Show HN: GitClassic.com, GitHub circa 2015 without JS & AI (gitclassic.com)

14 points by heythisischris 5mo ago ↗ HN

Hey HN,

Got tired of how bloated GitHub became- copilot everywhere, janky JS, slow loads. So I built GitClassic, a read-only GitHub interface that's pure server-rendered HTML, kind of like old.reddit.com. No JavaScript.

Try it: https://gitclassic.com

Browse any public repo, files, READMEs. Loads instantly, works on any connection. No account needed for public repos.

Stack: Node on Lambda, server-side rendering, cached against GitHub's API. Pro adds private repo access via GitHub OAuth.

Built this in about 3 hours. Would love feedback on what's missing or broken. Issues are next.

Thanks, Chris

9 comments

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captn3m0 5mo ago ↗

I will actually pay for this if this includes the complete issue/PR data, as well as the ability to review/approve/merge PRs. The GitHub UI is so slow that loading each 5 line PR is just too slow and I have to open the diff in a new tab, because going back reloads the whole damn thing instead of the amazing jquery/pjax cached version from a decade ago that worked fast even on 3G networks.

Aside: you will need permission to use the Git trademark.

shukantpal 5mo ago ↗

It doesn't quite work: https://gitclassic.com/pixijs (repos.filter is not a function)

Also it seems to get rate limited, but good work.

chandlerswift 5mo ago ↗

https://gitclassic.com/navidrome:

    Error: repos.filter is not a function

https://gitclassic.com/navidrome/navidrome:

    API rate limit exceeded for 18.222.58.123. (But here's the good news: Authenticated requests get a higher rate limit. Check out the documentation for more details.)

smarx007 5mo ago ↗

I would say the November 2015 look would be the one to go back to.* [1] This one seems to be from 2015 before the iconic redesign that makes it instantly recognizable as Github.

*with a dark theme.

[1]: https://github.blog/news-insights/a-new-look-for-repositorie...

heythisischris 5mo ago ↗

If anyone wants to try out GitClassic Pro, I added a promo code for 50% off, it's "HACKERNEWS"- comes out to $20/year. Gives you access to private repos. Going to dedicate as much time / attention as possible to building a better GitHub frontend! I think a lot of people want this (myself included).

[deleted] 5mo ago ↗

(comment deleted)

crtasm 5mo ago ↗

I like it!

yt-dlp's readme seems to confuse the parser: https://gitclassic.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

liviux 5mo ago ↗

It's 2026 Chris, get over it.

000ooo000 5mo ago ↗

>Built this in about 3 hours

Why did you include this? No developer is going to read that and think "I bet this is polished and well thought-out - take my money!". It's either a rushed job, a slop job, or a rushed slop job.