This post is part of a series, featuring the incredible work of plugin authors who grow the TRMNL plugin ecosystem with every contribution. The TRMNL team has individually selected these plugins and authors to be featured.

Asteroids

Community member Michael Geilich created the Asteroids plugin; here are their words on how it was created.

Why did you want this plugin to exist?

One day this summer I was sitting in my living room when a large bang shook the house. I thought a large tree had fallen in the yard. Then neighbors started texting and reports of others experiencing similar 50 miles away started coming in. Turns out an asteroid had vaporized over Cape Cod. I thought we needed a better heads up as to what was coming - not that there's anything we can do about it.

Why were you the person to make it?

I think someone else would have made this plugin if I hadn't. I just got there first.

How did you balance look vs functionality?

Look was more important. I didn't want the content to look cluttered. I also started with a "radar" view that used polar coordinates to show time/distance instead of an XY graph but it was confusing to others when I showed it to them.

What was your process for creating the plugin?

I vibe-coded this plugin with Gemini Flash using the AntiGravity IDE.

What, if any, challenges did you face while creating it?

Most of my trouble is with markup. Gemini Flash is getting better with the TRMNL framework as it learns but I have had to be patient.

Did you learn anything that you want to apply to future or past recipes?

Yes! I had not previously seen the markup controls for landscape/portrait and OG/X. Now I can check all the markup rendering easier. Also, when creating a plugin to serve up 3rd party data, Gemini has developed a common pattern for my plugins. GitHub repository and a Firebase service to render graphics.

Why are you interested in creating plugins?

My kid gave me an OG as a present, knowing that this was an open development platform and that I liked to play with things. I had been teaching vibe-coding to a friend and took a project I had built as a web server - planetfinder - and rewrote it as a plugin just to see what it would take. Then I started to think of other content I wanted to see...