https://pithy.sh/PithyA backend kit. For Cloudflare. That's it.2026-09-24T20:45:00Zhttps://pithy.sh/static/images/logo-2026-09-18T21-31-35-487Z.pnghttps://pithy.sh/blog/a-seam-never-a-sibling/A seam, never a sibling2026-06-09T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:21ZOne rule about what a capability may import, and what it buys — including why a management client gets its own request variable rather than borrowing the user's.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/four-things-you-never-have-to-solve-on-d1/Four things you never have to solve on D12026-06-09T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:22ZParameter budgets, transient faults, SQLite's missing types and pagination that holds still under writes. Solved once in core, so every capability inherits them.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/toolchain-and-customized-lint-rules/The toolchain, and customized lint rules2026-06-09T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:24ZTypeScript 7, Bun, Turborepo, tsdown, Vitest and Biome — including what the losing options still do better. Then the part that surprised us: GritQL plugins enforcing rules a type system cannot.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/fifty-seven-round-trips-or-one/Fifty-seven round trips, or one2026-06-10T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:26ZMigrations composed per capability and ordered once — and a driver change that took 78% of a test suite's wall time back.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/typed-kv-and-metadata-that-repairs-itself/Typed KV, and metadata that repairs itself2026-06-10T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:27ZKeys built from a schema, values validated both ways, and a list that quietly repairs the metadata the Cloudflare dashboard throws away.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/an-error-that-knows-who-is-reading-it/The error that knows who is reading it2026-06-11T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:28ZOne error type, one schema, and a wire shape with nowhere to put the things a caller must never see.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/cli-is-a-product-surface/The CLI is a product surface2026-06-12T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:30ZCitty, picocolors and clack — chosen for cold start, size and how they fail — plus why every command owes `--json` to an agent driving it.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/what-one-command-writes-and-what-it-refuses-to-guess/What one command writes, and what it refuses to guess2026-06-12T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:31Z`pithy add` installs a package, writes bindings across every environment, runs migrations — and refuses, loudly, in the two places where guessing would be worse than stopping.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/creating-it-once-is-the-easy-half/Creating it once is the easy half2026-06-14T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:33ZFifteen Cloudflare resource kinds, provisioned per environment — and the reaper, because eight orphaned secrets sat on a real account with nothing able to reclaim them.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/rolling-a-secret-and-the-failure-you-cannot-undo/Rolling a secret, and the failure you cannot undo2026-06-16T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:35ZEncrypted secrets with a master key that never leaves your Worker — and a rotation ordered around the one outcome no retry can repair.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/a-capability-with-no-tables-no-routes-no-bindings/A capability with no tables, no routes, no bindings2026-06-19T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:37ZTurnstile is the smallest thing in the kit: no state, no migrations, no middleware you did not ask for. What it demonstrates is how capabilities cooperate without importing each other.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/mail-that-survives-a-worker-restart/Mail that survives a Worker restart2026-06-19T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:38ZTransactional and lifecycle email as durable, tracked jobs — with a suppression list you never wire up and can still read like any other table.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/who-did-that-and-did-it-work/Who did that, and did it work2026-06-19T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:39ZA queryable audit trail in your own D1, written by capabilities that never import it — and by the CLI, attributed to the actual person holding the token.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/token-first-auth-and-what-happens-when-one-is-stolen/Token-first auth, and what happens when one is stolen2026-06-20T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:41ZSign-in that treats a phone and a browser as the same problem, refresh rotation that survives a race, and a replayed token that takes its whole family down with it.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/logs-you-can-query-not-lines-you-can-read/Logs you can query, not lines you can read2026-07-15T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:43ZOne logger seam, two adapters, and every record carrying the build that produced it — so the first question you ask at 2am has an answer in the dashboard.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/uploads-that-never-touch-your-worker/Uploads that never touch your Worker2026-07-16T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:45ZDirect-upload URLs, one media record whatever the backend, and AI enrichment that runs as a Workflow because captioning is slow and fails.