The premise is interesting, but there are some things that I dislike on the surface.
1. I don't want AI matching, I don't want AI anything.
2. Rep/skills based on Github contents? Firstly isn't that a form of the gatekeeping you called out as a problem? Secondly, most of the code I have ever written lives in proprietary repositories. Because I was paid to write it.
3. How does this not become another mess where there are two camps. The people shouting advertisements into the void and the people shouting "I need a job" into the same void?
I got tired of how awkward it is to connect with like-minded devs online. LinkedIn feels too corporate, Discord is chaotic, and most platforms aren’t focused on helping people who just want to build together.
So I built *Campfire* — a lightweight tool where developers can:
- Sync their GitHub profile
- Search for collaborators by stack or language
- Optionally match with devs via a basic AI matcher
- Skip resumes and “networking” in favor of shared projects
It’s still early (no monetization, no onboarding friction), but it’s live and working.
Would love your feedback — especially critical thoughts about direction, incentives, or how it could actually support real collaboration.
Just a design point. I get the camp fire thing, but the pulsating background gets old and distracting quickly. Maybe fade to static after a few seconds.
The premise is interesting, but there are some things that I dislike on the surface.
1. I don't want AI matching, I don't want AI anything.
2. Rep/skills based on Github contents? Firstly isn't that a form of the gatekeeping you called out as a problem? Secondly, most of the code I have ever written lives in proprietary repositories. Because I was paid to write it.
3. How does this not become another mess where there are two camps. The people shouting advertisements into the void and the people shouting "I need a job" into the same void?
Hi HN,
I got tired of how awkward it is to connect with like-minded devs online. LinkedIn feels too corporate, Discord is chaotic, and most platforms aren’t focused on helping people who just want to build together.
So I built *Campfire* — a lightweight tool where developers can:
- Sync their GitHub profile - Search for collaborators by stack or language - Optionally match with devs via a basic AI matcher - Skip resumes and “networking” in favor of shared projects
It’s still early (no monetization, no onboarding friction), but it’s live and working.
Would love your feedback — especially critical thoughts about direction, incentives, or how it could actually support real collaboration.
Here's the link if you're curious: https://campfire-8c27.onrender.com
Just a design point. I get the camp fire thing, but the pulsating background gets old and distracting quickly. Maybe fade to static after a few seconds.