DEV Community: Arun1989ninja

Building a Pantry App in Public Until It Hits $10k/Month

Arun1989ninja — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 10:32:19 +0000

I Built a Free Pantry Inventory App — And I'm Building It in Public

What if a small restaurant didn't need to pay for expensive inventory software just to know what's in its pantry?

That question led me to build something.

👉 Pantry Inventory App: https://pantryinventoryapp.com/

The idea is simple: create a lightweight, practical inventory management application that can be useful for small and medium-sized restaurants, cafés, cloud kitchens, and food businesses — without adding another expensive monthly subscription.

But there's another part of this project that I'm excited about.

🚀 I'm Building It in Public
Why build another inventory application?

There are plenty of inventory management products available today.

Many of them are powerful, polished, and designed for businesses with larger budgets.

But small restaurants often have different needs.

They don't necessarily need a huge enterprise platform with hundreds of features.

Sometimes they just need to answer simple questions:

What ingredients do I have?
How much stock is left?
What's running low?
What is going to expire?
What did I use?
What do I need to purchase?

I wanted to explore whether a simple application could solve these problems without making the software itself another financial burden.

🛠️ The Stack

For this project, I deliberately kept the technology relatively simple.

Backend

ASP.NET Core / .NET

The application is built using .NET, providing the backend APIs and application logic.

Database

SQLite

I'm using SQLite because the application doesn't need a massive database infrastructure at this stage.

It's lightweight, easy to deploy, easy to back up, and works particularly well for a project like this.

Hosting

Linux

The application is hosted on a Linux VPS.

The current setup is roughly:

Internet
│
▼
pantryinventoryapp.com
│
▼
Nginx
│
├── HTTPS / SSL
│
▼
ASP.NET Core
│
▼
SQLite

Nginx handles the public-facing web traffic and HTTPS, while the .NET application runs behind it.

The SSL certificate is provided by Let's Encrypt and is configured for automatic renewal using Certbot.

Why SQLite?

For this particular project, I didn't want to introduce infrastructure just because it was available.

SQLite gives me:

A simple deployment model
No separate database server
Minimal infrastructure
Easy backups
Easy local development
Low operational overhead

As the project grows, I may eventually move to another database depending on actual usage and requirements.

But right now, SQLite is doing exactly what I need.

🌍 Building in Public

This is perhaps the most important part of the project.

I'm not presenting this as a finished enterprise product.

I'm building it openly and learning along the way.

That means the application will evolve based on:

Real users → Real feedback → Real problems → Real improvements

I want to hear from restaurant owners.

I want to hear from developers.

I want to hear from people who have managed inventory manually with spreadsheets, notebooks, WhatsApp messages, or a dozen different tools.

What would actually make your life easier?

👨‍💻 I'm Asking the DEV Community for Help

If you're a developer, I'd love for you to take a look at the project.

Try the application.

Break it.

Give me feedback.

Tell me what you think is missing.

Tell me what you would build differently.

And most importantly:

📢 Please share it.

If you know a restaurant owner, café owner, cloud kitchen operator, or small food business that might benefit from a simple inventory tool, send them the link.

👉 https://pantryinventoryapp.com/

Even one restaurant using it and giving feedback would be incredibly valuable.

❤️ This Is More Than Just Another Side Project

For me, this project is an experiment in something I believe strongly in:

Useful software doesn't always have to be expensive software.

A small business deserves access to good technology too.

And as developers, we have an opportunity to build tools that solve real problems — not just chase the next feature or framework.

So I'm going to keep building in public.

I'll share what I learn about:

.NET and ASP.NET Core
SQLite
Linux hosting
Nginx
HTTPS and Certbot
Deployment
Performance
Security
Product decisions
User feedback
And, inevitably, the things that go wrong 😄
🙏 Help Me Find the First Users

If you're interested in following the journey, I'd really appreciate a follow, share, comment, or contribution.

And if you have a restaurant or food business:

Please try it and tell me what you think.

