Comment Protocol

Cross-site comment layer: Privy auth, Postgres (via Prisma) for domains / threads / pools, optional Redis for hot counters, Next.js UI plus a minimal /embed/... route for iframe-style widgets.

Extension: minimalist landing at /download (Chrome / Firefox / Brave tiles). Until store URLs are set, tiles link to the GitHub extension repo. Override with NEXT_PUBLIC_EXTENSION_CHROME_WEBSTORE_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_EXTENSION_FIREFOX_AMO_URL, and NEXT_PUBLIC_EXTENSION_BRAVE_WEBSTORE_URL in .env.local. Official browser marks live in public/download/ (chrome.svg from Google, firefox.svg from Wikimedia Commons, brave.svg from Brave — replace with your own mock assets if you prefer).

Extension: subdomain vs path

You do not need a subdomain. commentprotocol.com/download is enough for the landing page, privacy policy links, and store “website” fields.

Optional: download.commentprotocol.com (or extensions.…) if you want a short marketing URL — add a DNS CNAME to Vercel, attach the domain in the Vercel project, then either serve the same app or add a redirect to /download. No extra backend.

Extension: store sign-ups (Chrome / Firefox / Brave)

Item	What you need
Chrome	A Chrome Web Store developer account (Google charges a one-time registration fee; check current pricing in their console). You upload a .zip of the extension/ folder (built ui/ included).
Firefox	A free Firefox Add-ons (AMO) developer account. Submit the extension (Firefox build uses manifest.firefox.json / web-ext per the extension repo README). Review may require source or notes if the bundle is large/minified.
Brave	Brave is Chromium-based: users usually install the same package from the Chrome Web Store. You do not need a separate paid “Brave store” for a typical MV3 extension.

You already have (or should add on the main site, not new SaaS):

• Privacy policy URL (stores require it) — https://commentprotocol.com/privacy (published policy; still have counsel review for your entity and jurisdictions).
• Support contact or page — stores ask for maintainer/support info.
• Privy — allow chrome-extension://… and OAuth redirect hosts for the packaged extension id (already documented in the extension repo).

No extra paid API is required beyond what the web app already uses (Privy + your deployed commentprotocol.com APIs), unless you add analytics or error reporting later.

Deployment: after pushing main, confirm Vercel (or your host) shows a successful production deploy so /download is not 404.

Prerequisites

• Node 20+
• Docker (optional, for local Postgres + Redis)

Setup

1. Copy environment variables:

   cp .env.example .env.local

2. Fill in Privy credentials:

   • NEXT_PUBLIC_PRIVY_APP_ID
   • PRIVY_APP_SECRET
   • Optional: PRIVY_JWT_VERIFICATION_KEY (avoids a network fetch when verifying tokens)

3. Start databases:

   docker compose up -d

4. Push schema and seed demo domains:

   npm install
   npm run db:push
   npm run db:seed

5. Dev server:

   npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. Pick a domain, then discuss at /thread/<hostname> (e.g. /thread/commentprotocol.com). Embed-friendly view: /embed/<hostname>.

Locations: /locations — search an address or paste lat, lng. With NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY set (Maps JavaScript API + Geocoding API enabled in Google Cloud), the map uses Google Maps and Google Geocoding (Nominatim remains a fallback). Without that key, the app uses OpenStreetMap tiles + Nominatim. HN-style thread per pinned coordinate (same votes/karma as domain threads).

Stars: /stars — SIMBAD TAP search + NASA SkyView DSS2 preview + per-object comments (/api/stars/search, /api/stars/comments).

API

Method	Path	Notes
GET	/api/domains	List domains + pool stats
GET	/api/domains/:hostname/comments	Thread tree + pool
POST	/api/domains/:hostname/comments	Authorization: Bearer <Privy access token>, body { body, parentId? }
GET	/api/geocode?q=	Address / coordinate search (Google Geocoding if key set, else Nominatim)
GET / POST	/api/places/comments	GET ?lat=&lng=&label= thread; POST JSON { lat, lng, body, parentId?, label? } + Bearer
GET	/api/stars/search?q=	SIMBAD TAP name search + SkyView JPEG URL hints
GET / POST	/api/stars/comments	GET ?oid=<SIMBAD oid>; POST JSON { oid, body, parentId? } + Bearer

Vercel

Set Environment Variables in the project dashboard: DATABASE_URL, Privy keys, optional REDIS_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY (restrict key by HTTP referrer to your Vercel domains), SIMBAD_USER_AGENT, NOMINATIM_USER_AGENT. After first deploy, run npx prisma db push against your production database (or use a migration workflow) so StarObject and related columns exist.

Posting increments RewardPool.commentCount and bumps an optional Redis key domain:<id>:comments.

Reward pool fields

• dailyDistributionBps: basis points (100 = 1% per day).
• prizePoolCents: integer USD cents for display and future payout logic.

Scripts

• npm run db:generate — Prisma Client
• npm run db:push — apply schema (dev)
• npm run db:seed — seed domain list + sample pool numbers
• npm run db:studio — Prisma Studio

Stack

Next.js (App Router) · TypeScript · Tailwind v4 · Prisma · PostgreSQL · Redis (optional) · Privy (@privy-io/react-auth + @privy-io/node)