Keyboard Warriors

Aug 2026

Keyboard Warriors is a collaborative turn-based typing game for 2–3 players. One paragraph, alternating words — you type a word, your partner types the next. Team WPM and accuracy are scored together, Monkeytype-style modes included, and spectators see the active player's keystrokes live.

Rooms are created with a short code; guests can join without an account on LAN. Host picks the mode (time, words, quote, custom), everyone readies up, a 3–2–1 countdown fires, and seats take turns word by word. Results persist to PostgreSQL and feed a leaderboard. Hardcore mode locks mistakes behind a lives system for players who want pressure.

The stack is a pnpm monorepo: Next.js 15 on Vercel for the UI and REST API, Auth.js for Google/GitHub sign-in, Prisma + PostgreSQL (Neon locally), and a WebSocket layer — Node in dev, AWS API Gateway + Lambda + DynamoDB in production.

I built this to explore real-time multiplayer on a hobby budget: Vercel for the app, SAM for the socket infra, and a shared scoring package both sides trust.

Quick start

pnpm install
pnpm --filter @key-warriors/shared build
pnpm dev:all

Open http://localhost:3000. Solo practice works without OAuth; multiplayer needs sign-in and the WS server running.

GitHub
DateAug 2026
ContributionSolo Developer
ExtentDevelop
StackNext.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, WebSocket, AWS Lambda
Technical details

Development

Stack

| Layer | Tech | |-------|------| | App | Next.js 15 (App Router) + TypeScript + Tailwind — deploy on Vercel | | Auth | Auth.js (NextAuth v5) — Google + GitHub | | DB | PostgreSQL via Prisma (local Docker / Neon / AWS RDS free tier) | | Real-time | WebSocket — local Node server for dev; AWS API Gateway + Lambda + DynamoDB for prod |

Monorepo layout

apps/web              Next.js UI + REST API
packages/shared       Types, WS protocol, scoring (Zod)
services/ws-lambda    AWS Lambda handlers + local WS server
infra/                AWS SAM template

Environment

Copy .env.example to apps/web/.env.local and fill in values.

With ALLOW_DEV_AUTH=true, /play auto-signs you in locally (no login screen).

Database

cd apps/web && source .env.local && pnpm db:push

Play on your LAN

  1. ●Run pnpm dev:all on your Mac.
  2. ●On another device, open http://<your-mac-lan-ip>:3000.
  3. ●Keep NEXT_PUBLIC_WS_URL=ws://localhost:3001 in .env.local — the browser connects to ws://<same-lan-ip>:3001 when not on localhost.
  4. ●Allow ports 3000 and 3001 through your Mac firewall if connections fail.

Tests

pnpm --filter @key-warriors/shared test

Deploy

Vercel (Next.js): import the repo, set Root Directory to apps/web, add env vars from .env.example.

AWS WebSocket:

pnpm --filter @key-warriors/ws-lambda bundle
cd infra && sam build && sam deploy --guided

Set NEXT_PUBLIC_WS_URL to the stack output WebSocketURI.

Scripts

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | pnpm dev | Next.js dev server | | pnpm dev:ws | WebSocket server (port 3001) | | pnpm dev:all | Next.js + WebSocket together | | pnpm build | Build all packages | | pnpm db:push | Prisma db push |