TokenGuard - OAuth Token Expiry Killer for SMB DevOps

Every SMB DevOps team has that one Slack message at 2am: the OAuth token expired again and the Zapier zap is dead. TokenGuard silently refreshes tokens across 5+ integrations so your automations never die.

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Difficulty

intermediate

What is it?

OAuth token expiry is a silent killer for non-technical teams running Zapier and Make automations. When a Google, Salesforce, or HubSpot token expires, workflows silently fail for hours before anyone notices. TokenGuard is a $29/mo SaaS that sits between your integration layer and your OAuth providers, auto-refreshing tokens before they expire and alerting your team via Slack when something needs a human re-auth. Built on Next.js with Supabase storing encrypted token metadata, it targets SMB ops managers and freelance automation builders who run 5-20 integrations and cannot afford silent failures.

Why now?

Zapier crossed 3 million active users in April 2026 and the Make community is exploding — non-technical automation builders are hitting OAuth expiry walls at massive scale with zero tooling support.

▸Encrypted token storage with Supabase Vault and per-user RLS isolation.
▸Cron-based pre-expiry refresh via Upstash, running 30 minutes before token death.
▸Slack and email alerts when a token needs human re-auth after failed refresh.
▸Dashboard showing all connected integrations with expiry countdowns and refresh history.

Target Audience

SMB DevOps teams and freelance automation builders, ~180k active Zapier/Make power users globally.

Example Use Case

Maria runs 12 Make automations for a marketing agency. A Google Ads token expired silently last month and cost her a client. TokenGuard caught the pre-expiry window, refreshed it at 3am, and sent her a Slack ping. Client never noticed.

User Stories

▸As a freelance automation builder, I want my client integrations to auto-refresh overnight, so that I stop getting emergency calls about broken Zaps. As an SMB ops manager, I want a Slack alert before a token expires, so that I can re-auth before any workflow fails. As an agency owner, I want a dashboard showing all client token statuses, so that I can monitor 20 accounts without logging into each one.

Done When

✓Token refresh: done when user sees a green last-refreshed timestamp update on the dashboard without clicking anything
✓Alert: done when user receives a Slack message naming the exact integration that needs re-auth
✓Dashboard: done when all connected integrations show expiry countdown and last-refresh time on load
✓Payment: done when Stripe checkout processes and user immediately sees their integration limit increased from 2 to 10.

Is it worth building?

$29/month x 50 customers = $1,450 MRR at month 3. $29/month x 200 customers = $5,800 MRR at month 8. Math assumes 5% cold email conversion from Zapier community.

Unit Economics

CAC: $15 via Zapier community cold DM. LTV: $348 (12 months at $29/month). Payback: 1 month. Gross margin: 82%.

Business Model

SaaS subscription

Monetization Path

Free tier: 2 integrations. Paid: $29/month for 10 integrations. Agency tier: $99/month unlimited.

Revenue Timeline

First dollar: week 3 via beta upgrade. $1k MRR: month 3. $5k MRR: month 9.

Estimated Monthly Cost

Supabase: $25, Upstash: $10, Vercel: $20, Resend: $10, Stripe fees: $15. Total: ~$80/month at launch.

Profit Potential

Full-time viable at $5k-$10k MRR with agency upsell.

Scalability

High — add more OAuth providers, team dashboards, and white-label reselling for agencies.

Success Metrics

Week 1: 50 signups from Zapier community post. Week 3: 15 paid conversions. Month 3: 85% retention.

Launch & Validation Plan

Post in Zapier Community forum asking about token expiry pain, DM 30 Make power users on Facebook group, get 5 beta users before writing a line of code.

Customer Acquisition Strategy

First customer: post a specific horror story thread in r/zapier and r/nocode about silent token failures, link to a free beta. Ongoing: Zapier community, Make forum, cold DMs to automation freelancers on Upwork offering 3 months free.

What's the competition?

Competition Level

Low

What's the roadmap?

Feature Roadmap

V1 (launch): Google and HubSpot OAuth, auto-refresh cron, Slack alerts, dashboard. V2 (month 2-3): Salesforce and Notion support, team accounts, refresh history export. V3 (month 4+): white-label reselling for agencies, webhook replay on refresh.

Milestone Plan

Phase 1 (Week 1-2): OAuth callback, token storage, cron refresh live and tested. Phase 2 (Week 3-4): Slack alerts, dashboard UI, Stripe billing live. Phase 3 (Month 2): 20 paying customers and HubSpot provider added.

