Self-Destructing Write.as Posts
This demo application automatically deletes a Write.as post after it's been viewed once.
It accomplishes this by polling a post you own, checking the number of views, and deleting it if Views > 0. Since the platform doesn't increment the view count for API calls, this works.
How to use this
Publish an anonymous post on Write.as, and share the full URL with the person who you'd like to read the message.
Now modify main.go to include your login credentials and the post's ID (it's the part between https://write.as/ and .md in the URL you just shared). Then start the application, and leave it running.
Security
This is for demonstration only; please don't use it to communicate sensitive information. This tool is easily circumvented if the person you shared the link with accesses your post with the .txt extension, as this does not increment the view count, and thus their view won't be registered. They could also request the post via the API or with a User-Agent header that mimics a bot (any listed here) to avoid the view count incrementing. These trivial workarounds mean that this tool makes no guarantees that your post is truly only viewed once.
Polling interval
The Write.as API doesn't rate-limit requests on most endpoints today, but may in the future. Please be mindful of the polling interval you choose if you use this tool over a long period of time, and keep it to at least 30 seconds.