Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs

A self-hosted dead man's switch designed for independent web developers that emails a weekly check-in and escalates notifications if the check-in is missed. The workflow is strict and timestamped: an initial check-in action, reminders at 24 and 48 hours, a prompt to a designated next of kin at 72 hours asking "Is everything all right?", a further reminder at 120 hours, and full contact notifications at 144 hours with the prewritten messages. The user must press a button in the email-driven check-in (opening a link doesn't count), and the interface includes a dashboard showing the next check-in, the escalation timeline and listed contacts. If the next of kin confirms everything is fine the process stops; if they indicate a problem, contacts get the messages immediately. Anyone already contacted can later be informed it was a false alarm.

It was created by a one-person web studio operator to ensure clients and backup contacts learn where sites, domains and hosting live if that operator becomes unavailable. The code is free, MIT-licensed PHP (8.1+), requires no database, uses SMTP for mail, and needs an external scheduler (cron) and HTTPS; installer writes the crontab. It intentionally stores no secrets or documents, is email-only, not a hosted service or a guarantee, and is provided without warranty. The author requests feedback from early users.