Empowering cat rescue organizations with professional tools — no technical expertise required.
PurrKit is an open-source platform designed to help cat rescue organizations create professional websites and manage their operations efficiently, without expensive software subscriptions or technical knowledge.
Cat rescues do incredible work, but many struggle with basic digital infrastructure. After founding Purrfect Paths Rescue, I quickly realized that most small, volunteer-run rescues face significant barriers without technical experience: expensive custom websites, clunky website builders that aren't rescue-specific, and no easy way to keep adoptable cat listings current.
PurrKit solves this by providing:
- Website Generator - Create a professional, customized website in minutes
- Multi-Tenant CMS - Update cats, photos, and content without touching code
- No Code Required - Fill out a simple form, download your site
- Free Hosting Options - Deploy to Vercel/Netlify or use *.purrkit.org subdomains
- Complete Ownership - You get the full source code, host it anywhere
- Open Source - Free forever, built by the community
We're starting with the website generator and CMS, but the vision extends to a full suite of tools including foster coordination, adoption application tracking, and a unified operations dashboard. Check out our roadmap to see where we're headed!
As this is project is in development, the following architecture is subject to change as we iterate and refine our design.
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Rescue's Generated Website │
│ (Next.js - Static/ISR) │
│ • Fetches from Payload REST API │
│ • No database management needed │
│ • Free hosting (Vercel/Netlify) │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────┘
│
↓ REST API
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Multi-Tenant Payload CMS │
│ (Cloudflare Workers) │
│ • Paid for by PurrKit │
│ • Custom content types (Cats) │
│ • User-friendly admin UI │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
Key Design Decisions:
- Multi-tenant CMS architecture - One Payload CMS instance serves all rescues, scaling to hundreds of organizations for $5/month currently.
- Static sites with ISR - Fast, free hosting with automatic content updates via Incremental Static Regeneration.
- API-driven content - Rescues can switch hosting providers anytime without losing data.
- Minimal setup - Simple form generates a complete, professional website that can be hosted for free on Vercel, Netlify or similar providers.
MVP Website Generator & CMS under active development!
What works now:
- ✅ Beautiful, responsive form to collect rescue information
- ✅ Logo upload with automatic color extraction
- ✅ Dark mode support
- ✅ Customizable colors and branding
- ✅ Professional template design (homepage, cats grid, donation CTAs)
In progress:
- 🔄 Backend API for ZIP generation
- 🔄 Payload CMS multi-tenant configuration
- 🔄 Cats collection schema (name, age, bio, photos, traits, status)
- 🔄 API integration (template ↔ CMS)
- 🔄 CMS API implementation in default template for automatic content updates
Coming soon:
- 📋 Deployment instructions (Vercel/Netlify)
- 📋 Video tutorial for rescues
- 📋 Beta testing with 2-3 rescues
- 📋 AI-generated content suggestions (OpenAI API)
Target: Working MVP by January 2025
Monorepo: Turborepo with pnpm workspaces
Frontend:
- Next.js 16 (App Router)
- React 18
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
- shadcn/ui components
Backend:
- Express.js + TypeScript
- Payload CMS (multi-tenant)
Deployment:
- Cloudflare Workers (CMS hosting)
- Vercel/Netlify (generated sites)
For development details, conventions, and experiments workflow, see CONTRIBUTING.md.
- Node.js 24
- pnpm (recommended) or npm
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/tamarazuk/purrkit.git
cd purrkit
# Install dependencies
pnpm install
# Start the generator
pnpm --filter generator dev
# Visit http://localhost:3050
# Start the template (in another terminal)
pnpm --filter template dev
# Visit http://localhost:3051purrkit/
├── apps/
│ ├── frontend/ # Portal frontend - currently just generator form (Next.js)
│ └── api/ # API server for portal - currently only handles website generation (Express)
│ └── (future: cms, marketing.js)
├── packages/
│ ├── ui/ # Shared UI components (future)
│ ├── eslint-config/
│ └── typescript-config/
└── ROADMAP.md # Detailed feature roadmap
Check out our detailed roadmap to see what's planned for PurrKit.
- Minimal generator
- Single template design
- Cats collection in CMS
- Manual deployment with instructions
- Testing with Purrfect Paths Rescue
- Multiple template options
- Foster management
- Adoption application forms
- AI-generated content suggestions
- Auto-deploy to Vercel
- Volunteer management
- Donation integrations
- Newsletter signups
- Analytics dashboard
- Custom domain support
Long-term vision: If PurrKit helps 100+ rescues launch websites, that's thousands of cats getting visibility and finding homes. This could scale beyond cats to other animal rescues and nonprofit organizations facing similar challenges.
I founded Purrfect Paths Rescue and quickly realized that most small, volunteer-run rescues face the same technical barriers: professional websites are expensive ($5k+), and existing website builders aren't designed for rescue-specific needs like managing adoptable cats, foster coordination, and adoption applications.
As a software engineer with 15+ years of experience, I wanted to use my skills to help underserved nonprofit organizations. PurrKit removes the technical barriers so rescues can focus on what matters: saving cats.
This project combines:
- My professional expertise (React, Next.js, TypeScript)
- My rescue experience (I know what rescues actually need)
- My values (technology should help communities, not create barriers)
We welcome contributions! PurrKit is being built to serve the rescue community, and input from rescues and developers alike is invaluable.
Ways to contribute:
- Use it and provide feedback
- Report bugs via GitHub Issues
- Suggest features that would help rescues
- Submit pull requests (check open issues first)
- Share with rescue organizations who might benefit
Current Status: Project is in early MVP development. External contributions will be welcomed once the core architecture is stable (Q1 2025).
See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines and development notes.
Portfolio: tamarazuk.dev
GitHub: @tamarazuk
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tamarazuk
Purrfect Paths Rescue: purrfectpathsrescue.com
Built with 💜 for the rescue community. Every cat deserves a chance, and every rescue deserves great tools.
Questions? Open an issue or start a discussion! Want to help? Check out the roadmap and dive in!