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/your-leaderboard-history-is-yours-to-keep/Your leaderboard history is yours to keep2026-07-17T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:46ZBoards whose window is a CRON expression, closed windows that stay in your own D1 in plain SQL, and routes that deny by default when auth is absent.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/server-holds-what-no-client-can-be-trusted-with/The server holds what no client can be trusted with2026-07-23T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:52ZAuthoritative turn-based sessions on a Durable Object, three example games on a reusable pattern, and a wagering stack with provably-fair dice.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/a-connected-cast-not-scattered-rows/A connected cast, not scattered rows2026-07-24T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:54ZSeed data where the same three people own connected records in every table — and three independent layers standing between a fixture and your production database.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/four-ways-to-find-an-opponent/Four ways to find an opponent2026-07-27T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:56ZRoom codes, invites, a friend graph and a skill-bucketed queue — all ending at one session id, on two Durable Objects the CLI wires for you.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/two-numbers-because-one-cannot-do-both-jobs/Two numbers, because one cannot do both jobs2026-07-27T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:57ZA skill rating that moves both ways and an experience total that only rises — plus three algorithms, and a deploy that fails if you wire a 1v1 rating to a four-player game.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/a-balance-that-cannot-go-negative/A balance that cannot go negative2026-07-29T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:06:59ZAtomic, idempotent movements with overdraft prevented by a database constraint — and holds, which are what make wagering safe.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/a-users-file-cannot-execute-on-your-origin/A user's file cannot execute on your origin2026-07-29T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:00ZFiles in your own R2 behind one seam — with server-derived keys, uploaded bytes treated as hostile on the way out, and a daily Workflow that reconciles both directions of orphan.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/filters-that-silently-return-less/The filter that silently returns less2026-07-29T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:01ZVectorize returns partial results without telling you when a metadata index came after the vectors. Making filterable fields a schema decision is how you stop finding that out in production.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/front-end-knows-what-the-backend-composed/The front end knows what the backend composed2026-07-29T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:02ZOne virtual module per capability, projected from the Worker's own config at build time — and a capability you did not compose resolving to `{ enabled: false }` instead of failing the import.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/nothing-reads-unvalidated-input/Nothing reads unvalidated input2026-07-29T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:03ZEvery route declares what it accepts and who may call it, on the route line. Two gates make that structural rather than a habit — and the second one had to resort to a probe.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/screens-that-arrive-already-wired/Screens that arrive already wired2026-07-29T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:04ZSign-in, OTP, paywall, pricing, subscription — scaffolded into your repo as source you own, and only the ones your Worker actually composes.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/six-copies-of-a-one-liner/Six copies of a one-liner, and the field none of them could see2026-07-29T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:05ZDurable jobs on Cloudflare Workflows, and a duplicated line that reported adding five bindings it had silently declined to write.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/buy-on-ios-be-entitled-on-the-web/Buy on iOS, be entitled on the web2026-07-30T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:07ZFour payment rails converging on one entitlement in your own D1 — through an idempotent projection that makes a dropped call free and a replayed webhook harmless.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/present-and-denying-by-default/Present and denying by default2026-07-30T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:08ZA management client reaching into your Worker with no data plane between — asymmetric keys you can revoke, 60-second scoped tokens bound to their own body, and rotation that cannot lock you out.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/when-a-missing-provider-must-deny/When a missing provider must deny2026-07-30T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:09ZTwo seams in core, built the same way and defaulting opposite ways — because one of them is a gate and the other is a record.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/support-is-the-employee-you-cannot-hire/Support is the employee you cannot hire2026-07-31T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:11ZAn inbound inbox in your own D1, classified on your own Workers AI binding, with every sender linked to the account and purchases you already know about.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/twelve-testers-fourteen-days-and-no-screen-that-tells-you/Twelve testers, fourteen days, and no screen that tells you2026-07-31T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:11ZGoogle Play's closed-test requirement, run from your own event log — with every count honestly labeled an estimate, because no API exposes the real one.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/worker-says-unknown/The worker says: unknown2026-08-03T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:13ZA string written out in four places, a name truncated against a limit that does not exist, and what both have in common.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/ada-and-ada-are-the-same-person/Ada@ and ada@ are the same person2026-08-11T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:15ZTwo primitives that look too small to be worth writing about — and the bugs they cause, which never look like they are about email addresses or version numbers.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/zero-of-twenty-five-conversations/Zero of twenty-five conversations2026-08-13T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:16ZOne schema, two consumers, and why a strict enum is correct for the Worker that wrote it and wrong for the client that reads it.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/blog/schemas-are-the-documentation/The schemas are the documentation2026-08-15T12:00:00Z2026-09-21T23:07:18ZOne rule about Zod, enforced nineteen times by nineteen copies of the same walk. They drifted, and the worst of them passed by not looking.Jim Scottjim@pithy.shhttps://pithy.sh/modules/Modules2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZCapabilities that compose into your own Cloudflare Worker. Add the ones you need; nothing you skip costs you anything.https://pithy.sh/modules/audit/Audit2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZA queryable trail of every security-relevant action, attributed to the right actor.https://pithy.sh/modules/auth/Auth2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZPasswordless sessions, mobile and web both first-class. Magic link, email OTP, Google, Apple.https://pithy.sh/modules/controlplane/Control plane2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZLet a management client reach into your own Worker, with no data plane in between.https://pithy.sh/modules/email/Email2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZEvery send is a durable job: scheduled, retried, tracked. No mail ever sent inline.https://pithy.sh/modules/lakehouse/Lakehouse2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZAn analytical tier for event and telemetry data — one schema object derives the ingest stream, the table and the query types.https://pithy.sh/modules/leaderboard/Leaderboard2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZRank your players. Submit a score, read the standings — daily through all-time.https://pithy.sh/modules/ledger/Ledger2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZA per-user balance for your app's economy — chips, gold, gems, credits. Correct by construction.https://pithy.sh/modules/matchmaking/Matchmaking2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZRoom codes, invites, friends and matched queues. Every path lands players in one session.https://pithy.sh/modules/media/Media2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZStore, track and enrich images, video, audio and documents. Config picks the backend.https://pithy.sh/modules/multiplayer/Multiplayer2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZAuthoritative sessions on Durable Objects. The server holds what no client can be trusted with.https://pithy.sh/modules/payments/Payments2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZFive payment rails resolving to one cross-rail entitlement, in your own Worker and your own D1.https://pithy.sh/modules/rating/Rating2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZSkill and experience per player, per pool. Elo, Glicko-2 and TrueSkill ship built in.https://pithy.sh/modules/secrets/Secrets2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZOne encrypted store per environment, a worker-only master key, and automatic at-rest rotation.https://pithy.sh/modules/storage/Storage2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZGeneral file storage in your own R2 bucket, with an owner, a quota, and a link you can take back.https://pithy.sh/modules/support/Support2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZAn inbox that lands mail in your own D1, classifies it on your own AI, and knows who sent it.https://pithy.sh/modules/testers/Testers2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZThe roster, the invitations and the fourteen-day clock Google Play makes you run.https://pithy.sh/modules/turnstile/Turnstile2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZA humanity check that stacks on any route. It answers is this a human, never who is this.https://pithy.sh/modules/vector/Vector2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZSemantic search over your own content. Workers AI embeds, Vectorize indexes, D1 keeps the text.https://pithy.sh/modules/i18n/i18n2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZLanguage for your app — negotiated per request, rendered through one seam. No tables, no bindings, no error codes of its own.https://pithy.sh/for/Solutions2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZThe same kit, recomposed for what you are building.https://pithy.sh/for/enterprise/Enterprise2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-20T12:00:00ZAn audit trail, encrypted secrets with automatic rotation, a humanity check, and a management plane that never holds your data.https://pithy.sh/for/games/Games2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-20T12:00:00ZAuthoritative sessions, matchmaking, skill rating, leaderboards and an economy — on Durable Objects and your own D1.https://pithy.sh/for/mobile/Mobile