Vibecode Nightwatch
track this build5 steps, step by step0%A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Nightwatch, track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider. The hard boundary is location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations, plus proprietary web index and data acquisition.
You are building a lean indie version of Nightwatch. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Nightwatch indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Nightwatch workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations - planet-scale crawl index - backlink graph - clickstream estimates - high-volume location-specific SERPs If those capabilities are essential, use SerpBear instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Nightwatch in an empty repository. Use Python 3.12, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Playwright, and a small React frontend; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create projects with domains, keywords, target country, language, device, and tags. Fetch rankings only through the configured compliant API and enforce a daily budget. Store raw result snapshots and normalized positions so every chart is auditable. Display current rank, movement, best rank, URL changes, and a compact SERP history. Import backlink and keyword files from third-party tools without claiming independent coverage. Add scheduled runs, failure alerts, CSV export, retention settings, and database backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out building a general web crawler or backlink index. Deliberately leave out circumventing search-engine access controls. Deliberately leave out traffic estimates presented as observed first-party data. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - self-hosted server - PostgreSQL - approved search-data API or manual imports - scheduled worker ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a lean indie version of Nightwatch. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Nightwatch indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Nightwatch workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations - planet-scale crawl index - backlink graph - clickstream estimates - high-volume location-specific SERPs If those capabilities are essential, use SerpBear instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Nightwatch in an empty repository. Use Python 3.12, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Playwright, and a small React frontend; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create projects with domains, keywords, target country, language, device, and tags. Fetch rankings only through the configured compliant API and enforce a daily budget. Store raw result snapshots and normalized positions so every chart is auditable. Display current rank, movement, best rank, URL changes, and a compact SERP history. Import backlink and keyword files from third-party tools without claiming independent coverage. Add scheduled runs, failure alerts, CSV export, retention settings, and database backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out building a general web crawler or backlink index. Deliberately leave out circumventing search-engine access controls. Deliberately leave out traffic estimates presented as observed first-party data. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - self-hosted server - PostgreSQL - approved search-data API or manual imports - scheduled worker ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a production product version of Nightwatch. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== PRODUCT.md ===== # Nightwatch product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Nightwatch, track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider. The hard boundary is location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations, plus proprietary web index and data acquisition. ## Product outcome Track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - self-hosted server - PostgreSQL - approved search-data API or manual imports - scheduled worker ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations - planet-scale crawl index - backlink graph - clickstream estimates - high-volume location-specific SERPs ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees. ===== ARCHITECTURE.md ===== # Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Nightwatch in an empty repository. Use Python 3.12, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Playwright, and a small React frontend; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create projects with domains, keywords, target country, language, device, and tags. Fetch rankings only through the configured compliant API and enforce a daily budget. Store raw result snapshots and normalized positions so every chart is auditable. Display current rank, movement, best rank, URL changes, and a compact SERP history. Import backlink and keyword files from third-party tools without claiming independent coverage. Add scheduled runs, failure alerts, CSV export, retention settings, and database backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out building a general web crawler or backlink index. Deliberately leave out circumventing search-engine access controls. Deliberately leave out traffic estimates presented as observed first-party data. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone. ===== MILESTONES.md ===== # Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations. ===== OPERATIONS.md ===== # Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Nightwatch capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
# Nightwatch indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Nightwatch workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations - planet-scale crawl index - backlink graph - clickstream estimates - high-volume location-specific SERPs If those capabilities are essential, use SerpBear instead of pretending the gap is solved.
# Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs".
# Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Nightwatch in an empty repository. Use Python 3.12, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Playwright, and a small React frontend; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create projects with domains, keywords, target country, language, device, and tags. Fetch rankings only through the configured compliant API and enforce a daily budget. Store raw result snapshots and normalized positions so every chart is auditable. Display current rank, movement, best rank, URL changes, and a compact SERP history. Import backlink and keyword files from third-party tools without claiming independent coverage. Add scheduled runs, failure alerts, CSV export, retention settings, and database backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out building a general web crawler or backlink index. Deliberately leave out circumventing search-engine access controls. Deliberately leave out traffic estimates presented as observed first-party data. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - self-hosted server - PostgreSQL - approved search-data API or manual imports - scheduled worker ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden.
# Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
# Nightwatch product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Nightwatch, track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider. The hard boundary is location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations, plus proprietary web index and data acquisition. ## Product outcome Track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - self-hosted server - PostgreSQL - approved search-data API or manual imports - scheduled worker ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations - planet-scale crawl index - backlink graph - clickstream estimates - high-volume location-specific SERPs ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees.
# Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Nightwatch in an empty repository. Use Python 3.12, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Playwright, and a small React frontend; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track a limited keyword set across locations using a paid SERP data provider, collect low-volume permitted snapshots, and show trends without pretending to recreate a commercial web index. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create projects with domains, keywords, target country, language, device, and tags. Fetch rankings only through the configured compliant API and enforce a daily budget. Store raw result snapshots and normalized positions so every chart is auditable. Display current rank, movement, best rank, URL changes, and a compact SERP history. Import backlink and keyword files from third-party tools without claiming independent coverage. Add scheduled runs, failure alerts, CSV export, retention settings, and database backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out building a general web crawler or backlink index. Deliberately leave out circumventing search-engine access controls. Deliberately leave out traffic estimates presented as observed first-party data. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it.
# Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone.
# Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations.
# Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Nightwatch capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
$ choose a build depth, inspect the files, then open the complete pack in your agent · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
People still pay for Nightwatch because customers pay for a continuously refreshed web-scale dataset whose collection cost dwarfs the dashboard around it. The recurring cost buys proxy and API costs, crawl freshness, geolocation, anti-bot rules, keyword normalization, storage, and data QA, not just the visible interface.
xlocation-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations
xplanet-scale crawl index
xbacklink graph
xclickstream estimates
xhigh-volume location-specific SERPs
Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.
no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Nightwatch pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| starter | — | $91.12/workspace | 500 keywords; 50 AI prompts; 5 websites; 5 competitors/site; 25 audit pages; 1,500 AI responses/month; 100 agent credits; 100 keyword-research credits/month. |
| professional | — | $183.39/workspace | 2,500 keywords; 150 AI prompts; 25 websites; 10 competitors/site; 25 audit pages; 4,500 AI responses/month; 1,000 agent credits; 500 keyword-research credits/month; unlimited seats. |
| agency | — | $460.21/workspace | 7,500 keywords; 500 AI prompts; 100 websites; 15 competitors/site; unlimited audit pages; 15,000 AI responses/month; 5,000 agent credits; 2,500 keyword-research credits/month; unlimited seats. |
| enterprise | custom | — | 20,000+ keywords with custom websites, prompts, AI responses, users, and support. |
free tierno free tier (14-day full-feature trial only)
billingmonthly + annual (annual saves 20%); exact monthly rates were not reliably exposed on the public page
hidden costsVAT/tax may be added. The public trial copy and FAQ present inconsistent card/auto-billing language, so checkout terms should be checked before starting the trial.
verified 2026-08-14 · source ↗
Vibecode Nightwatch
Not really. Nightwatch's value is not the code: Recheck price before merge. See the honest breakdown above.
How much does Nightwatch cost?
Nightwatch costs about $91.12/month (Starter, checked 2026-08-14), which is $1093.44 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Nightwatch?
Honestly: location-specific ranking infrastructure, reporting, agency workflow, and integrations; planet-scale crawl index; backlink graph; clickstream estimates; high-volume location-specific SERPs. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Nightwatch?
Yes: OpenSEO (Desktop and mobile rank tracking by location, backed by paid DataForSEO calls rather than wishful scraping.) SerpBear (Location-aware rank history and alerts without a SaaS seat; your chosen SERP provider still expects lunch money.) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.