ShipStation

ShipStation is an open-source, AI-driven portfolio management service that generates a personal website from your name, profession, and a design prompt, then lets you manage and update that site through natural-language chat. Built as a full-stack reference app, it combines a React (Vite) frontend with a Node.js backend and integrates Anthropic, Supabase, Tavily, PayPal, and S3.

What is ShipStation?

ShipStation is a full-stack portfolio generator and manager. You provide basic details (name, profession, design prompt), and the application uses the Anthropic API to generate a personal website, which is then stored in an S3 bucket and served at a custom path like firstsite.app/site/website-slug. The project lives on GitHub under the daytimedrinkingclub organization and is distributed as an open-source template.

Key Features

• AI website generation — Enter your name, profession, and a design prompt; ShipStation calls the Anthropic API to produce a portfolio site tailored to your specifications.
• Natural-language chat management — After generation, you can update content or styling by chatting with the AI, eliminating the need to hand-edit code.
• User authentication via Supabase — Signup/login is handled through Supabase, giving each user a private dashboard and isolated site storage.
• Dashboard with code editor — The dashboard lists previously generated portfolios and includes a code editor so you can manually tweak the generated HTML/CSS when you want exact control.
• Real-time generation progress — Website generation progress is pushed to the browser over a websocket, so you watch the site being built live.
• Full-stack React and Node.js structure — The client folder contains a React app built with Vite; the server folder contains a Node.js backend.
• Payment integration options — PayPal is included out of the box, Razorpay is suggested as an alternative, and the README notes you can skip payments entirely.
• S3 storage and friendly serving path — Generated sites are stored in S3 and served on firstsite.app/site/website-slug, giving each user a shareable, permanent link.

Who is it for?

• Freelancers and job seekers — Stand up a personal portfolio that reflects their style without writing HTML or CSS; they only need to describe their design preferences.
• Non-technical users — Use the chat interface to manage a website in plain English, adding projects or changing copy without opening a code editor.
• Full-stack developers — Study ShipStation as a production-style reference for wiring together Anthropic, Supabase, websockets, S3, and React/Node in a single deployable project.
• Indie SaaS builders — Use the template to launch a paid portfolio-generation service; the PayPal/Razorpay hooks are ready and can be wired to billing.

What can you do with ShipStation?

• Portfolio creation: A designer types their name, profession, and a design prompt like "minimalist with bold typography" and gets a live, shareable portfolio URL in return.
• Ongoing site updates: A developer asks the AI to add a new project, reorder sections, or change the hero copy, and the site updates through conversational commands.
• Learning AI app architecture: A developer traces how the Anthropic API is called, how progress events stream via websocket, and how Supabase handles auth and S3 stores output.
• Launching a paid generator: An entrepreneur self-hosts ShipStation, enables PayPal, and charges users for AI-generated portfolio websites.

How does ShipStation work?

ShipStation's setup requires Node.js v20 or later, an Anthropic API key, a Supabase account, a Tavily API key, and optionally a PayPal account. You clone the repository, create a Supabase project, run the SQL in server/setup.sql, and create three environment files: a backend .env, plus client .env.local and client .env.production. Running npm run dev in the repository root starts the Node backend; a separate terminal runs the Vite client at localhost:5173. For deployment, build the client and push to main, and Heroku auto-deploys the app.

FAQ

Is ShipStation free?

The source code is open-source and you can self-host it without paying a license fee. However, you must bring your own Anthropic API key and Supabase account, so your own API and infrastructure costs apply when running it.

Do I need coding skills to create a portfolio?

No. The portfolio generation and chat interface are designed for non-developers; you describe your profession and design preferences in plain language. Setting up and deploying the application itself does require developer knowledge.

What services and APIs does ShipStation integrate with?

ShipStation uses the Anthropic API for AI generation, Supabase for user authentication, Tavily API (for additional data retrieval), PayPal or Razorpay for payments, and S3 for storing generated websites. The frontend is React with Vite and the backend is Node.js.

Can I deploy ShipStation to Heroku?

Yes. The README describes a Heroku deployment flow: build the client with npm run build, commit changes, push to main, and Heroku automatically detects and deploys the app.