Let’s be honest: building a social media app is usually a massive headache.
I really wanted to see how far I could push modern web architecture and deployment efficiency while keeping my app lightweight.
The result is Vlox, and it’s live right now if you want to check it out:
👉 vlox.containers.snapdeploy.app
How I built it
I decided to keep everything lightweight. That means zero React, zero Next.js, and absolutely no heavy state management tools bloating the client side.
- Frontend: 100% Vanilla JS driven by Cash—a tiny, open-source library designed as an absurdly small alternative to jQuery for modern browsers. I chose it over heavy frameworks because I prioritize lightweight code and have no plans to make this a massive app.
- Backend: Pure Node.js and Express doing the heavy lifting.
- Database: MongoDB with Mongoose keeping the data models straight.
- Deployment: Containerized microservices.
The challenge: Help me break it!
I’ve done my best to optimize the the container, but local testing only gets you so far. To really see what this setup can handle, I need raw traffic from real users.
- Head over to https://vlox.containers.snapdeploy.app.
- Create an account and write a few posts.
- Keep your network tab open! Let me know if you spot any bottlenecks, sluggish queries, or obvious memory leaks.
If you like the architecture and want to support the project, please consider starring the the repo on GitHub!
Thanks for reading!
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Note: If you see "Container is Sleeping", please wait 60–90 seconds for it to wake up. This happens because it is on a free plan. Thanks for understanding.