DEV Community: Sankalp Pimpalkar

Day 6 of Building Conjure: First Draft of Recommendation Algorithm

Sankalp Pimpalkar — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 05:41:52 +0000

Today's progress on Conjure didn't involve a flashy UI feature. It was
infrastructure the recommendation algorithm that decides what content
users see when they open the app.

And I kept it intentionally simple.

The Algorithm

During onboarding, users select interest categories (Science, Development,
Design, etc.). Those interests are stored on their profile and become the
single source of truth for their feed.

When the homepage loads:

70% of the feed = posts matching the user's selected interests
30% of the feed = exploration content from other categories

No ML. No behavioural tracking. Just a binary category match against a
stored preference list, sorted by recency within each bucket.

Why So Simple?

Two reasons I'm not ashamed of:

1. Complex algorithms need data.
A sophisticated system needs enough user behaviour to produce meaningful
signals. I don't have that yet. A complex algorithm on thin data just
produces confidently wrong recommendations.

2. Premature complexity kills momentum.
If I tried to build something clever at day 6, I'd spend two weeks
architecting it, second-guessing edge cases, and shipping nothing.
Simple → ship → learn → improve is the only sane order of operations
at this stage.

What I Also Shipped Today

The homepage UI now renders a proper feed on login. No search required,
no empty state staring at you. Open Conjure, start reading immediately.

What Comes Next

The 70/30 split is a starting ratio I'll tune it once I have real usage
data. A learning mechanism that factors in reading history is on the roadmap,
but it earns its complexity only after the simple version gets validated by
real users.

If you've been thinking about writing on Conjure, now's a good time.
The more content exists, the better the recommendations get.

👉 conjure.blog

Day 5 of building Conjure: Recommendation Algorithm

Sankalp Pimpalkar — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 10:06:05 +0000

Today I'm going heads down on something that doesn't ship a visible feature but will quietly make Conjure a lot smarter.

I'm building the recommendation algorithm.

The idea is simple: the more you read, the better Conjure understands what you care about. Every blog you open adds signal. Every topic you explore builds confidence. Over time, the suggestions you see aren't random they're shaped by you.

Here's how it works under the hood: Each topic carries a strength score. Reading a blog in that topic increases its weight. The higher the weight, the more confidently Conjure surfaces similar content next time. The algorithm updates itself on every read, so it gets sharper the more you use it.

And here's the part I'm excited about during onboarding, I already ask users for their interests. I haven't wired that in yet, but it's the perfect cold-start seed. New user? Your declared interests anchor the algorithm until your reading history takes over.

I'm not sure yet if this touches the UI probably some subtle changes, nothing drastic. The infrastructure is the hard part right now.

But here's the thing: this algorithm is only as good as the content that feeds it.
The more blogs get written on Conjure, the more patterns I can find, the better the recommendations become. So if you've been thinking about writing. Now it's actually a great time.

Write more. Read more. Help me build something that gets smarter with every post.
https://conjure.blog

Day 4 of Building Conjure. Docs Feature is Live

Sankalp Pimpalkar — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 07:52:50 +0000

Day 4 of building Conjure in public, and today I shipped the Docs feature built for developers who don't want their content locked inside a platform.

Conjure's Write page works as a full CMS. Once you've created and managed your posts there, the public API makes your content available anywhere your portfolio, your app, your product. No need to build a blog engine from scratch.

The /docs page includes public endpoints like List User Blogs and Get Blog Detail, copyable request examples, parameter tables, and response previews. Everything you need to pull your content into whatever you're building.

The idea is simple: handle the infrastructure, so developers can focus on the experience around their content. Write once. Display anywhere.

Check it out at Conjure Blogs would love to hear what you think.

Most Developers Don't Actually Know What They're Paying For

Sankalp Pimpalkar — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 05:47:46 +0000

You sign up for a hosting plan, enter your card details, and deploy your app. Job done.

But do you actually know what's happening under the hood? What are you renting exactly? And are you getting the right type of hosting for your use case?

If you've ever been confused about the difference between shared hosting, VPS, and dedicated servers — this is for you.

So What Even Is VPS Hosting?

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. It sits right in the sweet spot between cheap shared hosting and expensive dedicated servers.

Here's the simplest way to think about it:

Shared Hosting — You're in a apartment complex sharing walls, water, and electricity with everyone else. One noisy neighbour can ruin your night.
VPS Hosting — You still share the building, but you have your own locked apartment with your own utilities. What happens next door doesn't affect you.
Dedicated Server — You own the entire building. Maximum control, maximum cost.

With a VPS you get your own isolated environment, dedicated resources (RAM, CPU, storage), and root access — without paying for an entire physical machine.

When Should You Actually Use VPS?

You should consider VPS when:

Your shared hosting keeps throttling your app under load
You need to run background jobs, cron tasks, or websockets
You're deploying a Node.js, Python, or custom backend
You want full control over your server environment
Your site is growing and you need predictable performance

For small static sites or early-stage projects, shared hosting is fine. But the moment you need control or consistency — VPS is worth it.

The Part Nobody Talks About

The biggest thing developers get wrong is picking VPS hosting without understanding what they actually need in terms of RAM and CPU. Most beginners over-provision (paying for more than they need) or under-provision (wondering why their app keeps crashing).

Start small. A 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU VPS is enough for most early-stage projects. Scale up when the metrics tell you to — not before.

I wrote a full breakdown covering everything you need to know about VPS hosting — how it works, when to use it, and how to pick the right plan.

Read it here → https://conjure.blog/blogs/vps-hosting-explained-everything-you-need-to-know

Drop any questions in the comments — happy to help.

Day 3 of Building Conjure: Analytics, Streaks & Staying Consistent

Sankalp Pimpalkar — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 05:30:13 +0000

I didn't document Day 1 and 2 but I never stopped building. Picking up from here and committing to sharing the journey openly.

Here's what shipped on Day 3:

Analytics Dashboard
Authors on Conjure can now see exactly how their blogs are performing. Views, likes, and engagement tracked in one clean dashboard. Writing into the void is demotivating, now authors know their words are reaching people.

Writing Streaks
Consistency is the hardest part of writing. I added a streak system that tracks how many consecutive days an author has published. Small dopamine hit, big behavioural change. If it works for Duolingo, it works for writers.

Why I'm building Conjure
Most blogging platforms feel like tools. I want Conjure to feel like a place - minimal, intentional, and built around the craft of writing. Block-based editor, Magic Paste for AI-assisted writing, and now analytics and streaks to keep authors engaged and motivated.

Still a lot ahead. But Day 3 feels good.

Also published a new article today if you've ever wondered what VPS hosting actually is and whether you need it, this one's for you.
Read it here:
https://conjure.blog/blogs/vps-hosting-explained-everything-you-need-to-know

https://conjure.blog

BuildInPublic #Conjure #IndieHacker #WebDev #Blogging #SaaS