Presenting... 📚 https://bookstr.xyz, a simple Goodreads alternative built on Nostr!

This is an extremely basic prototype that only barely works (user beware!). However, I think it highlights what is amazing about building on Nostr. I was inspired by this post, and then able to build a client in 3 days almost entirely with AI.

The opportunity to bridge social behavior with "other stuff" (in this case, books via Open Library API) is huge. This concept could work for any type of content, not just books. Music, Movies and TV, games, etc. — all on Nostr.

The process of building on Nostr with AI also demonstrated a few gaps in the ecosystem where AI-ready tools were missing or failing, so there is definitely opportunity to grow there.

Shout out nostr:nprofile1qydhwumn8ghj76r9de5x7atnv5h8xmmrd9skctmjv4kxz7gqyqzxrl97e3xrxazrnyeddw83zf5uekmue9e667js4cmzmvf4536d6qvllke who had many of these ideas first, helped me with lots of the Nostr event specifics, and solved a couple bugs!

Overall, I'm extremely impressed by what can be done with AI on Nostr and all the doors this will open! I'm excited to keep working on this. #bookstr #GrowNostr #AI #Nostr

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzplnld0r0wvutw6alsrd5q2k7vk2nug9j7glxd6ycyp9k8nzz2wdrqydhwumn8ghj76r9de5x7atnv5h8xmmrd9skctmjv4kxz7gqyqa9mz8usydfd792lddpnc4z7elxqfx4da7jg8uujwrv3w3z5y4cza7tezp

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Discussion

Nice!

Ps. This was made with lovable

Here is the code: https://github.com/marykatefain/bookverse-nostr

This is awesome, congrats

BTW I'm signed in rn, but it still says that I'm not

Just sharing feedback!

Thank you! You probably have to refresh between actions

Sweet! 💜

Super cool. What paper ink devices can you use that work with this?

Wow! What was your coding experience prior to this?

A couple of years and projects or contributions here and there when inspired. Junior dev at best. I mostly work in communications 😄

Fair play. I was sort of hoping you might say none… then I’d go full stream ahead making myself a Nostr native, self hosted video platform.

I’d have no idea how to start though, I’ve never got further than adjusting the odd parameter in a script following instructions.

Well done!

Awesome!! Love it

As a "tech retard" I get stuck here and cannot log in....why can't I just type in my nostr key to log in?

yeah same

Right now it only supports Nostr Login via Nostr.band which is a nice login tool for Nostr you can just immediately plug in. You can use an extension, a signing app, or basically anything besides raw nsec (which is for your safety, bc I wouldn't trust it with your nsec yet probably! lol!)

https://github.com/nostrband/nostr-login

I have my issues with signing extensions. Alby is the only one I know of with multi account support. I will jump ship as soon as a high quality alternative is available.

Good on you. Never allow users to enter their nsec directly. 🔥

Ok got it, thanks a lot 😁 I’ll go mess with it and well done for the amazing idea !!

I can't use extensions on mobile and bunkers almost never work for me, they just hang.

I wish more sites would support DM logins

It’s super straightforward to do. I like DM logins because it turns your favourite social client into an authenticator. I will try to implement on my site.

DM doesn't solve it for sites that need to sign events though

That’s amazing!!

this is awesome.

any insights into your dev flow?

I think if you click this link and create a lovable account (there's a free tier) you can see my entire chat with the AI including me eventually yelling and crashing out over the ratings lmao

But overall my advice is shape as MUCH as you can in the early prompts before the codebase gets too big. It struggles after a certain point and the simpler the better.

https://lovable.dev/projects/7bc87f7a-80df-4dcb-b3c5-7addab0bc347?utm_source=gpt-engineer-badge

this is sick

i want a nostr book club

i can't sign in with alby though...?

How can I add my book to this? This is really great what you did and I would love my book to be a part of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Slender-Notions-Nicholas-Antonopoulos/dp/B087R5NL1G

Right now it's pulling from Open library API, I'm not sure how they add books! I'm the future I want to expand the book data and include the ability to submit books :)

Can you elaborate on the AI part? What part of bookstr is AI? Or do you mean you developed it with AI?

I built it with AI! Didn't touch a line of code myself!

Wow. Way to ship!

AI works better when you are also an expert coder. Anything of value will require human intelligence to debug. Just my 2 cents worth.

Im no expert, although I did have the handy assistance of an expert nearby when I got stuck - so I agree it's not at a piont yet where a truly non-technical person with just an idea and a dream could do it. The main it helepd to know what the Nostr event types I wanted to use and the various tags, etc, to be able to shape the events it was submitting to the relays.

I am so in

Love it. Will have a play around. Nice to see someone else building for the readers!!

Is there a GitHub repo for this?

Did you use the OpenReads app for any info? That’s a pretty good app without the social aspect

This is awesome. Is there a stand alone app or browser only?

Thanks for building this! it looks very cool.

It'd be even cooler if I could import my 14 years of data from goodreads. Unfortunately when I tried to export that data I got this shitty message:

At least if I have to start over on #nostr I'll be free of another walled data garden.

Damn I didnt even know they offered this at all! I'd love to include the ability to import data in the future

It's hidden in small type at the bottom of the profile settings page, "Download my Goodreads data".

https://www.goodreads.com/user/edit?ref=nav_profile_settings

👀

Really cool

I really like this project.

Is it possible to import a CSV from the data I have in goodreads? Is that in mind for a future version?

And what about marking as read? I'm looking for this option and haven't found it yet.

Once again, congratulations on the initiative.

To mark a book as "read" click the check mark icon in the top right corner of the book (maybe this needs a more clear UI! 😅 ). It should turn green when you refresh the page after that, and show up in the "Read" tab in your library!

No importing from Goodreads yet, but some others have suggested it and I'm going to have to look into how they allow exporting and see what can be done! I agree that would be a hugely impactful feature!

Great initiative!!

Love it!

This is great!

Awesome, i'll start using it right now!

We definitely need a legitimate Goodreads alternative for the Nostr protocol. #bookstr

site is down

this is a good sign 😁

It's still up for me - lmk if it persists for you after a refresh! Also possible we've got rate limited 😅

lol 🤦‍♂️ the primal URL includes a comma. it works in other clients

Nice!!!

Hi there. Have been building a few tools with nostr and social media platforms providers for automated marketing/social media posting along with normal posts. My cryptocurrency platform has email based authentication. Not sure users like it. Need to do research. However, looked into building an API gateway something using nostr. Somehow erring towards lnurl-auth. Suspect the nostr lightning wallet would work with this. Not sure. Will add you anyway..well.done.

This is awesome

So cool :) awesome work

It's open source right?

Maybe I would collaborate, I like the project 🙌🏻

For me it stays like this forever. Running it on brave in an Android device: