Build-in-Public Infrastructure
Full plan at: ~/.hermes/profiles/senna/plans/2026-05-24-build-in-public-infra.md
Quick Reference
6 Phases
- Phase 0 — Prep: xurl auth + X Premium ($8/mo)
- Phase 1 — VPS + Security Hardening (day 1, before anything else)
- Phase 2 — GitHub Security for public repos
- Phase 3 — Social Media Manager Profile
- Phase 4 — GitHub Integration (changelog detector, gh CLI)
- Phase 5 — Bigger Projects (scaling compute/storage)
- Phase 6 — Content Strategy (@levelsio playbook)
VPS Recommendation
- Start: Oracle Cloud Always Free ($0/mo, 4 ARM, 24GB RAM, 200GB)
- Scale: Hetzner CX32 ($8/mo, 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 80GB NVMe)
- Never: Expose VPS IP in public posts
Security Checklist
VPS: SSH key-only, root disabled, UFW (SSH only), Fail2Ban, unattended-upgrades, auditd, non-root user for Hermes
GitHub: gitleaks pre-commit, .gitignore for secrets, secret scanning + Dependabot, minimal PAT scopes, branch protection
Secrets: Never in .env committed to git, use Keychain/secrets manager, separate keys for dev vs prod
Cost
- Starting: ~$10-13/mo (X Premium + Oracle free + API)
- Growing: ~$21-26/mo (+ Hetzner CX32)
- Scaling: ~$32-49/mo (+ storage + domain)
Content Strategy
- 3x/day posts at peak times (9 AM, 12 PM, 5 PM ET)
- Weekly Friday thread
- 15-30 min daily engagement (reply to builders)
- Hermes drafts, you approve — never auto-post without review
Pitfalls
- Don't post VPS IP address publicly
- Don't use same API key for dev and production
- Don't commit .env files "just this once"
- Don't skip security hardening to save time
- Don't auto-post without human review (AI slop detection is real)
- Don't neglect engagement (replying grows followers, not posting)
1---2name: build-in-public-infra3description: Build-in-public infrastructure plan — VPS setup, security hardening, social media manager profile, GitHub integration, content strategy. Use when setting up, expanding, or troubleshooting the build-in-public pipeline.4---5
6# Build-in-Public Infrastructure
7
8Full plan at: `~/.hermes/profiles/senna/plans/2026-05-24-build-in-public-infra.md`
9
10## Quick Reference
11
12### 6 Phases
131. **Phase 0** — Prep: xurl auth + X Premium ($8/mo)
142. **Phase 1** — VPS + Security Hardening (day 1, before anything else)
153. **Phase 2** — GitHub Security for public repos
164. **Phase 3** — Social Media Manager Profile
175. **Phase 4** — GitHub Integration (changelog detector, gh CLI)
186. **Phase 5** — Bigger Projects (scaling compute/storage)
197. **Phase 6** — Content Strategy (@levelsio playbook)
20
21### VPS Recommendation
22- **Start:** Oracle Cloud Always Free ($0/mo, 4 ARM, 24GB RAM, 200GB)
23- **Scale:** Hetzner CX32 ($8/mo, 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 80GB NVMe)
24- **Never:** Expose VPS IP in public posts
25
26### Security Checklist
27**VPS:** SSH key-only, root disabled, UFW (SSH only), Fail2Ban, unattended-upgrades, auditd, non-root user for Hermes
28**GitHub:** gitleaks pre-commit, .gitignore for secrets, secret scanning + Dependabot, minimal PAT scopes, branch protection
29**Secrets:** Never in .env committed to git, use Keychain/secrets manager, separate keys for dev vs prod
30
31### Cost
32- Starting: ~$10-13/mo (X Premium + Oracle free + API)
33- Growing: ~$21-26/mo (+ Hetzner CX32)
34- Scaling: ~$32-49/mo (+ storage + domain)
35
36### Content Strategy
37- 3x/day posts at peak times (9 AM, 12 PM, 5 PM ET)
38- Weekly Friday thread
39- 15-30 min daily engagement (reply to builders)
40- Hermes drafts, you approve — never auto-post without review
41
42## Pitfalls
43- Don't post VPS IP address publicly
44- Don't use same API key for dev and production
45- Don't commit .env files "just this once"
46- Don't skip security hardening to save time
47- Don't auto-post without human review (AI slop detection is real)
48- Don't neglect engagement (replying grows followers, not posting)
theheavenlyd3mon