whatships.com

A curated directory of startup launch videos, demos, and walkthroughs shared on X/Twitter — live at whatships.com.

Local development

pnpm install
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:4321.

Scripts

Command	Description
pnpm dev	Start the Astro dev server
pnpm build	Production static build (fetches X oEmbed at build time)
pnpm deploy	Build, strip local streams, and deploy to Cloudflare Workers
pnpm preview	Preview the production build
pnpm check	Astro + TypeScript check
pnpm test:run	Unit tests (Vitest)
pnpm posters:capture	Download amplify MP4s, extract posters, and build local /streams for dev playback
pnpm discovery:dry-run	Scan X watchlist (needs X_BEARER_TOKEN) and print candidates without filing issues
pnpm discovery:fixture	Run discovery against the sample fixture (no API key)
pnpm discovery:seed-inbox	Seed src/data/inbox.json from the fixture (for /admin demos)
pnpm discovery -- --publish --email	Create GitHub issues, update inbox, optional Resend digest
pnpm inbox:apply	Merge approved inbox drafts into videos.json

Deployment

Every push to main triggers .github/workflows/deploy.yml: build → strip dist/streams → wrangler deploy to Cloudflare Workers static assets, served on whatships.com and www.whatships.com.

In-site playback goes through a self-hosted video proxy (workers/video-proxy) at proxy.whatships.com: X's CDN rejects any non-Twitter Referer, so the Worker relays the original video.twimg.com media Referer-less. Local /streams/{slug}.mp4 files are a dev-only fallback and stay out of git.

Required secrets / env:

Secret / env	Where	Purpose
CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN	GitHub Actions secret	wrangler deploy
PUBLIC_VIDEO_PROXY_BASE	Build env	Playback proxy base URL inlined into the bundle

Adding curated videos

Edit src/data/videos.json. Each published entry needs:

• stable slug and id
• product/company metadata
• category from the allowed list in src/lib/catalog.ts
• tweetUrl / tweetId for the original X post
• videoUrl (amplify MP4) — used for poster capture and proxied playback
• poster path under public/posters/
• status: "published" (drafts stay offline)

After adding a videoUrl, capture the poster:

pnpm posters:capture -- --slug=your-slug --force

Detail pages embed the original post via X's oEmbed API during pnpm build. If oEmbed fails, the page falls back to the local poster plus a Watch on X link.

Submissions

Open /submit/ to propose a launch. The form validates an X status URL and product metadata, then opens a prefilled GitHub issue on dingyi/whatships.com for editorial review. Approved entries are merged into src/data/videos.json.

Weekly discovery (admin review + email)

plv scans a curated X watchlist every week for product-launch / demo videos, then stages matches in src/data/inbox.json for review at /admin. Optional: GitHub Issues (label discovery) + Resend email digests. Nothing is published without you.

flowchart LR
  W[watchlist.json] --> J[GitHub Action weekly]
  J --> X[X API timelines]
  X --> F[filter: video + launch signals]
  F --> Q[inbox.json]
  F --> I[optional Issues]
  F --> E[optional email]
  Q --> A["/admin review"]
  A --> V[videos.json via inbox:apply]

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/admin review UI

1. Open /admin/ (not linked in the public nav).
2. Log in with ADMIN_PASSWORD (set at build time; see secrets below).
3. Edit metadata, Approve or Reject.
4. Download inbox.json and replace src/data/inbox.json (or rely on the weekly Action commit).
5. Run:

pnpm inbox:apply
pnpm posters:capture

Local decisions are also cached in the browser (localStorage) so you can continue mid-review.

Soft security: the password is hashed into the static bundle, and inbox.json ships with the site. Fine for a personal editorial tool; not multi-tenant auth.

Optional GitHub Issues

Issues with label discovery still work as a parallel queue if you use --publish without --skip-issues.

Configure secrets (GitHub Actions)

Repo → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions:

Secret / env	Required	Purpose
X_BEARER_TOKEN	Yes for live discovery	X API v2 bearer with read access to user lookup + timelines
ADMIN_PASSWORD	For /admin login	Build-time password for the review UI (also set in your host’s build env)
RESEND_API_KEY	For email	Resend API key
NOTIFY_EMAIL	For email	Your inbox (comma-separated for multiple)
DISCOVERY_FROM_EMAIL	For email	Verified Resend sender, e.g. plv@yourdomain.com

GITHUB_TOKEN is provided automatically (issues + committing inbox.json).

Note on X API cost: Timeline reads need a paid X API plan (free tiers generally cannot read other users’ posts). Without X_BEARER_TOKEN, the scheduled workflow fails closed rather than scraping unofficially.

Edit the watchlist

Curate accounts in src/data/watchlist.json:

{
  "handle": "cursor_ai",
  "company": "Cursor",
  "category": "developer-tools",
  "tags": ["ide", "agents"]
}

Local commands

# Offline: seed admin inbox from fixture
pnpm discovery:seed-inbox
ADMIN_PASSWORD='your-secret' pnpm dev
# open http://localhost:4321/admin/

# Live dry-run (no issues / no commit)
export X_BEARER_TOKEN=...
pnpm discovery:dry-run

# Publish: inbox + optional issues + email
export GITHUB_TOKEN=...
export GITHUB_REPOSITORY=dingyi/whatships.com
export RESEND_API_KEY=...
export NOTIFY_EMAIL=you@example.com
export DISCOVERY_FROM_EMAIL=plv@yourdomain.com
pnpm discovery -- --publish --email

# After approving in /admin (and saving inbox.json):
pnpm inbox:apply
pnpm posters:capture

The workflow .github/workflows/weekly-discovery.yml runs Mondays 15:00 UTC, updates src/data/inbox.json, and can open Issues + email. Start it manually from the Actions tab when needed.

If you skip Resend, enable GitHub notification emails and/or check /admin after each run.

Stack

• Astro (static output)
• React 19 islands
• Tailwind CSS 4
• shadcn + Base UI
• Vitest

License

MIT for original source code and documentation. Product names, trademarks, and third-party video content remain the property of their respective owners.