BinktermPHP: A Full BBS/FidoNet Platform Built Primarily with Claude
BinktermPHP is an open source web-based BBS written in PHP 8 with PostgreSQL. According to the developer, it has been built almost entirely using Claude for implementation, with the developer serving as architect and tester.
Platform Features
The platform includes:
- Built-in binkp FidoNet mailer with session negotiation, packet parsing, inbound/outbound queuing, and polling schedules
- Echomail/netmail (FidoNet forums and private messages)
- File areas and door games (DOS, native, and HTML5/WebDoors)
- Real-time server push via SharedWorker (BinkStream)
- Credits economy system
- Telnet/SSH/FTP access with ANSI support, menu navigation, and ZMODEM for file transfers
- QWK offline mail support
- ANSI/RIP/SIXLE support
- MCP server (Node.js) that exposes echomail via the Model Context Protocol with per-user bearer token auth
- Character encoding handling for legacy FTN codepages (CP437, CP866, Latin-1) with iconv fallback chains
- WebDoors system for browser-based HTML5 door games
Development Workflow with Claude
The developer describes their workflow as: "I'm the architect and the person who decides what gets built. But the implementation — the code, the database migrations, the debugging, the protocol work — that's Claude. I describe what I want, Claude writes it, I test it, we iterate."
What works well according to the developer:
- Claude handles tedious or time-consuming parts like boilerplate, migrations, debugging encoding issues, and writing protocol logic
- Claude holds project context when given proper structure (maintained via a CLAUDE.md file in the repo)
What still requires human intervention:
- Architectural decisions and testing
- Knowing when something is wrong
- Anything requiring running the actual software (Claude can't observe the running system)
- Occasional reminders of previous mistakes
Current Release
Version 1.8.9 is now available with:
- Interests-based subscription system
- AreaFix/FileFix manager
- File upload approval queues
- ANSI art login screen editor
- ZMODEM/QWK support
The project is accessible at https://claudes.lovelybits.org (named in Claude's honor), with project details at https://lovelybits.org/binktermphp and source code on GitHub.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
👀 See Also
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