HR · checked 2026-10-19Can I vibecode Saply?
KINDA· weekend project
The headline feature takes a CV in any layout, pulls out the facts and pours them into the agency's client template, translated or anonymised on request. A parser, an LLM and a Word template engine do that for one template in a sitting. The weekend goes on layout fidelity for messy PDFs, a Word and Outlook add-in, the ATS connections to Bullhorn, Carerix, Spott and Loxo, and the request-matching of Deal Intelligence. Sending candidate CVs to a model API also makes you the one who answers under GDPR for where that data goes, which is the part Saply sells with its EU hosting and ISO 27001 claim.
$200/moprice
$2,400you'd save a year
weekendbuild time
—people replaced it
What you need on hand.
DifficultyIntermediate · Some system setup or keys.
TimeA weekend; getting the .docx layouts to match a client's format takes the most rounds
- Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
- Node.js 22better-sqlite3 compiles a native module, so build tools must be installed.
- An LLM endpointCVs are personal data: use a provider your clients accept, or run a local model through Ollama.
- Your client templatesWord files with the layout you want; the agent turns them into placeholders.
- Sample CVsAnonymised if you can; a mix of PDF and Word, some of them scanned.
Before you buildSaply's 7-day trial needs no card, so try it on your real CVs first, and cancel before day 7 unless the contract says otherwise.
- 1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
- 2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
- 3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.
The prompt
Build me a local CV formatter to replace Saply's CV Intelligence for one recruiter. Requirements: - Node.js 22 + TypeScript: a Fastify server with a small vanilla-JS page, and a CLI `cvfmt <file> --template <name>`. `npm start` serves http://localhost:4600. - Input: PDF (`unpdf`, falling back to `tesseract.js` OCR for pages without text), .docx (`mammoth`) or pasted text. Originals are copied to ./data/inbox/ and never modified. - Extraction: send the text to an OpenAI-compatible endpoint (LLM_BASE_URL, LLM_API_KEY, LLM_MODEL in .env; Ollama works) and require JSON that matches a `zod` schema: contact, summary, experience (employer, title, start, end, bullets), education, skills, languages. Retry once on invalid output. A field the model can't find stays null: it must never invent a date, employer or degree. - Templates: each client format is a .docx in ./templates/ with placeholders and loops, filled with `docxtemplater` and `pizzip`. Ship two examples (a plain one-page layout and a Europass-style one); adding a client means adding a file. - Options per run: translate to a target language, anonymise (drop name, contact details and photo; employers become Company A, B and so on), and an optional job description that reorders and trims bullets to fit it without adding claims. - Review screen: extracted fields on the left, a rendered preview on the right (`docx-preview`); edits update the JSON before download. - Storage: better-sqlite3 in ./data/cv.db, one row per run (file hash, template, options, JSON, timestamp) so repeating a run is instant. - Single user. No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. Outbound calls: the LLM endpoint only; the README must say that CV text is personal data and how to point the tool at a local model. - Out of scope: Word or Outlook add-ins, ATS connectors, request matching, bulk processing. - README: setup, how to build a template, and checks: five sample CVs formatted, no field invented, no placeholder left empty.
Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.
Then keep going
Next prompts, same folder.
The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Saply.
Add candidate search to the CV formatter in this folder. Requirements: - Index the extracted JSON of every processed CV in SQLite FTS5: skills, titles, employers, languages and the full text. - Paste a job description and get candidates ranked by BM25 on its key terms, each with the matching skills and years of experience shown. - Filters for language, country and availability notes; never show anonymised fields. - A delete button per candidate that removes the row, the index entry and the stored files. - Update the README with a GDPR retention note.
Add request replies to the CV formatter in this folder. Requirements: - Paste an email or a .eml file (`mailparser`); the LLM extracts role, location, rate, start date and must-have skills into a form I can edit. - Run the candidate search for that request and list the top 5 with the reasons they match. - Draft a short reply that proposes those candidates, to copy into my mail client; never send. - Mark any must-have no candidate meets, and keep every draft on a page I can re-open. - Update the README.
Add folder processing to the CV formatter in this folder. Requirements: - A command `cvfmt batch <folder> --template <name>` that formats every PDF and .docx in it, with at most 3 running at once. - Write outputs to ./out/<date>/ and a summary.csv with file, status, empty fields and run time. - Flag a CV when extraction left more than 3 fields empty or the text layer was missing. - Skip files already processed, using the stored file hash. - Update the README.
What you lose
- The Word, Google Docs, Outlook and Gmail add-ins where recruiters already work
- Connections to Bullhorn, Carerix, Spott, Loxo, SharePoint and Workday
- Deal Intelligence: reading incoming requests, matching them to your pool and drafting proposals
- EU hosting and an ISO 27001 certificate, which Saply cites for client security reviews
- Client templates set up for you, with ready ones such as Europass
Why people still pay
Staffing firms are paid for speed and polish: a CV in the client's format, in the right language and without personal details, out the same day. Doing it by hand is slow, and recruiters already live in Outlook and Word, so a tool inside those apps with a candidate-data contract behind it is easier to approve than an in-house script.
