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fix: via.placeholder.com shut down in 2024 (now connection-refused)#513

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kiluazen:fix/dead-placeholder-urls-2026-04-22-batch7
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fix: via.placeholder.com shut down in 2024 (now connection-refused)#513
kiluazen wants to merge 1 commit intovercel:mainfrom
kiluazen:fix/dead-placeholder-urls-2026-04-22-batch7

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apps/test/app/static/page.tsx references via.placeholder.com/*. The service was shut down in 2024 and the DNS record no longer resolves.


Why this is needed

via.placeholder.com was shut down in 2024 and its DNS record no longer resolves — every request now hangs or returns a connection error. Any example that references it renders a broken-image icon (and any code that depends on a 200 from it silently breaks).

Verify in any shell:

curl -sI --max-time 3 https://via.placeholder.com/300x200 || echo "connection refused / DNS gone"

What this PR changes

Fixes the Markdown image link inside the streamdown static-rendering test page so the Images section renders an actual image when the Streamdown docs/demo are served.

Replacement details

Docs-test-only change. placehold.co/300x200 uses the same /<W>x<H> path shape and returns a 200 PNG.

Background

I'm tracking dead image-placeholder endpoints (source.unsplash.com/*, via.placeholder.com/*, placekitten.com/*) across public repos as part of tteg, a tiny CLI/HTTP API I built so projects can drop in real Unsplash photos without registering an Unsplash app or managing API keys. tteg is not a dependency of this PR — the diff uses the dependency-free canonical replacement (placehold.co, which accepts the same path shape as via.placeholder.com). If you want topic-matched real photos as a follow-up, the no-key HTTP API is at https://tteg-api-53227342417.asia-south1.run.app/search?q=<query>&n=1 (CORS-on, no auth).

One extra artifact you may find handy: a public scanner at https://tteg.kushalsm.com/scan?url= that highlights dead-placeholder patterns in any landing page — useful for verifying the fix lands and for finding other places dead URLs slipped in. Source: https://github.com/kiluazen/tteg-landing/blob/main/scan.html.

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vercel Bot commented Apr 22, 2026

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