Building Gik, honestly.
Gik is an original social network. This first release builds a real social core, not a claim that every major-platform feature is finished.
No paid services activated.
This build uses the capabilities already enabled for this app. Paid upgrades, calling services, payment providers, and commercial integrations need your approval before activation.
The social foundation
Available now- ·Google and email/password accounts, verified sign-up, recovery, and magic links
- ·Public profiles, uploaded avatars, bios, interests, follows, and friend requests
- ·Public text, photo, and video posts with owner-only edits and deletion
- ·Reactions, comments, shareable links, private saved posts, and reports
- ·Search, Explore, an in-app activity inbox, and account-level display filters
More ways to belong
Planned — not active- ·Stories with expiration and short-video discovery
- ·Groups and pages with memberships and moderator roles
- ·Events with RSVPs and marketplace listings with seller safety
- ·Private and group messaging with private media and push notifications
Connect in real time
Needs external services- ·Voice and video calls using a WebRTC service, TURN relay, and abuse controls
- ·Message delivery, presence, and group fan-out with realtime infrastructure
- ·Server-enforced privacy, blocking, rate limits, and moderation tooling
A responsible creator economy
Requires approval & compliance- ·Creator subscriptions, virtual gifts, advertising, and creator earnings
- ·Wallet ledger and withdrawal requests with audited accounting
- ·Payment provider, tax handling, identity verification, fraud checks, and dispute workflows
- ·No simulated money, payment buttons, balances, or withdrawals are included
Data & service architecture
Active in this release
GenMB Authentication provides accounts and sessions. GenMB’s built-in key-value store persists public posts, profiles, and social records; owned keys restrict mutation to their first signed-in writer. User-scoped keys protect saved posts and preferences. GenMB File Storage holds public media. Hosting and preview run on the current platform.
Database options
A real relational database is a Pro feature, and is not enabled here. Upgrade to Pro for a managed database, or connect your own Supabase project for free from the Database panel. Neither option has been activated or substituted silently.
Future relational model
Profiles, posts, media, reactions, comments, friendships, follows, reports, and blocks become separate relations with foreign keys, unique constraints, and authorization policies. Modules add memberships, message threads, events, listings, subscriptions, and an immutable financial ledger.
Deployment options
Publish on the current platform to retain injected SDK services. An independent deployment can host Vite’s dist build on Cloudflare Pages; its service adapters must be replaced with a configured backend first. Vercel is another frontend option, but Hobby is for personal, non-commercial use. No external deployment has been configured.
Safety before scale
- Current: platform account verification and sessions, owner-enforced record writes, private account bookmarks/preferences, reports, and a platform-owner account console.
- Important limit: shared interaction records are public. Owned keys protect editing, but do not verify claimed author or target fields. The app is not yet hardened against crafted clients, duplicate profiles, impersonation, or spam.
- Required before public scale: server-derived author identities, canonical profile uniqueness, rate limiting, validation, moderation actions, private reports, audit trails, appeals, malware/media review, and enforceable blocking.
- Admin plan: resolve staff roles on the server using the authenticated owner/admin identity; route every privileged mutation through protected server functions. Delegated moderator access is not implemented in this release.
- Privacy plan: friends-only visibility, consent and retention policies, account deletion/export, private media, and jurisdiction-specific safety review. Legal and financial requirements need professional review before monetization.
Common questions
Are all the planned features working?
No. Only the first working release is active. Later phases are architecture and product plans, not live features.
Does Gik have a database right now?
It uses the built-in key-value store, not a relational database. The Database panel offers the Pro managed option or your own free Supabase connection.
Are my uploaded files private?
No. This app’s file storage is public. Private messaging and paywalled media require a different, access-controlled media layer.
Will this charge me for external services?
No external paid services were activated. Any paid services or upgrades must be approved before implementation.