Data-Driven Personal Sites

What It Is

An experiment in using structured data (YAML/JSON) as the source of truth for personal tracking, rendered into static sites.

The Thinking

Personal productivity systems tend to live in apps - Notion, Todoist, various others. The data is locked in those platforms, the interfaces are what the platform decides, and if the company changes direction or shuts down, you’re moving again.

What if the source of truth was just text files you control?

The Concept

• YAML files defining goals, projects, tasks, whatever you’re tracking
• Static site generation to render those files into a usable interface
• Git for version history and change tracking
• Plain text as the ultimate backup - always readable, always portable

Potential Applications

• Personal goal tracking
• Project status dashboards
• Reading lists and progress
• Habit tracking
• Anything else that benefits from structured data and visibility

Why Static Sites

You can host them anywhere. They’re fast. They work offline. They’ll still work in 20 years. And if you want to change how they look or work, you have complete control.

Current Status

Concept phase. The idea is sound, the implementation is on the someday list. Time is the constraint, not capability.