profullstack · ralyodio · Sep 6, 2026 · Sep 6, 2026
diff --git a/apps/web/public/styles.css b/apps/web/public/styles.css
@@ -739,6 +739,13 @@ time.undated {
   flex-wrap: wrap;
   gap: 0.3rem;
   margin-top: 0.25rem;
+  /* A tag strip is a list whether it is written as one or not. Without these,
+     `<ul class="tags">` keeps the browser's discs and its 40px indent, while
+     the `<span>` spelling next to it does not — the same component rendering
+     two ways depending on the markup somebody reached for. */
+  list-style: none;
+  padding-left: 0;
+  margin-left: 0;
 }
 .tag {
   font-size: 0.78rem;

diff --git a/apps/web/src/lib/automotive.js b/apps/web/src/lib/automotive.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { config } from '@nichedb/config';
 import * as auto from '@nichedb/db/automotive';
 
 /**
@@ -541,47 +542,130 @@ export function maintenanceSchedule({
  * a catalogue it does not have. It builds the searches a person would type,
  * with the vehicle already in them, at the places that actually stock parts.
  */
-export function partsSearches({ year, make, model, part = '' }) {
+const q = (s) => encodeURIComponent(String(s).trim());
+
+/**
+ * The vendors, and which of them will pay for a referral.
+ *
+ * `program` is what was actually found when this was checked (2026-09-06), not
+ * what an affiliate-directory site claims: three of the six run a program and
+ * three do not, and saying so keeps anyone from hunting for a RockAuto link id
+ * that has never existed.
+ */
+export const PARTS_VENDORS = [
+  {
+    key: 'rockauto',
+    vendor: 'RockAuto',
+    kind: 'catalogue',
+    note: 'Cheapest for most wear parts; catalogue is by year/make/model.',
+    program: null,
+    url: ({ year, make, model }) =>
+      `https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/${q(make.toLowerCase())},${year},${q(model.toLowerCase())}`,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'ebay',
+    vendor: 'eBay Motors',
+    kind: 'marketplace',
+    note: 'New, used and OEM take-offs. Filter by "fits your vehicle".',
+    program: { network: 'eBay Partner Network', signup: 'https://partnernetwork.ebay.com/' },
+    url: ({ withPart }) => `https://www.ebay.com/sch/6028/i.html?_nkw=${q(withPart)}`,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'autozone',
+    vendor: 'AutoZone',
+    kind: 'retail',
+    note: 'Same-day pickup in the US.',
+    program: { network: 'CJ Affiliate', signup: 'https://www.cj.com/' },
+    url: ({ withPart }) => `https://www.autozone.com/searchresult?searchText=${q(withPart)}`,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'oreilly',
+    vendor: "O'Reilly Auto Parts",
+    kind: 'retail',
+    program: null,
+    url: ({ withPart }) => `https://www.oreillyauto.com/search?q=${q(withPart)}`,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'napa',
+    vendor: 'NAPA',
+    kind: 'retail',
+    program: {
+      network: 'Rakuten Advertising',
+      signup: 'https://www.napaonline.com/en/affiliate-program',
+    },
+    url: ({ withPart }) => `https://www.napaonline.com/en/search?text=${q(withPart)}`,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'carpart',
+    vendor: 'Car-Part.com',
+    kind: 'salvage',
+    note: 'Recycled and salvage-yard inventory: the only realistic source for body and interior parts on an older car.',
+    program: null,
+    url: () => 'https://www.car-part.com/',
+  },
+];
+
+/**
+ * Affiliate links, without a code change per network.
+ *
+ * Every one of these networks builds a tracking link the same way: their own
+ * URL with the real destination encoded inside it. So rather than teach this
+ * file the shape of CJ, Rakuten and EPN links — and get one of them subtly
+ * wrong — a deployment supplies the template its network gave it and this puts
+ * the destination in the hole:
+ *
+ *   AFFILIATE_LINKS="ebay=https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?mpre={url}&campid=5338XXXXXX,
+ *                    napa=https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=ID&mid=MID&murl={url}"
+ *
+ * A vendor with no template is linked to plainly, which is every vendor until
+ * somebody is actually approved.
+ */
+export function parseAffiliateTemplates(spec) {
+  const out = new Map();
+  for (const pair of String(spec ?? '').split(',')) {
+    const at = pair.indexOf('=');
+    if (at < 1) continue;
+    const key = pair.slice(0, at).trim().toLowerCase();
+    const template = pair.slice(at + 1).trim();
+    if (!key || !template.includes('{url}')) continue;
+    if (!/^https:\/\//i.test(template)) continue;
+    out.set(key, template);
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+export function applyAffiliate(key, url, templates) {
+  const template = templates?.get?.(key);
+  if (!template) return { url, sponsored: false };
+  return { url: template.replaceAll('{url}', encodeURIComponent(url)), sponsored: true };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Where to get the part.
+ *
+ * Fitment data — which part number fits which vehicle — is the Auto Care
+ * Association's ACES/PIES, and it is licensed per seat. So this does not claim
+ * a catalogue it does not have. It builds the searches a person would type,
+ * with the vehicle already in them, at the places that actually stock parts.
+ */
+export function partsSearches({ year, make, model, part = '', affiliates = null }) {
   if (!year || !make || !model) return [];
   const vehicle = `${year} ${make} ${model}`;
-  const q = (s) => encodeURIComponent(s.trim());
   const withPart = part ? `${vehicle} ${part}` : vehicle;
-  return [
-    {
-      vendor: 'RockAuto',
-      kind: 'catalogue',
-      note: 'Cheapest for most wear parts; catalogue is by year/make/model.',
-      url: `https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/${q(make.toLowerCase())},${year},${q(model.toLowerCase())}`,
-    },
-    {
-      vendor: 'eBay Motors',
-      kind: 'marketplace',
-      note: 'New, used and OEM take-offs. Filter by "fits your vehicle".',
-      url: `https://www.ebay.com/sch/6028/i.html?_nkw=${q(withPart)}`,
-    },
-    {
-      vendor: 'AutoZone',
-      kind: 'retail',
-      note: 'Same-day pickup in the US.',
-      url: `https://www.autozone.com/searchresult?searchText=${q(withPart)}`,
-    },
-    {
-      vendor: "O'Reilly Auto Parts",
-      kind: 'retail',
-      url: `https://www.oreillyauto.com/search?q=${q(withPart)}`,
-    },
-    {
-      vendor: 'NAPA',
-      kind: 'retail',
-      url: `https://www.napaonline.com/en/search?text=${q(withPart)}`,
-    },
-    {
-      vendor: 'Car-Part.com',
-      kind: 'salvage',
-      note: 'Recycled and salvage-yard inventory: the only realistic source for body and interior parts on an older car.',
-      url: `https://www.car-part.com/`,
-    },
-  ];
+  const templates = affiliates ?? parseAffiliateTemplates(config.automotive.affiliateLinks);
+  return PARTS_VENDORS.map((v) => {
+    const plain = v.url({ year, make, model, vehicle, withPart });
+    const { url, sponsored } = applyAffiliate(v.key, plain, templates);
+    return {
+      vendor: v.vendor,
+      kind: v.kind,
+      ...(v.note ? { note: v.note } : {}),
+      url,
+      // Said in the payload, not just in the markup: anything reading this
+      // through the API needs to know which links pay us.
+      sponsored,
+    };
+  });
 }
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------- mechanics -- */

