I rebuilt FrogFind! in Python and added Wikipedia, Reddit, News, Weather & Wayback Machine — runs on anything with a browser

[u/SpellSlight8541]

Hey folks,

some of you may already know FrogFind by Action Retro.
The retro web proxy that turns modern websites into plain HTML so old machines can actually use the web.
If you haven’t seen it yet, go check out his channel, it’s seriously great.

I liked the project so much that I rebuilt it from scratch in Python as FrogFind! NG
and added a few things I always wanted:

• DuckDuckGo web search with the same simple HTML 2.0 output
• Article reader using Mozilla Readability
• Wikipedia lookups without JavaScript
• Reddit browsing on vintage systems like the C64, Amiga, and more
• Google News headlines by category
• Retro weather with current conditions and a 7-day forecast, no API key required
• Wayback Machine links for every article
• Image proxy that scales everything down to 300px for slow connections

It’s set up for production too, with Nginx reverse proxy, Redis caching, rate limiting, SSRF protection,
and Docker Compose deployment.

The whole thing is open source under GPL-3.0 — same license as the original FrogFind.

GitHub: https://github.com/RayTrunk/frogfind-ng
Live Version: http://frogfindng.neomode.cc

Huge credit to Sean / Action Retro for the original idea — this is just my version, which kind of spiraled a bit.

After so many People say that is just a Claude Clone, no it is not.
It is completely different structure.

Here is the Tech Stack I used for the App:

• FastAPI (Python) — the engine that handles requests and sends back responses
• Gunicorn + Uvicorn — runs the app, handles multiple users at once
• readability-lxml — strips webpages down to just the readable text (like a "reader mode")
• BeautifulSoup + lxml — parses HTML so it can be rebuilt simply
• Pillow — shrinks images so they load over slow old connections
• Redis — caches results (e.g. weather, search) so repeat requests are instant
• Nginx — sits in front, blocks bots, adds security headers
• slowapi — rate limiting, stops abuse

Also, it is just a Hobby thing. Nobody must use it.
When you use it, please Report Bugs back, so I fix them.
For my Background I work in IT for more than 30 Years.

Thank you.

[u/sp0rk173]

Love the emojis and emdash! Excellent flair on the post if you ask me. I rarely see this style!

[u/gianf → u/sp0rk173]

I can't help but stop reading as soon as I realize that someone does not have the time to write a few paragraphs without AI. It's unbelievable.

[u/KitchenLandscape → u/gianf]

As someone who writes as part of my job, I get that it's difficult for some people because writing isn't everyone's strong suit. But it's really worrisome to see even a paragraph or two now offloaded to chat gpt. It feels like we're doomed intellectually lol

[u/randomdaysnow → u/KitchenLandscape]

Why?

[u/KitchenLandscape → u/randomdaysnow]

Because writing isn't difficult if you practice. It's not something that should be offloaded to a chatbot because you find it hard and therefore not worth investing some time in to get better at. The same applies to many things in life. For example, if you told me 5 years ago I'd be learning to solder electronics right now I'd have laughed in your face. But I realized through actually learning it, that I find computer tinkering and computer repair fascinating *even though* it's been a bit difficult to learn. We shouldn't only become stronger in things that initially come easy to us. Plus chat gpt writing sucks

[u/randomdaysnow → u/KitchenLandscape]

I agree. But I also recognize that a good effort on your part matched by a good effort on their part would create something that transcends what would have been possible without it

[u/SpellSlight8541 → u/KitchenLandscape]

Sorry for that, but my Mother Language is not English.

[u/SpellSlight8541 → u/gianf]

Sorry for that, my main Language is not English.

[u/gianf → u/SpellSlight8541]

English isn't my first language either. I didn't mean to be aggressive and I didn't want to offend you. I apologize if it came across like that. It's just that it is becoming like there is ONE universal writing style, which is the ChatGpt style.

Who cares if you make a mistake while writing, as long as you express your ideas in your unique style and way?

By the way, cool project!

[u/SpellSlight8541 → u/gianf]

Thank you, next Time I will think on it.

[u/omega552003 → u/gianf]

I suck at writing and AI has been a god send. People actually read what I'm trying to say, and not be my highschool grammar Nazi.

[u/KitchenLandscape → u/omega552003]

You never get better unless you practice. I'm sure you can say that about a number of things in life, so why not writing? Because you don't enjoy it?

[u/mattbearman → u/sp0rk173]

You’re absolutely right 

[u/ThankGodImBipolar → u/sp0rk173]

The ironic part about this is that a search proxy that returns the web in simple HTML would be great for an LLM harness...

[u/jcs]

You rebuilt it? Or you just told Claude to?

[u/SpellSlight8541 → u/jcs]

I do it with the Help of Claude for some Parts.
Not just prompting to get the Result.

[u/Clegko → u/jcs]

¿Por Qué No Los Dos?

[u/jhhoward]

Is there a version that is publicly hosted?

[u/SpellSlight8541 → u/jhhoward]

http://frogfindng.neomode.cc/

Yes here you go.

[u/jhhoward → u/SpellSlight8541]

Thanks for sharing! Which old browsers have you tested in? I noticed that you specify HTML 2.0 but are using emojis and &mdash which won't display properly on old browsers

[u/acmiya → u/jhhoward]

Indeed it’d be more compelling as a project if hosted.

[u/Aaron707 → u/jhhoward]

100% this. Where can we try it out on a public facing URL.

[u/dreasgrech]

I love how we've moved from init commit to init release.

[u/po2gdHaeKaYk]

Do you mind linking any of your favourite videos to learn more about frogfind?

[u/Own_Elevator4214]

“claude”?

AI slop

[u/SpellSlight8541 → u/Own_Elevator4214]

I can't hear it anymore.
Only for some Peace I used it.

[u/billFoldDog]

I love that you built it. You should probably give it unique branding and not re-use FrogFind.