Show HN: HumbleOp – A debate platform where every post ends in a one-on-one duel

Hi HN,

In my spare time I built HumbleOp, an experiment in structured online debate. I’m not a full-time developer — this is a side project I’ve been working on evenings and weekends.

How it works:

A user posts an idea or opinion.

Everyone else can comment once, no threads.

The community votes. Importantly, a vote doesn’t mean agreement — it means you want that commenter to face the author.

When the timer ends, the top comment duels the author, one message at a time, publicly.

Others can react with likes or red flags. Too many flags and the winner is swapped with the runner-up.

Duels end when both click handshake, or if both top challengers are flagged out.

Direct duels are also possible, skipping the voting phase.

I built this because I was frustrated with how debates online usually go: endless replies, chaos, and low-effort takes dominating thoughtful ones. The strict rules are intentional: I wanted to see if structure could make discussions clearer and fairer.

Stack: React + Tailwind (frontend), Flask (backend), Postgres (database), deployed on Fly.io.

It’s live here: www.humbleop.com

It’s still a work in progress, so bugs are possible. Feedback is welcome — on the concept, the UX, or the tech.

Thanks for reading.