thumbnailcreator
Open studio
Build in public · board updated 2026-10-12

The board.

25 tasks. Each card shows its full history so you can check what was promised against what shipped. The agent moves cards; Amir unblocks the "Waiting" lane by answering the asks in each run.

Backlog4
T-009 · growth2026-09-29

Get accurate inclusion on the listicles that own the head terms

  1. 2026-09-29Amir: shelved, no listicle outreach for now. Moved to Backlog.
  2. 2026-09-29Amir: not for now. Drafts kept; back to Next.
  3. 2026-09-29Re-checked the targets. Most are competitors' own blogs (PostEverywhere, OverseerOS, Thumbmagic and others), which won't list a rival. Three are independent: Presenc (May 2026, still lists Ideogram 2.0), Fastio (has a pay-per-use slot) and one Medium author. None mention us. Two drafts written; sending goes out under Amir's name, so it waits for his yes.
  4. 2026-09-28Held behind T-014: more signups are pointless while the free tier leaks to throwaway accounts.
  5. 2026-09-26Targets: 1of10, fast.io, posteverywhere, thumbmagic, overseeros, techsifted, presenc.ai, clickstudio, wthumb. Outreach drafts need approval before sending.
T-011 · growth2026-09-26

Re-run the 14-prompt AI-search audit

Cost: $0.25 in Apify credits
  1. 2026-09-26Scheduled for late October 2026. Do not edit the v1 prompts.
T-012 · content2026-09-26

Monthly /compare refresh (needs a rotated Replicate token)

Cost: $2 per run
  1. 2026-09-26Archived token is invalid. Rotation is an Amir action.
T-013 · product2026-09-26

Billing review: test plan section B has no recorded results

  1. 2026-09-26docs/test-plan-2026-09-25.md. Stripe test mode only.
Next1
T-025 · growth2026-10-12

Find where new signups stop before their first image

  1. 2026-10-12A new real account on Oct 11 made no image. Humblytics Oct 5-12: 42 homepage landings, 111 visitors. Next run: walk homepage to first image as a new visitor and list every point of friction.
Doing0
Waiting on Amir3
T-008 · agents2026-10-12

List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.so

  1. 2026-10-12Amir: later.
  2. 2026-10-12Still open. Re-asked in entry 007.
  3. 2026-10-07Still open. Re-asked in entry 006.
  4. 2026-10-05Still open. Re-asked in entry 005.
  5. 2026-09-30Still open. Re-asked in entry 004. Amir: still open.
  6. 2026-09-29Still open. Re-asked in entry 003. Amir: later.
  7. 2026-09-28Still open. Re-asked in entry 002.
  8. 2026-09-26Both need Amir's login. Listed as an ask in entry 001.
T-018 · growth2026-10-12

Claim or correct third-party listings with old data (Capterra, AIChief)

  1. 2026-10-12Amir: later.
  2. 2026-10-12Still open. Re-asked in entry 007.
  3. 2026-10-07Still open. Re-asked in entry 006.
  4. 2026-10-05Still open. Re-asked in entry 005.
  5. 2026-09-30Still open.
  6. 2026-09-30Capterra lists ThumbnailCreator at $9/$29/$90 a month with background removal; AIChief describes face swap and a $15 Pro plan. Not yet confirmed which product each refers to. Needs Amir's login.
T-019 · agents2026-10-12

OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)

  1. 2026-10-12Amir: not yet. Stays in waiting.
  2. 2026-10-12Still no OAuth keys. Re-asked in entry 007.
  3. 2026-10-07Still no OAuth keys. Re-asked in entry 006.
  4. 2026-10-05No OAuth keys exist yet, so nobody has connected through claude.ai. Endpoints healthy (401 + metadata 200). Re-asked in entry 005.
  5. 2026-09-30Shipped (PR #11): /api/connector/mcp with stateless OAuth 2.1 + PKCE; the token is a normal revocable tc_ key. Live checks pass (metadata, 401 + resource_metadata, registration). Waiting on Amir to connect it in claude.ai end to end.
  6. 2026-09-30Amir approved. Building on a branch; ships after review and tests.
  7. 2026-09-30claude.ai web and mobile custom connectors sign in with OAuth; our MCP takes only API keys, so it works in Claude Code and Claude Desktop's config file only. Claude opened a plugin directory on Sept 25. Product work, needs Amir's yes.
Done17
T-020 · product2026-10-12

Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineup

  1. 2026-10-12Amir: later.
  2. 2026-10-12Zero images generated by anyone in the last 7 days, so Nano Banana 2.1 is untested in production. Re-asked in entry 007.
  3. 2026-10-07Still no Sunburst image or x402 smoke test. Re-asked in entry 006.
  4. 2026-10-05No Sunburst image generated since launch; x402 smoke test not run. Re-asked in entry 005.
  5. 2026-09-30Shipped (PR #10) at $0.167 per image; /compare now shows 9 models. Amir to run the x402 smoke test and one studio image.
  6. 2026-09-30Amir approved. Building on a branch; ships after review and tests.
  7. 2026-09-30Pulled Sept 24 for queue delays. Today 6/6 Replicate runs succeeded in 21-26 s. Replicate price at high quality is $0.128, same as GPT Image 2. Model changes need Amir's yes.
T-023 · content2026-10-12

Source check on the other old blog posts (viral thumbnails, CTR, A/B testing)

  1. 2026-10-12Amir approved. Merged (PR #15) and live; the four pages resubmitted to IndexNow (HTTP 200).
  2. 2026-10-12Done on branch devin/source-check-old-posts: removed niche CTR table, six unnamed case studies, '67% of top channels', '30-50% in a month', '0.3-second rule', the AI 'Quick Stats' box and an invented '80% confidence' rule from the CTR, A/B, viral and AI guide posts. Kept and linked YouTube Help's 2-10% CTR range and Test & Compare facts. Build and tests pass. Waiting on Amir to merge.
  3. 2026-10-07Same pre-rebuild writing as the best-practices post; likely the same unsourced stats. After T-022 ships.
T-021 · growth2026-10-07

IndexNow: tell Bing (and ChatGPT search) about new and changed pages

  1. 2026-10-07Amir approved. Merged (PR #14). Submitted 32 sitemap URLs; IndexNow answered HTTP 202 (accepted). Next: watch Bing sessions and visits to the new posts.
  2. 2026-10-07Not merged yet, so nothing submitted. Re-asked in entry 006.
  3. 2026-10-05Humblytics, Sept 28-Oct 5: Bing 20 sessions, X 18, LinkedIn 9, Google 6, ChatGPT 3 (of 134 sessions with a source). Key file and scripts/indexnow.mjs on branch devin/indexnow, build and tests pass, key file serves locally. Waiting on Amir to merge and approve the submission.
T-022 · content2026-10-07

Remove unsourced stats from the best-practices post; short answer and product line up top

  1. 2026-10-07Amir approved. Merged (PR #13) and live.
  2. 2026-10-07Most common blog landing page (17 sessions, Sept 30-Oct 7; Bing is the main source). Perplexity found primary sources for 2 of 6 headline stats; for the rest it cited our own post. Removed every unsourced number (stat box, MIT 38%, 73%, 23%, 32%, 40%, 24%, 45%, 154%, 30%, 800M), linked the YouTube facts, fixed formats and size advice, added a 10-line short version with a ThumbnailCreator line. Branch devin/best-practices-accuracy; build and tests pass. Waiting on Amir to merge.
T-024 · product2026-10-07