diff --git a/apps/web/src/views/automotive.jsx b/apps/web/src/views/automotive.jsx
@@ -213,14 +213,31 @@ const Profile = ({ profile }) => {
         <h3>Parts</h3>
         <ul class="tags">
           {profile.parts.searches.map((p) => (
-            <li key={p.vendor} class="tag">
-              <a href={p.url} rel="noopener nofollow">
+            <li key={p.vendor}>
+              {/* The tag IS the link, as everywhere else on the site. A `.tag`
+                  wrapping a link instead gives a pill with link-coloured text
+                  inside it, which is a second look for the same component. */}
+              {/* `sponsored` is required by Google and by the FTC on a link
+                  that pays us, and it is only true once somebody has actually
+                  been approved for that vendor's programme. */}
+              <a
+                class="tag"
+                href={p.url}
+                rel={p.sponsored ? 'sponsored nofollow noopener' : 'nofollow noopener'}
+                title={p.note ?? p.kind}
+              >
                 {p.vendor}
               </a>
             </li>
           ))}
         </ul>
         <p class="small muted">{profile.parts.note}</p>
+        {profile.parts.searches.some((p) => p.sponsored) ? (
+          <p class="small muted">
+            Some of these links pay us a commission if you buy through them. It costs you nothing
+            and it does not change which vendors are listed or their order.
+          </p>
+        ) : null}
       </section>
 
