BragFeed.dev

Small business websites need social proof, but integrating Google Reviews into static sites has always been painful. Google seemingly offers no official tools, and third party embeds load slowly and require JavaScript. I built BragFeed.dev as a legitimate API that fetches Google Reviews through RapidAPI's certified connector. Point your static site generator at the endpoint during build, and you get fresh reviews as static HTML without the need for client-side JavaScript creating performance penalties.

Tech Stack

The application runs on Next.js with server-side API routes handling the RapidAPI integration. PostgreSQL stores business configurations and caches review data to stay within rate limits. The frontend uses ShadCN components with Tailwind for a clean dashboard where users manage their connected businesses. Authentication handles multiple business profiles per account. The API endpoint structure is simple: /reviews/{business-id} returns JSON that any SSG can consume during build. I designed the response format to match what I needed for 11ty projects, but it works equally well with Gatsby, Hugo, Astro, or any framework that can fetch data at build time.

Dynamic Typing System

For this project I build a custom TypeScript system to enforce end-to-end types. This ensures both client and server are aware of expected request and response formats. The pattern leverages Zod schemas for runtime validation and TypeScript for compile-time type safety. For developers, this means your static site build never breaks because of an update pushed to the application as our developer experience is consistent and tested.

Outcome

Developers can now integrate authentic Google Reviews into static websites without performance compromises. The reviews update automatically each time the site rebuilds, whether that's daily, weekly, or triggered by new content. I'm using it on several client sites already. Setup takes five minutes: connect your Google Business Profile, copy the API endpoint, add it to your build configuration. The monthly plan includes unlimited businesses and 10,000 monthly requests, which covers most small agencies.