Open ten developer portfolios and you'll see the same thing: a grid of screenshots, a "Tech stack" row of logos, and demo links that return 404 or a Heroku "application error". A reviewer has about a minute per candidate. If the first link is dead, they don't click the second.

The fix isn't a prettier template. It's proof. Below are five things that make a portfolio believable, each with a quick way to check it yourself.

1. Every project links to something that runs

A screenshot shows that you once had a UI. A live link shows the thing still works. Before you share your portfolio, check every demo link from a terminal:

for url in https://app-one.example https://app-two.example; do printf "%s -> " "$url"; curl -s -o /dev/null -L -w "%{http_code}\n" "$url" done

Anything that isn't 200 (or a redirect that ends in 200) either gets fixed or comes off the list. One dead link costs more trust than one missing project.

2. Prove the project is actually yours

"I built this" is easy to type. Domain ownership is harder to fake. The same trick Google Search Console uses works for portfolios: put a token in a DNS TXT record (or a <meta> tag) on the project's domain, and have something check it.

dig +short TXT yourapp.com # "your-verification-token=..."

If you control the DNS or the HTML of the live site, that's a strong signal you're the one who shipped it.

3. Show it running, not just standing still

Reviewers don't sign up for your app. Give them a 30–60 second screen recording (YouTube unlisted is fine) plus 3–5 screenshots of the screens that matter. Put the video first. Order the screenshots like a user journey: landing → core action → result.

4. Say what you built it with, honestly

In 2026 a lot of side projects are built with AI tools like Cursor, Claude Code, Codex or Lovable. Hiding that doesn't help; reviewers can tell. Saying "built with Claude Code, I designed the data model and wrote the billing logic myself" tells them exactly what you're good at, and it makes your project findable by people browsing "apps built with X".

5. Put it all behind one link

Experience, skills and shipped products should live at one URL you can paste anywhere: resume, GitHub bio, job applications. Write the summary as 3–5 sentences (who you are, what you're strong at, what you're looking for), list experience as results with numbers, and name skills the way job posts do (React, Node.js, AWS) so keyword filters match.

A checklist you can copy

  • [ ] Every demo link returns 200 today
  • [ ] Ownership proven for at least your main project (DNS TXT or meta tag)
  • [ ] One short demo video per project, video first
  • [ ] Tools used are listed, including AI tools
  • [ ] One URL holds summary, experience, skills and projects

Where I'm going with this

I got tired of doing these checks by hand, so I built Shipwall, a free developer portfolio where each project has to be live to be posted. It checks the link automatically, verifies ownership through a DNS TXT record or a meta tag, shows a YouTube demo plus up to 5 screenshots, and tags each app with the AI tool it was built with (apps built with Cursor, Claude Code…). Your profile lives at shipwall.dev/@you.

Even if you never use it, run the checklist above on your current portfolio. What's the first thing you check when you open someone's portfolio?