10k Users in 24 Hours: Building My First Open Source Project 🚀

Hi, Indie Hackers! Never coded before? Neither had I, until two months ago. Here's how I started.

I always thought coding was some special skill I never will be able to learn.

I tried couple of times to learn before via different tutorials and always failed.

As soon as ChatGPT become more popular I started testing some thing with it.

Further on, my friends suggested starting with open source projects, which turned out to be a great idea. Existing Open Source combined with ChatGPT made it possible to start coding.

I leaned heavily on ChatGPT for practically every move I made. F

rom setting things up, connecting to APIs, and even deciphering code, ChatGPT was my guide. So, let's dive into my first ever project.

What was my first project?

It's a LinkedIn Post Generator - a tool to create AI-generated LinkedIn posts.

Check it out here and the GitHub repo here.

So why a LinkedIn Post Generator? As a frequent LinkedIn user, crafting a compelling post usually took me over an hour. There had to be a shortcut! I analyzed over 100 creators and 300 prompts, aiming to understand how to generate effective posts quickly.

Here's the breakdown of my journey from a coding newbie🥚 to launching my first project 🐥:

1. Setting Up the Environment: With the help of a package manager, tea, I installed all the necessary tools for development, including node, npm, and vercel.

2. Building on Open Source: I leveraged two existing projects: the Twitter Algorithm and Twitter Bio Generator. This helped me understand LinkedIn's algorithm and connect OpenAI for post generation.

3. Decoding the Code: My first encounter with the codebase was overwhelming. ChatGPT help me understand the basic structure of the application, including front-end elements and CSS.

4. Constructing the Project: I made my adaptations, built an algorithm to rank posts based on LinkedIn performance metrics, and integrated OpenAI for post generation.

5. Deploying the Project: I pushed my project to GitHub, then deployed it on Vercel, learning how to troubleshoot along the way.

6. Sharing on Social Media: Finally, I shared my project on LinkedIn. It went viral, clocking 200k views on LinkedIn and generating 10k+ posts within the first 24 hours!

Now, I'm focusing on building other micro-tools and contributing to more open source projects. One of the project I committed, open-source alternative to DocSend. Check this out, if you tried to Pitchdeck sharing services before or interested to commit to Open Source.

⭐️ Papermark ⭐️

So, that's my journey so far. If you're a coding beginner, I hope this story inspires you. It's never too late to start, and the process, while challenging, is feel super good !

Here you can find my full story with code steps
https://dev.to/shnai0/how-i-build-my-first-open-source-project-with-chatgpt-and-nextjs-10k-users-in-24-hours-2m7n

Here is a post which got viral on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7053373191133499392/

Currently Linkedin Post Generator bringing avg. 4000 users/month.