basic x*
post like it's 2010 again.
strip x down to your profile and the people you follow. no metrics, no likes, no algorithm. just words and the people who matter - so you can connect, not compare.
why
i love x. it unlocked so much of my life. i built in public on it, made real friends through it, got my first paying customers from it. for a long time it was the best room on the internet.
but lately i'd open x to post one thing and look up three hours later - the latest ai news, another seed round announcement, a take from someone i don't follow about a topic i didn't ask about. stuff on my timeline i didn't ask to see and didn't want to see.
and it takes a toll. the comparisons. the volume. the clickbait. the quiet pressure to perform every time i open the app. all i actually want is to post what i'm building and read what the people i follow are up to. no metrics. no leaderboard.
so i built basic x. it strips x down to your profile and the people you follow. it hides the likes, the view counts, the for-you feed, the trends. it's the same x - just quieter, smaller, and a little more like 2010.
better mental health. fewer comparisons. more time for the people who matter.
what it does
strips away
- for-you feed & topic tabs
- reposts & promoted posts
- reply / like / view counts
- other people's algorithmic timelines
- follower / following numbers
- trends & "who to follow"
- explore, grok, premium upsell
- floating grok button
keeps
- your chronological following feed
- posts & replies you receive
- your own profile, untouched
- profile headers + pinned posts
- bookmarks (optional, in nav)
- search if you really need it
- dms, lists, settings
- x's own theming & layout
how it works expand collapse
basic x is a chrome extension (manifest v3). it runs at document_start and toggles classes on <html> based on your settings - most of the hiding is plain css.
for stripped profiles it goes one step further: a service worker uses declarativeNetRequest to block timeline fetches at the network layer, so x can't paginate in the background and burn through your rate limit on a profile you can't even see.
your settings live in chrome.storage.sync. nothing leaves your browser.
install expand collapse
- clone the repo or download the zip.
- open
chrome://extensionsin chrome / brave / arc / edge. - flip developer mode on, top-right.
- click load unpacked and pick the folder.
- pin the icon, open it, toggle whatever you want.
or just wait - basic x is coming to the chrome web store soon. one click, no developer-mode dance.
a note
post like it's 2010 again.
before the dashboards. before the view counts. before every reply turned into a leaderboard. back when you wrote a thing because you wanted to write a thing, hit post, and got on with your day.
basic x won't fix the timeline. it just hides the parts that turn posting into a performance - the like counts, the view numbers, the "for you" feed of strangers. write the post. don't refresh it. go build something.
gain back a little of your sanity. stop optimizing. share the work. hit post, close the tab, don't look back.
- gabriel