Case study: Helix Library

A personal localhost OPAC I actually run: files, catalog, Ask, Acquire. Not a demo.

What I did

Built and keep Helix Library locally — files, catalog, Ask, Acquire, knowledge graph, collections, and Night Moth arcade. README and fixture UI gallery are on the public repo.

What changed

I use it as my local library and arcade.

What I refused to overbuild

I refused the usual “product” layer. No social feed. No forced cloud sync. No marketplace. Helix Library stays a localhost OPAC I actually run — files, catalog, Ask, Acquire, plus the arcade — without turning my shelf into someone else’s network.

Stack

Next.js 15 (App Router), React 19, TypeScript, SQLite (better-sqlite3), Drizzle, Tailwind v4, sharp, AI SDK (optional xAI).

Snippet

const db = drizzle(sqlite) // local file — no hosted OPAC
// Ask/Acquire stay on one machine

Proof

• https://github.com/rb-thompson/helix-library
• Localhost only — no hosted demo URL
• Fixture UI gallery below (and on the public README)