Can AI replace Circle?

Build me a small private community site to replace Circle. Requirements:

- Scope honestly: this is for a group of a few dozen people. If it needs
  payments or hundreds of members, self-host Discourse instead, and say so
  in the README.
- Node + Express + better-sqlite3, server-rendered EJS plus htmx, no build
  step.
- Spaces I create, threads with Markdown posts and replies (marked),
  newest-activity-first listing.
- Magic-link auth: a member enters an email that must already be on my
  invite list and receives a login link via Resend (key in .env). No
  passwords, no self-signup.
- Email notifications: reply-to-your-thread immediately, plus a daily digest
  of new threads, with per-member mute toggles.
- Member profiles: name, avatar (resized with sharp), joined date, post
  count.
- Moderation for me only: delete post, remove member.
- Deploys on a $5 VPS behind Caddy; one SQLite file with a nightly dump.
- Out of scope: payments and memberships, courses, live events, and mobile
  apps. Member operations at scale are the Circle product.
- README: deploy steps and Resend setup.