Waitly - Vercel

Waitly

Launch a product waitlist fast using Next.js 15, Notion CMS, Upstash Redis, and Resend for email.

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Core Features

Next.js 16: Built with the latest features of the leading React framework for performance and developer experience.
Notion as CMS: Seamlessly manage your waitlist entries directly within a Notion database.
Upstash Redis: Implement robust rate limiting for signups using serverless Redis.
Resend Integration: Send transactional emails (e.g., confirmation emails) through Resend using your custom domain.
One-Click Vercel Deploy: Get your waitlist live in minutes.
Tailwind CSS & React: Modern, responsive UI built with utility-first CSS and React components.
TypeScript: Type safety for a more robust codebase.

Why Notion as a CMS?

Notion is a versatile tool renowned for its content management capabilities and user-friendly interface. This template demonstrates how to leverage Notion as a lightweight, free, and effective Content Management System (CMS) for your waitlist.

Key Advantages:

Simplicity: Manage your waitlist data in a familiar Notion database.
No Backend Needed: Fetches data directly via Notion's API, reducing complexity.
Flexibility: Easily extendable to manage other types of content beyond a waitlist.
Collaboration: Utilize Notion's collaborative features if working with a team.

Prerequisites: Setting Up External Services

Before you can run this project, you'll need to configure a few external services:

1. Upstash Redis

Upstash provides serverless Redis. This template uses it for rate limiting signups.

Sign up for a free account at Upstash.
Create a new Redis database.
From the database details page, note down the REST API -> Endpoint (this is your UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL) and REST API -> Read-only Token or a custom token with write access (this is your UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN). Ensure the token has write permissions if you're using it for operations that modify data.

2. Resend

Resend is used for sending transactional emails (e.g., signup confirmations).

Create an account at Resend.
Add and verify your domain (e.g., yourdomain.com).
Generate an API key from the "API Keys" section. This will be your RESEND_API_KEY.
Note the email address you'll send from (e.g., waitlist@yourdomain.com). This will be your RESEND_FROM_EMAIL.

3. Notion

Your waitlist data will be stored in a Notion database.

Ensure you have a Notion account and workspace.
Create a new Database - Full page in your workspace. You can name it "Waitlist Users" or similar.
Add the following properties (columns) to your database:
- Name (Property type: Title) - This is usually the default first column.
- Email (Property type: Email)
- Referral Code (Property type: Text)
- Referred By (Property type: Text)
- Referrer (Property type: Relation) (select the same database as the relation target)
- (Optional) Signed Up At (Property type: Created time) - For tracking when users signed up.
Obtain your Notion Integration Secret:
- Go to Notion Integrations.
- Click "+ New integration".
- Give it a name (e.g., "Waitlist App Integration").
- Associate it with your workspace.
- Under "Capabilities", ensure "Insert content" is checked. If you plan to read or update entries via an API later (e.g., for an admin panel), also grant "Read content" and "Update content" capabilities. "No user information" is fine for "User capabilities".
- Click "Submit". Copy the "Internal Integration Token" shown. This is your NOTION_SECRET.
Share the Database with your Integration:
- Open the Notion database you created.
- Click the ••• (More) menu in the top-right corner.
- Scroll down and click "+ Add connections" (or find "Connections" then "Connect to...").
- Search for and select the integration you just created (e.g., "Waitlist App Integration"). Confirm access.
Get your Database ID:
- Open the Notion database in your browser. The URL will look something like: https://www.notion.so/{YOUR_WORKSPACE_NAME}/{DATABASE_ID}?v={...}
- The {DATABASE_ID} is the string of characters (usually 32 alphanumeric characters) that forms the path segment after your workspace name (or www.notion.so/) and before the ?v=.... Copy this ID. This is your NOTION_DB.

Local Development Setup

To run this project on your local machine:

Fork and Clone the Repository: First, fork this repository to your own GitHub account. Then, clone your fork:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/Waitly.git
# Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your GitHub username and Waitly with your forked repo name if different
cd Waitly # Or your forked repo name

Install Dependencies: This project uses pnpm as the package manager in the example commands. You can use npm, yarn, or bun if you prefer, by adjusting the commands accordingly.
```
pnpm install
```

Set Up Environment Variables: Create a .env.local file in the root of your project. You can copy .env.example and fill in the values you obtained from the prerequisite steps:

# Upstash Redis
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL=your_upstash_redis_rest_url
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN=your_upstash_redis_rest_token

# Notion
NOTION_SECRET=your_notion_secret_key
NOTION_DB=your_notion_database_id

# Resend
RESEND_API_KEY=your_resend_api_key
RESEND_FROM_EMAIL=you@yourdomain.com # Email address to send from (must be verified in Resend)
# RESEND_REPLY_TO_EMAIL=reply@yourdomain.com # Optional: Email address for replies

Run the Development Server:
```
pnpm dev
```
Your application should now be running on http://localhost:3000.
Run the Email Preview Server (Optional): If you're working on email templates, Resend allows local previewing of emails.
```
pnpm email
```
This typically starts a server on http://localhost:3001 (or as configured in package.json).