otter: second devlog post

.gitignore

@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 .hugo_build.lock
 public/
+public.tar.gz
+auth.txt

Justfile

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+serve:
+    hugo serve -D
+
+publish:
+    rm -f public.tar.gz
+    hugo build
+    cd public && tar czvf ../public.tar.gz *
+    curl \
+        -XPOST \
+        --fail \
+        -H @./auth.txt \
+        -T public.tar.gz \
+        https://rustybever.be/_root

content/dev/otter/0.1.0.md

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+---
+title: "Otter 0.1.0"
+date: 2025-06-12
+---
+
+Although life's been busy with university, I've found some time to finish
+things up with the current codebase and release a first version. This version's
+been running on my Raspberry Pi for a couple of months without problems, so it
+seems to be fairly stable.
+
+For context, Otter is a lightweight implementation of the [gpodder.net
+API](https://gpoddernet.readthedocs.io/en/latest/), specifically the parts
+required for synchronizing subscriptions between clients. Its goal is to be an
+easy-to-install alternative to gpodder.net, allowing self-hosters to easily
+use the various Gpodder-based clients available across devices.
+
+Version 0.1.0 has a fairly complete implementation of the parts of the Gpodder
+API that's required for synchronizing clients. I've currently got no plans to
+implement the more social media-related API routes, as these aren't necessary
+for the goal of this project. 
+
+## Supported features
+
+Otter 0.1.0 implements the following API sections:
+
+* Authentication
+* Devices
+* Subscriptions
+* Episode actions
+* Device synchronization
+
+This includes both the basic routes and the "advanced" sections, as described
+in the API documentation. OPML and text output formats aren't supported yet, so
+currently the API only supports JSON. I am planning on adding support for the
+other output types later.
+
+In terms of client compatibility, Otter definitely works with AntennaPod and
+Kasts. Kasts does have the strange bug where it crashes if you agree to the
+"synchronize with all devices" popup when adding a new device. However, after
+manually marking the devices as being synchronized on the server, all syncing
+functionality works as expected. The Gpodder client also does not work, as it
+strangely uses a different form of authentication. 
+
+Both of these issues should get fixed in a following release, as I'd like Otter
+to be generally usable with any client.
+
+### Ease of use
+
+Otter is distributed as a single binary configurable via a configuration file,
+environment variables and CLI arguments. Everything can be set up via any of
+these three methods (or a combination), allowing Otter to be easily used in
+both Docker containers and directly as a background service. For fun, I've also
+added support for listening on a Unix socket instead of a TCP socket.
+
+The goal is to always keep this setup, as a single binary is by far the easiest
+way this type of software can be distributed. I currently publish binaries for
+`x86_64` and `arm64`, as these are the platforms that I use. It should be
+possible however to compile Otter for any build target supported by Rust.
+
+## Plans
+
+Before Otter reaches version 1.0, there are still some features I'd like to
+add.
+
+### UI
+
+The biggest feature would definitely be a web UI. This UI will contain
+everything required to manage an Otter server, both as a user and an admin.
+Users should be able to see and remove sessions, manage their synced devices,
+and view and edit their subscriptions and other stored data. Admins also
+require the ability to add, remove and edit accounts, as well as seeing other
+global service data. The goal is to have an easy-to-use UI that contains
+everything you'd need to effectively use an Otter server.
+
+Important here is that I don't have any plans to recreate any of the social
+media-related aspects of Gpodder. Otter is just a sync server; it's not meant
+as a full-on replacement of the gpodder.net website.
+
+In terms of technology, I'm using [HTMX](https://htmx.org/) and
+[PicoCSS](https://picocss.com/) to develop the frontend, combined with a
+templating system in the backend. In my opinion, these two are the perfect
+combination for developing simple frontends, especially for someone like me
+that isn't the best at creating UIs.
+
+### CLI
+
+It's always useful to have a more technical CLI-focused way of accessing the
+data of an application. For this, I want to add a full CLI interface that
+allows an admin to interact with the server through the same abstractions used
+by the API. There's already some very basic functionality available right now
+on which I'd like to build to expose the full functionality of the API in CLI
+form.
+
+### Database support
+
+Otter currently only support SQLite as it's easy to develop with and install on
+the server. I do however know lots of people prefer running PostgreSQL, so
+support for this will be added. Due to the way the codebase is structured, this
+shouldn't be too hard, as all database-related functionality is hidden behind
+an abstraction that can simply be implemented for PostgreSQL as well.
+
+Those are my plans for this project! I'm hoping I can keep up the development
+pace, as I should be having a lot more free time the next couple of months.
+I've grown quite fond of this project, as it solves a specific problem I had
+while allowing me to screw around with some design patterns I hadn't used
+before. I hope to continue developing it into a mature application.
+
+As always, thank you for reading, and have a nice day.

content/dev/otter/devlog-2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+---
+title: "Working on Web UI & Admin Features"
+date: 2025-06-29
+---
+
+Last couple of weeks, I've started working on the web UI using HTMX and
+PicoCSS. Development's been going pretty well, as I already had some experience
+working with HTMX from a previous project. 
+
+Currently, the login page is implemented, as well as a session management page.
+I'm working towards building an initial version that can be used by multiple
+users, complete with admin user management features and sign-up functionality.
+Specifically, I'm prioritizing the following features:
+
+* Admin user management page
+* Sign-up flow, including sign-up links for private instances
+* Support for public instances (a.k.a. add a sign-up button and flow)
+
+These together would already make Otter a pretty nice Gpodder server, usable by
+multiple people. After that, I can focus on the smaller features and bug fixes
+(such as trying to make the Gpodder client work at all). I've released versions
+[0.2.0](https://git.rustybever.be/Chewing_Bever/otter/releases/tag/0.2.0) and
+[0.2.1](https://git.rustybever.be/Chewing_Bever/otter/releases/tag/0.2.1)
+containing the login view and session management page. Ideally, I'm going to
+keep releasing these smaller versions, so there's a relatively constant stream
+of new features to try.
+
+While developing the sessions and user management page, I've noticed I'm
+basically already implementing everything required for a RESTful API. Tables
+are implemented using paginated API requests, so having these routes return
+JSON instead of HTML depending on the `Content-Type` header wouldn't be a lot
+of work. The Gpodder API isn't the greatest, so having this more standardized
+API would be quite nice for third-party integrations.
+
+That's about it for this devlog, have a nice day.