When a small open-source tool suddenly blows up, the experience is nothing like people imagine

I recently went through something unexpected: a tiny open-source tool I built for myself suddenly reached thousands of users.
The reaction was equal parts exciting and overwhelming. Stars spiked, issues poured in, people asked for features I never planned, and I had to make fast decisions about scope, documentation, and user expectations.

What surprised me most wasn’t the technical side, but the psychological one.
There is a strange mix of pride, fear, responsibility, and pressure when your weekend project turns into something real. Managing feedback, drawing boundaries, and not letting the project spiral into something unmaintainable became part of the work.

I’m curious if others here have been through this.
How did you handle the sudden visibility?
How do you balance “this is a side project” with “people now rely on this”?
What do you wish you had known earlier?

(I’ll leave more context and details in the first comment to avoid breaking any self-promotion rules.)