Build your own kanji handwriting dictionary that runs on GitHub Pages
A Japanese learner hit a wall when one wrong stroke gave no matches in a dictionary's handwriting search, so he asked Claude to build a similar tool for himself with the dictionary sharded to serve from GitHub Pages without a database.
Source
greggman65 on Hacker News · 2026-10-20
Written in our own words. Credit to the original author. Link checked 2026-10-23.
What they did
A Japanese learner hit a wall when one wrong stroke gave no matches in a dictionary's handwriting search, so he asked Claude to build a similar tool for himself with the dictionary sharded to serve from GitHub Pages without a database.
Result (as claimed)
Done and useful in under 2 hours, later extended with camera support and FSRS flashcards.
Tools they used
Cost: Pricing depends on the tools you pick; check each official pricing page.
Set it up
Gather your sources
Collect the papers, notes, links or files you want to work from in one place.
Load them into the tool
Open Claude, GitHub Pages and add your sources. Keep the original files so you can check claims later.
Ask focused questions
Ask for summaries, comparisons or connections with citations to the source passages.
Verify and save
Spot check claims against the sources, then save the output as notes you can reuse.
Copy the full setup prompt
Paste into your agent and it will walk you through the setup, asking before anything that sends, posts or spends.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Claude Code. Goal: Build your own kanji handwriting dictionary that runs on GitHub Pages What the original author did: A Japanese learner hit a wall when one wrong stroke gave no matches in a dictionary's handwriting search, so he asked Claude to build a similar tool for himself with the dictionary sharded to serve from GitHub Pages without a database. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Done and useful in under 2 hours, later extended with camera support and FSRS flashcards. Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162054 Tools they used: Claude, GitHub Pages Category: Research & learning Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Codex. Goal: Build your own kanji handwriting dictionary that runs on GitHub Pages What the original author did: A Japanese learner hit a wall when one wrong stroke gave no matches in a dictionary's handwriting search, so he asked Claude to build a similar tool for himself with the dictionary sharded to serve from GitHub Pages without a database. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Done and useful in under 2 hours, later extended with camera support and FSRS flashcards. Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162054 Tools they used: Claude, GitHub Pages Category: Research & learning Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Grok Bot. Goal: Build your own kanji handwriting dictionary that runs on GitHub Pages What the original author did: A Japanese learner hit a wall when one wrong stroke gave no matches in a dictionary's handwriting search, so he asked Claude to build a similar tool for himself with the dictionary sharded to serve from GitHub Pages without a database. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Done and useful in under 2 hours, later extended with camera support and FSRS flashcards. Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162054 Tools they used: Claude, GitHub Pages Category: Research & learning Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
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