Case study · Flagship
Tulip Reformed Books
Problem
A product for reading books online, verse by verse — something off-the-shelf couldn’t do.
Solution
A complete custom platform, starting from a Figma prototype: a free Telegram Mini App with no sign-up, PDF-to-image reading, bookmarks, an admin backend and automatic backups — built, hosted and monitored end to end.
Result
Live and running — a reading platform the owner builds, runs and updates solo, with donations supported through CanadaHelps.
Summary
Built, deployed and monitored end to end: the Mini App leans on Telegram for identity, services, database and image storage are deployed separately, and the owner publishes books and answers readers without a developer.
Services
- Figma prototype
- Next.js
- Telegram SDK
- PostgreSQL
- Directus
- n8n
- Docker + CI/CD
- CanadaHelps donations
What it does
What it does
A free reading app that lives inside Telegram.
A reading app with no sign-up
Tulip runs as a Telegram Mini App and uses the reader’s own Telegram account — no registration, no password.
Upload a PDF, read it as pages
Books are converted from PDF to page images automatically, so they read smoothly on a phone.
Free to read, with bookmarks
Every book is free to read, and bookmarks keep each reader’s place.
A backend the owner runs
Books, content and readers are managed from an admin backend, with automatic backups.
Donations via CanadaHelps
A CanadaHelps donation link lets readers support the work.
Bots, channels and auto-replies
A Telegram bot and channel handle publishing and messages, with automated replies.
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