# Build brief — a focused alternative to HitKeep Cloud

> **Verdict:** Yes, for personal use · **Buildability:** 76/100 · **Category:** Analytics
> **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/hitkeep-cloud
> Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from HitKeep Cloud. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting.

## Context

**HitKeep Cloud** — Managed privacy-first analytics with an open-source self-hosted edition. It currently costs $17/mo.

The subscription is managed hosting of the same MIT-licensed application, so an agent does not need to reproduce HitKeep. It can deploy the official binary or container in a focused implementation; the real gap is upgrades, backups, email delivery, monitoring, and being on call for the analytics box.

This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of HitKeep Cloud that is genuinely reproducible. It is deliberately narrower than the product it replaces, and it says so in writing. Build the useful core; do not pretend to have rebuilt the rest.

## What you are building

Deploy the official HitKeep release, point a domain at it, add the tracker to your sites, and keep the data volume backed up.

- Ingest a known data source, calculate a focused metric set, and render a useful dashboard.
- A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states.

## Requirements

### Functional

- Linux host or Docker.
- Domain and TLS.
- Persistent storage.
- Session signing secret.
- Backup and update routine.

### Non-functional

- Accessibility: semantic markup, labelled controls, visible focus, and reduced-motion support.
- Security: server-side secrets, validated input, and no credentials in the client bundle.
- Reliability: retries with backoff on external calls, and a clear failure state when a provider is down.
- Portability: the operator can export their data and leave without losing it.

## Implementation brief

Replace HitKeep Cloud by deploying the real open-source HitKeep, not by rewriting analytics.
Use Docker Compose and the official pascalebeier/hitkeep image; do not build a clone.
Create compose.yml for one HitKeep service with restart: unless-stopped.
Persist the data, retention archive, and backup snapshots in separate named volumes.
Put HITKEEP_PUBLIC_URL and HITKEEP_JWT_SECRET in .env and ship a safe .env.example.
Generate the signing secret locally; never commit it or print it into documentation.
Bind HitKeep to localhost on port 8080 so my existing reverse proxy can terminate TLS.
Document the exact reverse-proxy requirements for the public analytics domain.
Enable automatic local backup snapshots and keep a bounded retention window.
Add backup.sh to copy a consistent snapshot to a second destination and document restore.
Add update.sh to pull the latest image, recreate the service, and show recent logs.
Include a health check that uses the official image's supported health-check command.
Keep optional SMTP, social login, Search Console, MCP, and AI provider settings disabled.
Do not add PostgreSQL, Redis, ClickHouse, Kafka, or a separate queue service.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, or a hosted control plane around HitKeep.
Out of scope: modifying HitKeep, rebuilding its dashboard, or promising managed uptime.
Write a README covering DNS, TLS, first-owner setup, adding a site, and the tracker tag.
Document where every persistent file lives and how to test a restore before trusting backups.
Start the stack, verify the container is healthy, and confirm the dashboard and hk.js load.
Finish by listing the exact verification commands and the remaining operations I now own.

## Delivery standard

- Inspect the repository first, then write a short implementation plan before writing code.
- Deliver the smallest complete end-to-end workflow first; every primary control must work against persisted data.
- Use real validation and storage; never substitute fake dashboards, decorative controls, hard-coded success states, or mock integrations.
- Include responsive layouts plus genuine empty, loading, success, validation, and failure states.
- Keep secrets server-side in environment variables, provide .env.example, and never commit credentials or user data.
- Add structured logs around every external call and return actionable errors without leaking sensitive details.
- Write unit tests for the core logic and one automated test of the main user journey.
- Finish with a README covering setup, architecture, data location, backups, tests, deployment, and known limitations.

## Acceptance criteria

- [ ] A clean install starts the app using only the README and .env.example.
- [ ] The primary journey works from first visit through saved result, reload, edit, export, and deletion where applicable.
- [ ] Invalid input, missing configuration, provider failure, and an empty database each have a usable state.
- [ ] The interface works at 390px and 1440px, is keyboard navigable, and shows visible focus on every control.
- [ ] Tests, type checking, linting, and a production build all pass with no ignored failures.
- [ ] No part of the interface implies a live integration, security guarantee, or scale capability that was not actually built and verified.

## Non-goals

Do not build these, and do not claim to have replaced them:

- Managed upgrades and monitoring.
- Encrypted regional backups.
- Managed email delivery.
- Vendor support and incident response.

## What you still own after launch

- Run migrations, backups, restores, and dependency updates.
- Test the critical journey after every model, API, or hosting change.
- Monitor failures and fix the edge cases a first prompt will miss.

## Risk

**Operational risk.** The code is achievable; dependable data, integrations, and ongoing operations are the real cost.

Editorial confidence in this assessment: high. No reviewed project implementation is linked yet.

## Existing alternatives

Before building, compare these checked options:

- [HitKeep Self-Hosted](https://hitkeep.com/guides/installation/docker-compose/) — Exactly the same analytics product, except the upgrade window and backup drill belong to you

## Prior art

Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting:

- [HitKeep](https://github.com/PascaleBeier/hitkeep) — The complete MIT-licensed application behind HitKeep Cloud

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