apps2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-20T12:00:00ZSign in with Apple and Google, StoreKit and Play Billing resolving to the same entitlement as the web, token-first sessions, and the Play closed-test clock nobody warns you about.https://pithy.sh/for/solo/Solo builders2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-20T12:00:00ZPayments on five rails, a support inbox, transactional mail and a scaffolded front end — the work a single person cannot hire out.https://pithy.sh/compare/Alternatives2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZAlready on something else? These pages lay out where Pithy is the better call — and where the tool you already have is the one to keep.https://pithy.sh/compare/supabase/Supabase vs Pithy2026-08-18T12:00:00Z2026-08-18T12:00:00ZSupabase is a managed Postgres platform. Pithy is a composable kit that runs entirely inside your own Cloudflare account. Here is the honest side-by-side.https://pithy.sh/compare/algolia/Algolia vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZAlgolia is a hosted search product with latency nobody else matches. Pithy has semantic search as one capability. Compared on search alone.https://pithy.sh/compare/appwrite/Appwrite vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZAppwrite is an open-source backend you can self-host or buy managed. Pithy is a kit that composes onto Cloudflare's primitives inside your own account. Both answer ownership; they answer it differently.https://pithy.sh/compare/auth0/Auth0 vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZAuth0 is the enterprise identity platform. Pithy has auth as one capability among many. Compared on auth alone — and on whether the compliance surface you are buying is one you actually need.https://pithy.sh/compare/aws-amplify/AWS Amplify vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZAmplify is a TypeScript-first framework that provisions AWS services for you — Cognito, AppSync, DynamoDB, S3, Lambda. Pithy is a kit that provisions Cloudflare primitives. Same idea, different cloud, different amount of it.https://pithy.sh/compare/clerk/Clerk vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZClerk is a hosted identity product with the best drop-in components in the category. Pithy has auth as one capability among many. Compared on auth alone — and on whether you need a second vendor for it.https://pithy.sh/compare/cloudinary/Cloudinary vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZCloudinary is a media pipeline with transformations nobody else matches. Pithy has media and storage as capabilities. Compared on media alone.https://pithy.sh/compare/colyseus/Colyseus vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZColyseus is an open-source Node framework for authoritative game servers, with rooms, state synchronization and matchmaking. Pithy has turn-based sessions as one capability. Compared on multiplayer alone.https://pithy.sh/compare/convex/Convex vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZConvex is a reactive backend where TypeScript functions run against a document store that pushes changes to clients. Pithy is a kit that composes onto Cloudflare's own primitives. Here is the honest side-by-side.https://pithy.sh/compare/firebase/Firebase vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZFirebase is Google's managed backend, and the fastest way to ship a mobile app there has ever been. Pithy is a kit that runs inside your own Cloudflare account. Here is the honest side-by-side.https://pithy.sh/compare/lootlocker/LootLocker vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZLootLocker is a hosted game backend for leaderboards, progression and player economy. Pithy has those as capabilities in a Worker you own. Compared on the game services alone.https://pithy.sh/compare/nakama/Nakama vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZNakama is an open-source game server with accounts, storage, realtime multiplayer, matchmaking, leaderboards, tournaments, parties and chat. Pithy has the asynchronous half in a Worker you own.https://pithy.sh/compare/nhost/Nhost vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZNhost is Postgres and Hasura with auth, storage and functions around them — GraphQL-first and self-hostable. Pithy composes onto Cloudflare's primitives with SQL and HTTP. Both are open source.https://pithy.sh/compare/photon/Photon vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZPhoton is real-time networking for games — Fusion, Quantum and Realtime — priced on concurrent users. Pithy has turn-based multiplayer as one capability. Compared on multiplayer alone.https://pithy.sh/compare/playfab/PlayFab vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZPlayFab is Microsoft's complete backend for live games — identity, economy, matchmaking, dedicated servers, LiveOps and analytics. Pithy has the game capabilities in a Worker you own. Compared honestly.https://pithy.sh/compare/pocketbase/PocketBase vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZPocketBase is one Go binary with SQLite, auth, files, realtime and an admin UI. Pithy is a kit that composes onto Cloudflare's primitives. Both are SQLite; almost nothing else is the same.https://pithy.sh/compare/revenuecat/RevenueCat vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZRevenueCat is the best hosted answer to cross-platform purchases. Pithy has payments as one capability. Compared on subscriptions alone — and on where your customers' purchase history lives.https://pithy.sh/compare/rolling-your-own/Rolling your own vs Pithy2026-08-25T12:00:00Z2026-08-25T12:00:00ZThe most common alternative, and sometimes the right one. What you actually take on when you write the backend yourself, and where a kit earns its place.