invision.rip: Because Good Design Tools Shouldn't Just Disappear

Or: How I Accidentally Built a Web Prototyping Platform While Procrastinating on Writing About It

Remember InvisionApp? That beautiful prototyping platform that made web collaboration actually fun? Yeah, the one that just... died when Miro acquired them? RIP.

Well, I couldn't let go. So naturally, I did what any reasonable person would do: I rebuilt the whole damn thing. A few times.. 🫨

The Journey Through Development Hell

This project has more past lives than a cat. Started as yuckie.dev (don't ask about yuckie.app, that's a trauma response for another day), went through three complete rebuilds where each one technically worked but would inevitably descend into debug hell. Turns out, building a complex interactive prototyping platform isn't something you just casually throw together on a weekend.

Who knew?

The current incarnation, invision.rip, is what happens when you combine:

• A dark mode aesthetic (because we're mourning InvisionApp, obviously)
• Neon accents (because even in death, we can glow)
• RIP-themed easter eggs scattered throughout (paying respects properly)
• An unhealthy amount of caffeine and determination

What Actually Works Now

After revisiting the project on-and-off for several months, here's what this zombie platform can actually do:

Core Features:

• Full project system with create/edit/delete (the holy trinity of CRUD)
• Multi-page projects with hotspot functionality
• Interactive hotspots that can:
  • Link to other pages
  • Simulate anchor links within pages
  • Create mouseover overlays for interactive menus
  • Basically turn static screenshots into clickable prototypes

The Cool Stuff:

• Version History: Every update gets saved, so you can travel back in time and see how your designs evolved (or devolved, no judgment)
• Browser Extension: The invision.rip smart capture tool lives! (Full-page seamless screenshots are still being... let's say "refined" - turns out Claude doesn't just magically know how to do this perfectly lol)
• Collaboration Features: Comments and tasks you can pin to screenshots and drag around. Currently a bit clunky and everyone's anonymous (no auth yet), but hey, it works!

The Technical Journey (aka "Why Replit Can Kiss My Deploy Button")

Started development in localhost - smooth sailing. Then tried to deploy to Replit without actually understanding how my app worked or how deployment needed to be configured. Rookie mistake. Spent weeks in deployment purgatory.

The breakthrough came when I outgrew Replit entirely, moved to a Coolify-powered VPS that I actually control. Now invision.rip runs on:

• Bun runtime (because why not)
• My own VPS (costs under control, deployment actually works)
• Custom analytics with ana.js (because GA4 can also RIP)
• TypeScript everywhere (front and back)
• React + shadcn for that slick dark UI

What's Next?

Right now it's reaching the point where it might be worth revisiting to polish for public release. Once I find a gap in the schedule, we'll tag in Opus 4.1 and Claude Code to push to the finish.

Still TODO:

• User authentication (everyone's anonymous ghost mode right now)
• Perfect the full page screenshot capture
• Refine comments and todos
• Stop building long enough to actually document things properly
• Take the repo public and share it with the world 😎

If you want to try it out: invision.rip dm me for the password 😉

Status: MVP achieved, polish TBD

Mood: Cautiously optimistic with a side of "what have I done"