Hi HN,
I’ve been frustrated that I only find out how my representatives voted when the news cycle decides to cover it, so I built a simple script that texts me a digest instead.
What it is:
• Pick daily / weekly / bi-weekly / monthly
• Get one SMS listing each vote cast by your House rep + both Senators
• Messages include bill numbers, your rep’s “Yea/Nay/Present”, a one-sentence summary, and a link to congress.gov
How to try it:
1. Open the link (above)
2. Fill the Google Form with name + phone
3. Text “YES” back to opt in
(First month is free with code "PRODHUNT" so you can test it without paying carrier fees.)
Tech stack:
* Google Apps Script → polls Congress.gov REST + Senate XML
* Vercel edge function → handles inbound “YES/STOP” replies
* Stripe → recurring billing after the trial
* TextBelt → outbound SMS (cheapest I could find)
Everything is serverless; the sheet acts as the DB.
I’d like candid feedback on:
* edge-cases where the vote data is wrong or late
* UX: what’s confusing in the onboarding flow?
* thoughts on pricing (it’s \$1.99/mo because carriers charge for SMS)
No marketing fluff-just a hobby project that scratched an itch.
Happy to answer anything!
Previous discussion: none-this is the first release.
Thanks!
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44439926
Points: 4
# Comments: 2