thinko

thinko is a browser-based Windows XP desktop recreation running at thinko.micr.dev.

It started from the winXP React desktop project, but this repo now contains the current custom site and deployment setup for the micr-dev/thinko GitHub repo and the Vercel project behind thinko.micr.dev.

What it includes

• Windows XP-style desktop, windows, taskbar, and Start menu
• Custom desktop apps like Paint, Winamp, My Pictures, and My Computer
• Embedded game launchers for local browser-playable game builds
• Paint submission flow with manual moderation
• Admin page for reviewing drawings and publishing commissions
• Vercel-backed API routes for submissions, moderation, commissions, and image serving

Live URLs

• Site: https://thinko.micr.dev
• Admin moderation: https://thinko.micr.dev/admin/drawings
• Layout debug route: https://thinko.micr.dev/layout

Tech stack

• React 18
• react-scripts
• styled-components
• webamp
• Vercel Functions
• Vercel Blob
• GitHub OAuth for admin auth

Local development

Install dependencies:

yarn install

Run the web app and local API together:

yarn start

That starts:

• CRA dev server on http://0.0.0.0:4003 when HOST and PORT are set externally
• local API server on http://127.0.0.1:4748

Useful scripts:

yarn start
yarn start:web
yarn start:api
yarn build
yarn test
yarn lint

Required environment variables

For production or full local API behavior, configure:

APP_BASE_URL
SESSION_SECRET
BLOB_READ_WRITE_TOKEN
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET
GITHUB_ADMIN_LOGIN
NTFY_TOPIC
NTFY_BASE_URL

Notes:

• BLOB_READ_WRITE_TOKEN is required for drawings and commissions storage.
• GITHUB_* values are required for /admin/drawings.
• NTFY_* is optional but used for new drawing notifications.

Paint submission flow

Users can draw inside the XP Paint app and submit artwork for review.

Current behavior:

• submission goes into a moderation queue, not straight to public view
• approved drawings appear in My Pictures
• commissions are published separately from the admin page and show up as desktop icons

Repo structure

Key paths:

• src/App.js - route split between desktop, admin, and layout debug
• src/WinXP - desktop shell and apps
• src/admin/DrawingsAdminPage.js - admin moderation and commissions UI
• api - Vercel API handlers
• server/index.js - local Express API for development
• public/custom - custom game, media, and desktop asset payloads
• vercel.json - Vercel routing and build config

Deployment

This repo is intended to deploy from Vercel to thinko.micr.dev.

Current deployment model:

• static frontend build from CRA
• single Vercel API entrypoint in api/index.js
• Vercel Blob for image storage
• GitHub OAuth for admin login

Notes

• This repo contains large binary assets for icons, music, and browser-playable games.
• Temporary local junk like downloads/, opensrc/, and ad hoc screenshots should not be committed.
• The codebase still carries some upstream naming from the original winXP project, but the repo target is now micr-dev/thinko.

License

See LICENSE.