       <section>

diff --git a/packages/config/src/index.js b/packages/config/src/index.js
@@ -189,6 +189,14 @@ export const config = {
     monthlyCents: num('AUTOMOTIVE_MONTHLY_CENTS', 3000),
     /** Straight-line miles a mechanics search may cover. */
     maxRadiusMiles: num('AUTOMOTIVE_MAX_RADIUS_MILES', 50),
+    /**
+     * Affiliate tracking links for the parts vendors, as
+     * `vendor=template,vendor=template`, where the template holds `{url}` and
+     * the destination is url-encoded into it. Every network builds links that
+     * way, so a new one needs no code — only the template it gave you. Empty
+     * by default: until somebody is approved, every parts link is a plain one.
+     */
+    affiliateLinks: opt('AFFILIATE_LINKS'),
   },
 
   /** CrawlProof ads on the free tier: the publisher slot pages and feeds fill from. */

diff --git a/test/automotive.test.js b/test/automotive.test.js
@@ -6,13 +6,15 @@ import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
 process.env.DATABASE_URL ??= 'postgres://test:test@localhost:5432/test';
 process.env.SITE_URL ??= 'https://nichedb.test';
 const {
+  applyAffiliate,
   checkDigit,
   checkDigitOk,
   closestModel,
   compactDecode,
   maintenanceSchedule,
   milesBetween,
   normaliseVin,
+  parseAffiliateTemplates,
   partsSearches,
   powertrainOf,
   vinModelYear,
@@ -126,6 +128,59 @@ describe('parts and places', () => {
     expect(searches.some((s) => s.vendor === 'RockAuto')).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  test('a plain link is the default: nothing is sponsored until it is', () => {
+    const searches = partsSearches({
+      year: 2014,
+      make: 'Honda',
+      model: 'Civic',
+      affiliates: new Map(),
+    });
+    expect(searches.every((s) => s.sponsored === false)).toBe(true);
+    expect(searches.find((s) => s.vendor === 'eBay Motors').url).toStartWith(
+      'https://www.ebay.com/',
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('a template wraps the destination and marks the link sponsored', () => {
+    const templates = parseAffiliateTemplates(
+      'ebay=https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?mpre={url}&campid=5338999999',
+    );
+    const searches = partsSearches({
+      year: 2014,
+      make: 'Honda',
+      model: 'Civic',
+      part: 'alternator',
+      affiliates: templates,
+    });
+    const ebay = searches.find((s) => s.vendor === 'eBay Motors');
+    expect(ebay.sponsored).toBe(true);
+    expect(ebay.url).toStartWith('https://rover.ebay.com/');
+    expect(ebay.url).toContain('campid=5338999999');
+    // The real destination survives, encoded, inside the tracking link.
+    expect(decodeURIComponent(ebay.url.split('mpre=')[1].split('&')[0])).toContain('alternator');
+    // A vendor with no template is untouched and unmarked.
+    expect(searches.find((s) => s.vendor === 'NAPA').sponsored).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('a template that could not track or could not be trusted is ignored', () => {
+    // No {url} hole: it would send every buyer to the same page.
+    expect(parseAffiliateTemplates('ebay=https://rover.ebay.com/no-hole').size).toBe(0);
+    // Not https.
+    expect(parseAffiliateTemplates('ebay=http://rover.ebay.com/?u={url}').size).toBe(0);
+    // Junk between the commas does not take the rest of the list down with it.
+    const ok = parseAffiliateTemplates('nonsense,napa=https://click.linksynergy.com/?murl={url}');
+    expect(ok.size).toBe(1);
+    expect(ok.has('napa')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('applyAffiliate leaves an unknown vendor alone', () => {
+    const t = parseAffiliateTemplates('ebay=https://rover.ebay.com/?mpre={url}');
+    expect(applyAffiliate('rockauto', 'https://www.rockauto.com/x', t)).toEqual({
+      url: 'https://www.rockauto.com/x',
+      sponsored: false,
+    });
+  });
+
   test('an incomplete vehicle gets no searches rather than broken ones', () => {
     expect(partsSearches({ year: 2014, make: 'Honda' })).toEqual([]);
   });