How do you build it?

Tech Stack

Next.js, Supabase, Upstash Redis, Resend, Stripe — build backend with Cursor, UI components with v0.

Suggested Frameworks

Next.js App Router, Supabase Auth, Upstash Redis

Time to Ship

2 weeks

Required Skills

OAuth 2.0 flows, Next.js API routes, Supabase RLS, encrypted secrets storage.

Resources

OAuth 2.0 RFC docs, Zapier developer docs, Supabase Vault for secrets, Upstash cron docs.

MVP Scope

app/page.tsx (landing + hero), app/dashboard/page.tsx (integration list), app/api/token/refresh/route.ts (refresh handler), app/api/auth/callback/route.ts (OAuth callback), lib/db/schema.ts (Drizzle schema), lib/vault.ts (Supabase Vault wrapper), lib/cron.ts (Upstash cron setup), components/IntegrationCard.tsx (per-integration status card), .env.example (required env vars), seed.ts (demo integrations).

Core User Journey

Sign up -> connect first OAuth integration -> see expiry countdown on dashboard -> receive auto-refresh Slack ping -> upgrade to paid.

Architecture Pattern

User connects integration -> OAuth callback -> token encrypted in Supabase Vault -> Upstash cron fires 30 min pre-expiry -> refresh API called -> success logged or Slack alert fired.

Data Model

User has many Integrations. Integration has one TokenRecord. TokenRecord has many RefreshEvents. RefreshEvent has status and timestamp.

Integration Points

Supabase Vault for encrypted token storage, Upstash for cron scheduling, Resend for email alerts, Slack API for Slack alerts, Stripe for payments.

V1 Scope Boundaries

V1 excludes: team accounts, custom OAuth providers, mobile app, webhook replay, SLA guarantees.

Success Definition

A paying stranger connects their first integration, token auto-refreshes overnight without any founder intervention, and they renew month two.

Challenges

Distribution is the real wall — OAuth pain is invisible until it bites, so cold outreach to Zapier community forums and Make Facebook groups is the only repeatable channel early on.

Avoid These Pitfalls

Do not try to support 20 OAuth providers at launch — ship Google and HubSpot only. Do not store raw tokens in plain Postgres columns. Finding first 10 paying customers takes 3x longer than building — budget accordingly.

Security Requirements

Supabase Auth with Google OAuth. Supabase Vault for token encryption at rest. RLS on all user tables. Rate limiting 50 req/min per IP. GDPR deletion endpoint required.

Infrastructure Plan

Vercel for Next.js frontend and API routes. Supabase for Postgres and Vault. Upstash for cron. Sentry for errors. GitHub Actions for CI. Total infra: ~$80/month.

Performance Targets

100 DAU at launch, 2k req/day. Cron refresh under 2s per token. Dashboard load under 1.5s. No Redis needed at v1 scale.

Go-Live Checklist

☐RLS policies tested on all tables
☐Stripe checkout tested end-to-end
☐Sentry error tracking live
☐Vercel analytics configured
☐Custom domain with SSL live
☐Privacy policy and terms published
☐5 beta users confirmed working
☐Rollback plan: revert Vercel deployment
☐Launch post drafted for r/zapier and ProductHunt.

First Run Experience

On first run: a demo Google integration is pre-seeded showing an expiry countdown and a mock refresh event. User can immediately click Connect Google to start a real OAuth flow. No manual config required: demo data loads without any env var beyond Supabase URL.

How to build it, step by step

1. Define Drizzle schema for integrations, token records, and refresh events in lib/db/schema.ts. 2. Run npx create-next-app with App Router and Tailwind. 3. Set up Supabase project with Vault enabled and RLS on all tables. 4. Build OAuth callback route for Google and HubSpot in app/api/auth/callback/route.ts. 5. Build token encryption wrapper in lib/vault.ts using Supabase Vault. 6. Set up Upstash cron job in lib/cron.ts to check expiry every 15 minutes. 7. Build refresh handler in app/api/token/refresh/route.ts with retry logic. 8. Build Slack alert webhook call in lib/alerts.ts triggered on refresh failure. 9. Build dashboard page in app/dashboard/page.tsx with IntegrationCard components showing expiry countdowns. 10. Verify: connect a real Google OAuth token, wait for cron to fire, confirm refresh log appears in dashboard without manual intervention.

Generated

April 19, 2026

Model

claude-sonnet-4-6

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