I shipped an AI cartoon generator from Timor-Leste in 2 weeks — here's how

Short summary

A solo builder shipped FurakToon, an AI cartoon generator with anime and cartoon styles, in 2 weeks using Next.js, Supabase, and Together AI—supporting 21 SE Asian languages including Timor-Leste's Tetum. The post breaks down constraint-driven design (10-free-image/month credit system with atomic Postgres logic), infrastructure tricks (keeping free-tier DB awake via health probes), and instrumentation-first analytics. Key takeaway: ship fast by picking sharp constraints, pushing logic to the database, and sweating the operational details that separate products from demos.

• •Shipped AI cartoon generator in 2 weeks with 21 SE Asian languages, including Timor-Leste's Tetum
• •Credit system logic lives in Postgres for atomic, trustworthy spending; lazy resets eliminate cron jobs
• •Infrastructure tricks (DB keep-alive via health probes, analytics instrumentation) separate product from demo

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.