpm check
pnpm build
pnpm exec playwright install chromium
pnpm test:e2e
These checks need no paid credentials. Start with CONTRIBUTING,
the documentation map, or AGENTS for an agent-assisted
change. The quality tracker names the gaps rather than hiding them.
Report sensitive issues using SECURITY.
License
MIT. This covers the code, not rights to upstream profile data or third-party services.
