$ teebot.dev – from terminal to tee in 6 seconds (teebot.dev)

by foxpress 39 comments 33 points
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39 comments

[−] kleiba 55d ago
Btw, this has nothing to do with the "tee" shell command.
[−] trollbridge 55d ago
It took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure this out. The association between a terminal and tee is just too strong.
[−] foxpress 55d ago
Yeah I've been hearing that a lot today. Lesson learned, updating the copy to say t-shirt.
[−] fuckinpuppers 53d ago
That would be funny if people started printing off log crap onto shirts because they did | tee to them
[−] foxpress 55d ago
Ha, fair point. A few people have mentioned the confusion. Going with "t-shirt" going forward.
[−] classified 54d ago
Came here to say that I can use tee(1) as soon as my terminal opens. I guess this is just another case of really, really bad naming.
[−] semiquaver 55d ago
Why does it take 20 seconds to composite a string onto a shirt? Are you using generative AI for something that can be done in milliseconds with traditional techniques?
[−] arjie 55d ago
It cannot be that, surely since the page prior to the CTA actually shows the shirt with the string composited. So is it perhaps doing some live pricing based on a collection of vendors on the backend? Better to show an initial price and then a progress bar that moves up as the vendors return prices I think. Either way, I reflexively almost clicked away as soon as the 20 s started.
[−] foxpress 55d ago
Damn, ok. Good feedback. I heard that from someone else, too. Our attention spans are fried, lol. Can't wait 20 seconds for a shirt preview! It's true though. So the first "preview" is just rendering text on top of a blank shirt mockup, and the the second one (after you click and go to /preview) actually sends the text to the Printful API to get a render of how the shirt will actually appear. That's the delay, waiting for the final image to come back from Printful.
[−] foxpress 55d ago
that's the Printful API. Once a phrase has been generated it's cached so it's instant next time. Do you have any suggestions on how to make it faster?
[−] vzaliva 55d ago
I've tried to type in non-ASCII (Ukrainian) and preview shows it correctly. Does it guarantee it would print it properly?
[−] theturtletalks 55d ago
What print on demand supplier are you using? I'm building a merch builder website for startups and most PODs (Gelato, Printify, Printful) all have their own issues.
[−] BaudouinVH 55d ago
I cannot click on "Preview and price" - I'm in a country you're currently not shipping to so it maybe a feature more than a bug.
[−] foxpress 55d ago
i built teebot.dev because every time i wanted to put text on a shirt, i got lost in some enshitified print companies design flow. i just wanted to get words on a shirt.

So i made teebot.dev. type your text and ship it. that's it.

here's the CLI:

npx teebot "wtf?"

[−] TipsForCanoes 55d ago
Banner says "custom tees, delivered at cost" but then the preview page shows a price that is double what I get going to their drop shipper directly (printful). No detailed product info on shirt type or quality. No company info. Hard pass.