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website-with-soul

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build a website with depth, personality, and a 90% free stack. playbook + working starter template.

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<h3 align="center">build a website with depth, personality, and a 90% free stack.</h3>

**[English](README.md)** | [中文](README.zh.md)

---

## The problem

A personal or brand website is usually a hollow shell. A landing page, a contact form, maybe a blog that hasn't been touched in six months. It exists but it doesn't do anything.

Meanwhile, you're building your audience on platforms you don't own. LinkedIn can throttle your reach tomorrow. Reddit can ban your account. X can change the algorithm. You're renting attention on someone else's infrastructure.

## The thesis

You can build a website with soul using a 90% free stack. A site that sounds like you, ranks in search, feeds AI systems, and compounds over time. Own the content. Own the audience. Own the algorithm.

This repo gives you two things:

1. **A working starter template** you can clone and run in 15 minutes
2. **A 32-chapter playbook** that teaches the full system: build, content, promote, scale

## 2026 refresh

I shipped v1 of this repo in March 2026, then spent three months building [Clearbox](https://clearbox.to), a GTM product. That detour is the lesson, not a footnote to apologize for.

The website stopped being "a blog I keep up to date." It became the owned surface where a real GTM system lives: the place visits, signups, click paths, campaign context, and product learning all converge. A blog is one tile on that surface, not the whole thing.

A repo with soul that sits frozen on its launch commit is a trust problem. So this is the refresh, and the thesis underneath it didn't change: own the site, own the content, own the voice, own the distribution loop, keep all of it in version control. What changed is the proof, and a few opinions earned by shipping:

- **Fewer, better pages over volume.** Run controlled content cohorts and measure which pages earn time, signups, return visits, and real conversation. Hundreds of near-duplicate SEO posts is the old game.
- **Organic engagement over backlinks.** Use AI to find the conversations, then show up like a human with taste. Comments and replies are a distribution layer, not an afterthought.
- **Local repo + database as the context engine.** Terminal tools over SQLite/Postgres/local files beat renting every iteration from a hosted token loop. Make agents query the source of truth instead of re-reading a giant context window.
- **Calmer design.** Fewer cursor effects and ornamental animations, more direct proof and quiet scanning.
- **Version control is the moat.** Ship a redesign, measure it, and if it misses, revert and keep your voice intact.

See [CHANGELOG](CHANGELOG.md) for the v1.1.0 details.

## The stack (90% free)

| Tool | Cost | Role |
|------|------|------|
| Next.js 16 | Free | Framework (App Router, static generation) |
| Tailwind CSS v4 | Free | Styling |
| Vercel | Free | Deploy (hobby tier) |
| Cloudflare | ~$10/yr | Domain registration |
| PostHog | Free | Analytics (proxy pattern, ad-blocker resistant) |
| Claude Code | ~$200/mo | Builder tool (Opus 4.8 via the Max plan) |
| Remotion | Free | Video/image rendering (optional) |
| Midjourney | ~$10/mo | Rich content images (optional) |

Total fixed cost: ~$10/year for a domain. Everything else is free or optional.

## Quick start

### Path 1: 15 minutes (starter template)

```bash
git clone https://github.com/shawnla90/website-with-soul.git
cd website-with-soul/starter
npm install
npm run dev
```

Open `http://localhost:3000`. You have a working site with:
- Dark terminal aesthetic (customize the accent color in `globals.css`)
- Markdown blog system (add `.md` files to `content/blog/`)
- AI chat widget (add your Anthropic API key to `.env.local`)
- PostHog analytics (add your key or skip it, site works without it)
- SEO fundamentals (sitemap, robots.txt, OG images, RSS feed)
- Security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options via `proxy.ts`)

### Path 2: 1 hour (build + deploy)

Follow the [playbook](playbook/) Phase 1 chapters. You'll understand every file in the starter and have it live on Vercel.

### Path 3: 1 day (full system)

Work through all 4 phases. By the end you'll have a content machine: voice system, distribution pipeline, SEO strategy, and automation.

## The four phases

### [Phase 1: Build](playbook/01-build/)
Get the website up. Next.js + Tailwind + markdown blog + chat widget + analytics + deploy. 11 chapters covering every piece of the stack.

### [Phase 2: Content](playbook/02-content/)
Give it soul. Build your voice DNA, set up anti-slop guardrails, create a content filing system, and establish your blog workflow. 8 chapters.

### [Phase 3: Promote](playbook/03-promote/)
Grow organically. Distribution matrix, Reddit strategy (with the GEO thesis on AI-indexed content), LinkedIn builder voice, X thread format. No paid ads. 7 chapters.

### [Phase 4: Scale](playbook/04-scale/)
Automate and multiply. Monorepo upgrade, autonomous blog pipeline, cron automation, Claude Code agent systems. 6 chapters.

## What's in the repo

```
website-with-soul/
├── starter/          # Working Next.js site (clone and run)
├── playbook/         # 32-chapter guide across 4 phases
├── templates/        # Copy-paste files (CLAUDE.md, voice DNA, SEO briefs)
└── examples/         # Anonymized real examples (content drops, voice files)
```

## The trilogy

This repo is the capstone of three open-source projects that work together:

1. **[recursive-drift](https://github.com/shawnla90/recursive-drift)** - The methodology. How to use AI as a thinking partner without losing your voice. The operating system for human-AI collaboration.

2. **[context-handoff-engine](https://github.com/shawnla90/context-handoff-engine)** - The plumbing. Multi-session continuity for Claude Code. Never lose context between sessions again.

3. **website-with-soul** (this repo) - The product. Everything in recursive-drift and context-handoff-engine comes together here. Build a real website that sounds like you, ranks in search, and compounds over time.

Each repo stands alone. Together they form a complete system for building in public with AI. "Capstone" doesn't mean finished. This repo is a living one, updated as the system it documents keeps shipping (see [2026 refresh](#2026-refresh)).

## Proof of work

This system runs three production sites:
- [shawnos.ai](https://shawnos.ai) - Personal brand and GTM engineering
- [thegtmos.ai](https://thegtmos.ai) - GTM operations knowledge base
- [thecontentos.ai](https://thecontentos.ai) - Content operations and anti-slop

Same stack. Same playbook. The starter template is extracted from the production code that runs these sites.

## Templates included

| Template | Path | Purpose |
|----------|------|---------|
| CLAUDE.md (starter) | `templates/claude-md/starter.md` | Minimal Claude Code instructions |
| CLAUDE.md (with voice) | `templates/claude-md/with-voice.md` | + voice system integration |
| CLAUDE.md (full ops) | `templates/claude-md/with-content-ops.md` | + content operations |
| Voice DNA | `templates/voice/core-voice-template.md` | Fill-in-the-blank voice file |
| Anti-slop | `templates/voice/anti-slop-starter.md` | Top 10 detection patterns |
| Platform playbook | `templates/voice/platform-playbook.md` | Blank platform voice guide |
| Blog post | `templates/content/blog-post-template.md` | Frontmatter + structure |
| Content drop | `templates/content/content-drop-checklist.md` | Distribution checklist |
| SEO brief | `templates/content/seo-brief-template.md` | Keyword brief format |

## Contributing

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md). PRs welcome for playbook improvements, starter enhancements, and new templates.

## License

MIT. Use it however you want.

---

<p align="center">
  <strong>own your content. own your audience. own the algorithm.</strong>
</p>

website-with-soul

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