👉 Pantry Inventory App: https://pantryinventoryapp.com/

I'm especially interested in hearing from small and medium-sized restaurants that currently use spreadsheets, notebooks, or expensive inventory software.

Your feedback could directly influence what gets built next.

🚀 Let's Build This in Public

This is just the beginning.

One application.

One problem.

One user at a time.

Let's see what we can build in public.

🚀 I built Beat The Boss, an HTML game, with Vibe Coding — give it a spin!

Arun1989ninja — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 05:18:27 +0000

Hey everyone! I’m excited to share Beat The Boss — a browser-based action game I built from scratch using:

HTML / CSS / JavaScript for the front end

C# Web API for the backend

SQLite as a lightweight database

And of course, Vibe Coding as my development flow/approach

You can check it out here: https://www.beatthebossgame.com

🎮 What the game is

In Beat The Boss, you face off against a “boss” node that gets stronger over time. Your goal? Click as much punches as possible and rack up the highest score and get your Marvel Hero's. Think endless clicker + strategy vibes.

Some of the features I built:

Real-time score

Persistent storage of high scores

The Marvel Hero of your current click speed

Polished UI/UX in CSS

API endpoints to fetch, update game state and user data

🛠️ Tech & architecture highlights

Frontend (HTML / CSS / JS):

Modular component structure

CSS for animations, responsive layout, and transitions

Fetch/AJAX calls to my C# backend

Backend (C# Web API):

RESTful endpoints (GET, POST, PUT)

JSON serialization

Minimal and focused — just what’s needed to fetch or update game state

Database (SQLite):

Local file-based DB — no heavy DB server setup

Tables for users, high scores, game stats

Lightweight and fast for a small game

Vibe Coding flow:

Iterative development with immediate previews

Rapid prototyping of UI + logic

Constant loop: code → test → adjust → repeat

💡 Challenges & lessons learned

State synchronization — making sure frontend and backend stay in sync (especially under quick user actions)

Performance tuning — optimizing CSS animations, minimizing API latency

Data integrity — handling DB concurrency, partial updates

UX polish — small touches (button feedback, transitions) make the game feel more alive

💬 If you’ve got ideas, feedback, or bugs to report — hit me up! I’d love to hear how the community would build or expand on this. Want to see full source code or dive deeper into architecture? I can share a repo or write a follow-up about my implementation patterns.

Try it out and let me know: what’s your highest score? 🔥

Stay vibey,
Arun Antony

🥂 I Built a Web App to Help You Find Liquor Stores Near You — Here's How (and Why)

Arun1989ninja — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:04:24 +0000

Hey Dev Community! 👋

I'm excited to share a side project I recently launched: nearmeliquorstore.net — a simple, location-based web app that helps users quickly find liquor stores near them. Whether you’re new in town, planning a party, or just don’t want to drive around looking, this app gets you sorted fast. 🍻

🚀 Why I Built It
I noticed that while Google Maps does a decent job, it’s often cluttered with unrelated results, sponsored content, or doesn’t always focus specifically on liquor stores. I wanted a lightweight, user-friendly tool that:

Shows only liquor stores nearby

Works on both mobile and desktop

Is privacy-aware (no account required)

Loads fast and works in low-connectivity areas

🛠️ Tech Stack
Here's what I used to build it:

Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
Backend : .NetCore MVC,C#
Hosting: Contabo

🔐 Privacy First
User location is only used client-side to show nearby results. No personal data is stored or tracked. I'm exploring options to make this even more transparent via open-sourcing the code.

📈 Features (So Far)
One-click location access

Auto-fetches top-rated nearby liquor stores

Click-to-call and click-for-directions options

Mobile-first responsive design

🧪 What I Learned
How to balance simplicity with usefulness

Handling location permissions smoothly across browsers

🎯 What's Next?
Add filters (e.g. open now, delivery available)

User reviews integration

Offline-first caching

Open-source the project and invite community contributions

Feel free to try it out and let me know what you think:
🔗 https://nearmeliquorstore.net

If you have any feedback, feature ideas, or want to collaborate — I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Cheers! 🥃