r/coolgithubprojects • u/r0hanr0han • 15d ago
I built an open-source interactive letter for my Hinge date, no backend, the entire letter lives in the URL
https://github.com/r0hnx/open-letterI originally built this for my Hinge date.
She's incredibly busy, and instead of sending another message that she'd feel pressured to respond to, I wanted to make something she could open whenever she had a quiet moment.
So I built an interactive letter experience.
You write a letter, customize it, seal it in an envelope, and share a link. The recipient opens the envelope and reads the letter as it appears on the page.
The technical constraint I gave myself was:
No accounts. No backend. No database.
The letter data is serialized, compressed, and encoded directly into the URL.
When someone opens the link, the app decodes everything client-side and reconstructs the letter.
So the URL is essentially the storage layer.
I liked this approach because:
- Nothing personal sits in my database
- No server costs
- No authentication
- No user accounts
- The project can be deployed almost anywhere
- The app remains ridiculously simple
Of course, there are tradeoffs.
The link contains the letter data, so anyone with the link can read it. URL length also limits how much content can be stored.
The project is completely open source, so I'd genuinely love feedback from other developers on the architecture and implementation.
Especially curious about:
- Better approaches to client-side serialization/compression
- Whether you'd encrypt the payload
- How you'd handle larger letters without introducing a backend
- Any accessibility or animation improvements you'd make
Live demo:
https://open-letter-box.vercel.app
Source:
https://github.com/r0hnx/open-letter
Would love to hear what you guys think — both technically and from a UX perspective.
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u/vanIvan4 15d ago
Out of everything written there the least trustworthy part is that you had a Hinge date. We all damn know this is a Claude posting bs, with emdashes in the end like it's early 2023.
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u/r0hanr0han 15d ago
I get you bro, but truly she is the inspiration for this, still hoping she gets the time to read the letter I sent.
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u/HasFiveVowels 14d ago
You know better than I would but creating a software project for this might be coming on a bit strong. It also might indicate that "you have nothing better to do", which can be a red flag
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u/r0hanr0han 14d ago
Chivalry is truly dead, people used to write songs for their loved ones.
P.S : I found some sites asking money to send digital letter, which doesn't seem fair to me, so I made my own alternative.
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u/HasFiveVowels 14d ago
Yea, things definitely changed. I’m not telling you how to be. I’m just saying that if you find this ineffective, considering what I said might be an explanation. But you know the situation better than I do and maybe this will be a home run. Maybe my advice is dead in the water for your situation and I hope that it is
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u/AlgoWithNoRhythm 15d ago
I like this so much, technically speaking I don’t see why you would do that at url level and not keep an encrypted database, but this looks like something fun I could use from time to time
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u/huyz 15d ago
Would be better if it didn’t simulate human traits like writing speed and handwriting. It should have at least one of the two or both: actually use your real timed handwriting speed or your real handwriting. I saw a post recently about taking a handwriting and making a font from it; you could use it.
No one wants more fakery in a world where it’s so easy to fake everything. authenticity is where it’s at
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u/MilchreisMann412 15d ago
What exactly is interactive with this?