Saply or your own copy?
Over
Your usage
12h ×$/h
Saply, 1 yr$2,400
Your own copy, 1 yr$68running + build session
You keep$2,333pays for itself in the first month
Estimate · Our estimate: a hosted model costs a few cents per CV, so 100 CVs a month is a few dollars, and a local model through Ollama costs nothing. The build is token usage on your agent plan.
Take your data, then cancel.
1 · Take your data out of Saply
- 1The terms promise that Saply deletes or returns your customer data within 30 days of the contract ending, but describe no export tool or format: ask your contact how the return works.
- 2Formatted CVs are Word documents, so save the ones you need from the editor or the web app before the term ends; data sent only for processing is deleted within 7 days.
- 3Your client templates start as your own Word files: keep the originals, as the terms promise only the return or deletion of data you submitted.
2 · Cancel Saply
- 1The contract is annual, paid up front, and renews for one-year terms on its own.
- 2To stop a renewal, give notice three months before the end of the current term; the terms don't say where to send it, so check your licensing schedule.
- 3Payments are non-cancellable and non-refundable, and the terms put the length of the first term in the licensing schedule.
- Put the notice deadline (three months before the term ends) in a calendar the day you sign.
- Encrypted backups are purged within 90 days after deletion.
- The terms say a free trial turns into a paid licence unless cancelled before it ends, and the pricing page says no card is taken: cancel before day 7 and keep the email.
- The terms' wording on the first term is garbled (two (1) year): get the actual term length in writing.
The escape hatch
Don't feel like building it? These are already free.
OpenCATSOpen sourceCPAL-licensed applicant tracking system and recruitment CRM for staffing agencies: job orders, candidate pool and pipelines; no AI and no CV reformatting.★ 759 · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗Resume MatcherOpen sourceApache-2.0 builder that tailors a resume to each job description with a local or remote LLM; made for job seekers, so no client templates.★ 29k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗Reactive ResumeOpen sourceMIT resume builder with templates and PDF export that you can self-host; you enter the data yourself, so it doesn't parse incoming CVs.★ 45k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗
WebVisit ↗Resume MatcherOpen sourceApache-2.0 builder that tailors a resume to each job description with a local or remote LLM; made for job seekers, so no client templates.★ 29k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗Reactive ResumeOpen sourceMIT resume builder with templates and PDF export that you can self-host; you enter the data yourself, so it doesn't parse incoming CVs.★ 45k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗
The numbers
Saply pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| CV Intelligence | — | $200 | A block of CV credits (one credit per CV; size not published): formatting into your templates, tailoring to a job description, anonymising, translation, in Word, Google Docs, Outlook, Gmail and the web app. |
| Deal Intelligence | custom | — | Everything in CV Intelligence plus reading, tagging and matching incoming requests against your candidate pool, drafts to candidates and partners, proposals with the CV attached, deadlines and tracking; Small team and Business tiers. |
| Enterprise | — | $1,250 | Insights reporting with PDF export, CRM integration, connections to Bullhorn, Carerix, Spott, Loxo, SharePoint and Workday, API access, bulk processing, an SLA and a custom DPA. |
- Billing
- Annual contract paid up front: 200 euros a month means about 2,400 euros a year (our arithmetic) plus VAT, with credits per CV. The terms say payments are non-cancellable and non-refundable, the contract renews for one-year terms, and either side must give three months' notice before a term ends to stop the renewal. They also say a free trial becomes a paid licence unless you cancel before it ends, while the pricing page says nothing is charged and no card is needed: get the trial terms in writing.
- Hidden costs
- Each tier includes a block of credits and going over moves you up a tier; block sizes and per-credit prices aren't published. Deal Intelligence adds a one-off implementation fee for connecting your pool and mapping templates. Add-ons: a vacancy widget at 1,200 euros a year per website and a weekly market scan at 500 euros a month per sector.
- Source
- saply.ai
Also on the list
Related apps
A 7-day free trial of CV Intelligence with no credit card; the pricing page says nothing is charged when it ends (the contract wording differs, see billing terms).
Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: The Word, Google Docs, Outlook and Gmail add-ins where recruiters already work, Connections to Bullhorn, Carerix, Spott, Loxo, SharePoint and Workday.
About $200 a month on the CV Intelligence (from, in euros) plan, $2,400 a year (checked 2026-10-19).
The Word, Google Docs, Outlook and Gmail add-ins where recruiters already work; Connections to Bullhorn, Carerix, Spott, Loxo, SharePoint and Workday; Deal Intelligence: reading incoming requests, matching them to your pool and drafting proposals; EU hosting and an ISO 27001 certificate, which Saply cites for client security reviews; Client templates set up for you, with ready ones such as Europass. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.
Yes: OpenCATS (open source), Resume Matcher (open source), Reactive Resume (open source).