Amanda Air Mail / In transit

Amanda Air Mail
Geospatial / Real-timeShippedRoute AX-MAP

TapIn

A full-stack geolocation platform that connects TikTok media, Mapbox, caching, and real-time updates.

Explore the repository
Role
Full-stack developer
Team
Four contributors
Timeline
2025
Skills
Go, Node.js, Express, Redis, WebSockets, Docker, Mapbox GL JS

Carry-on evidence

1K+
Daily queries
300 ms
Median latency
Cache reduction

01 / Context

Media says what happened. A map says where.

Short-form media is usually organized by feeds and creators, even when place is the most useful way to understand it. TapIn connects media discovery to a geographic surface.

The product brings TikTok content into Mapbox GL JS so a visitor can move through nearby moments instead of one endless feed.

02 / API design

A guarded API keeps the map responsive.

The Express API handles more than 1,000 queries per day with rate limiting and input validation at the boundary.

Redis caching reduced median latency for geotagged content from 900 milliseconds to 300 milliseconds.

03 / Live updates

New signals arrive without refreshing the map.

Concurrent asynchronous request handling and WebSockets deliver geotagged updates in real time.

Go, Node.js, Express, and Docker form the delivery path behind the visible map.

04 / Reflection

The interface and infrastructure share one promise.

A live map only feels live when the API, cache, and update channel all protect the interaction.

TapIn reinforced that product quality is often the visible result of several quiet systems agreeing on speed and state.

Next departureUniMe

A university matching platform that turns student goals into ranked program options.

Read next →

Hidden view / Seat 26A

Window seat

Somewhere above the clouds

Pick the sky.

Daylight, sunset, or a night flight. I will take the window seat.

Move the shade with touch, a mouse, or the arrow keys.