# Build brief — a focused alternative to Social Fetch > **Verdict:** Not faithfully · **Buildability:** 26/100 · **Category:** Dev Tools > **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/socialfetch > Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Social Fetch. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting. ## Context **Social Fetch** — REST API for profiles, posts, transcripts, and engagement metrics across 20+ platforms. It currently costs $29/mo. A personal TikTok or Instagram profile fetcher with Playwright and SQLite is a one-sitting build. Social Fetch is not that. It is kept-alive scrapers on 20+ platforms, proxy routing, anti-bot handling, a stable response schema, and credit metering. Your DIY script breaks when TikTok changes markup. The API bill is for that not being your problem. This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of Social Fetch 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 Fetch public profile and recent posts for one platform (TikTok or Instagram), normalize into JSON, cache in SQLite, expose a tiny local HTTP API. - Build the focused developer workflow you use repeatedly, with local configuration. - A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states. ## Requirements ### Functional - Node + Playwright (or similar). - SQLite. - Optional residential proxy for anything beyond light personal use. ### 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 Build a closest honest personal substitute for Social Fetch in an empty folder. Stack (fixed): Node 22, TypeScript, Express, better-sqlite3, Playwright, Zod. No alternative stacks. Scope: one platform only · TikTok public profiles + recent videos. Localhost only. - GET /profile/:handle → display name, bio, follower/following counts, avatar URL - GET /videos/:handle → last N public videos with id, caption, play/like counts, createdAt - Cache responses in SQLite for 15 minutes; return cached JSON when fresh - Normalize into a stable { data, meta } shape with requestId and cached: boolean - Secrets (optional PROXY_URL) in .env; ship .env.example - README must say bluntly: this will break when TikTok changes markup; no proxies, no Instagram/YouTube/X, no transcripts, no comments at scale, no production use - Out of scope (say so in README): multi-platform adapters, residential proxies, captcha solving, rate-limit farms, billing, accounts, telemetry - Include a smoke test that mocks HTML fixtures (do not hit TikTok in CI) - One command to run locally; finish by listing exact commands used ## 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: - 20+ platforms on one schema and one API key. - Proxy / anti-bot / captcha handling. - Someone else patching when platforms break. - Production metering, request IDs, and uptime. - Reliability at the vendor's scale is an operations problem, not a prompt. - Connectors, OAuth flows, and vendor API changes require constant upkeep. ## 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. - Maintain every third-party integration as APIs and OAuth rules change. ## Risk **Operational risk.** The code is achievable; dependable data, integrations, and ongoing operations are the real cost. Editorial confidence in this assessment: high. No independent one-shot implementation is linked yet. ## Prior art Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting: - [yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp) — open-source media/metadata extraction for some platforms · not a multi-platform profile API --- Generated by [Can It Be Vibe Coded?](https://www.canitbevibecoded.com) · Full report: https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/socialfetch