I'm building Spool, a developer-first, open-source alternative to GitHub Gists — a fast, minimal,platform to create, save, organize, and share code snippets.

Think of it like your personal dev notepad, with folders, workspaces, comments, stars, and privacy controls — all without the limitations of Gist.

Why another alternative?

As a developer, I often save code snippets, notes, and debug blocks while working across projects. I used GitHub Gists for a while — but eventually, it felt too rigid and limited. No folders, no real organization, no tagging, no custom visibility per snippet, and worst of all: no real control over my content.

I didn't want another heavy "all-in-one" notes tool. I wanted something focused and developer-native. That's when I thought — why not build a better version from scratch?

This project is for:

• Developers who want to save, search, and reuse their code efficiently
• People who value open-source and want full control over their data
• Anyone tired of messy snippet workflows (sticky notes, random files, clunky tools)

Whether you're building full-stack apps or debugging in terminal — if you write and reuse code snippets, this is for you.

The Tech Stack

I will develop this project using the modern web dev stack :

1. Next.js - framework
2. Typescript - language
3. Shadcn/ui - component library
4. Tailwind - CSS
5. PostgreSQL - database
6. Prisma - ORM
7. Better-Auth - authentication
8. Vercel - deployment

I'll share full details of the architecture, schema decisions, and performance optimizations in upcoming posts.

Why document this journey?

Because building in public is powerful.

I want to:

• Share the wins and the mistakes
• Keep myself accountable and avoid the trap of “unfinished side projects”
• Build community around a tool I genuinely need
• Keep a track of how I navigated around roadblocks and observe my decision-making process.

Every blog post will be a snapshot of progress — from core features to UI design dilemmas and backend optimizations.

Expected outcomes

By the end of this series, I'll have:

• A fully functional, open-source code snippet platform
• A live hosted version anyone can use
• A GitHub repo for contributors and feedback
• A clearer understanding of what it takes to go from problem to product in public

Follow along

The main idea behind documenting the journey and building in public is that to get feedback from others. Throughout the process I will make many mistakes and I want to learn from them. I expect you to follow along with me and interact when you find a decision that I made makes no sense to you.

This project was initialized on 02.05.2025 and the source code is available here.

The series

I'll keep adding links to all the posts in the series here to browse and search quickly.

1. Rethinking code snippet - why existing tools fall short, Pt 1