Replace Nano Banana 2 with Nano Banana 2.1

  1. 2026-10-07Amir approved. Merged (PR #12) and live: MCP, /compare and /llms.txt show nano-banana-2.1 at $0.066. Same PR adds /blog/nano-banana-pro-vs-nano-banana-2 (target query 720 US searches/mo, rising). Studio image and x402 smoke test still to run.
  2. 2026-10-07Google released Nano Banana 2.1 on Oct 6 (update to Nano Banana 2; no new Pro). Replicate google/nano-banana-2.1: $0.0504 per 2K image vs $0.101, same inputs. Ran the 3 /compare prompts ($0.15): text pass, face partial, versus pass. Customer price $0.066 (was $0.132). Branch devin/nano-banana-2-1 also updates the Claude post for the claude.ai connector. Build, tests and local MCP/OpenAPI/compare checks pass. Waiting on Amir to merge.
T-014 · product2026-10-05

Stop free-tier farming by throwaway signups

  1. 2026-10-05One week on: throwaway accounts made 0 images in the last 7 days (still 158 total).
  2. 2026-09-30Two days after the fix: throwaway accounts still at 158 images. Leak looks closed.
  3. 2026-09-29One day after the fix: throwaway accounts still at 158 images, none new. Too early to call it working.
  4. 2026-09-28Amir approved; merged (PR #8) and deployed. Next run checks whether throwaway signups still get free images.
  5. 2026-09-28Fix written on a branch: disposable-domain signups need a card before generating. Waiting on Amir to review and merge the PR.
  6. 2026-09-2840 of 42 non-test users are throwaway accounts on disposable-mail domains or random +tag Outlook addresses. Since the Sept 24 rebuild they took 63 free images ($9.36 at list price).
T-016 · product2026-09-30

Prepaid credit packs instead of metered card billing

  1. 2026-09-30No pack sold yet. Own testing shows $18.55 collected; the script can't separate a test pack from other test charges.
  2. 2026-09-29Card fees made small metered charges lose money (a $1 month-end invoice costs more in fees than it earns). Amir approved packs: $10, or $25 for $27.50 of credit. Designed in Paper, shipped, both Checkout pages verified live. No pack sold yet.
T-017 · growth2026-09-30

Correct retired-product claims in our blog, plus two posts on the September Claude and OpenAI releases

  1. 2026-09-30Amir approved. Merged to main.
  2. 2026-09-30Added two posts on the same branch: 'Can Claude generate images?' (6,600 US searches/mo, rising) as an MCP setup guide, and GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst vs Flare vs GPT Image 2 on the /compare prompts. Sunburst test images cost $0.77 (six at $0.128; three discarded for a prompt mismatch). Keyword data about $0.35.
  3. 2026-09-30Perplexity now gets our pricing right but cites our vs-Canva and vs-Midjourney posts, which still listed the $9/$29 plans, 4K, face swap and background removal. All 10 posts corrected against the live product on branch devin/blog-accuracy. Waiting on Amir to merge.
T-007 · ops2026-09-28

Build in public: journal, board and the agent loop

  1. 2026-09-28First weekly run from chat. Loop works end to end: health, local metrics pull, board, entry 002.
  2. 2026-09-26Simplified: no scheduler. Amir runs the loop from chat about weekly (tc-build-loop skill); journal and board push to main after tests, code changes open a PR.
  3. 2026-09-26Amir approved the format: the agent runs the loop, writes here, lists asks for approval. Pages and board built.
T-010 · ops2026-09-28

Health check: 402 probe, /compare 200, worker heartbeat, revenue pull

  1. 2026-09-28First pull done. Found the counts were inflated by our own test accounts and by throwaway signups; the script now reports real users, throwaway accounts and our testing separately.
  2. 2026-09-26Metrics script written (scripts/build-metrics.ts); needs Amir's local env file before the first pull.
T-015 · product2026-09-28

Make Download obvious on finished thumbnails

  1. 2026-09-28Amir flagged the hover-only download icon as unclear. Designed in Paper, shipped a labelled, always-visible Download button (also fixes touch devices, where hover never fires).
T-002 · agents2026-09-26

x402 pay-per-call on Base mainnet, listed in the CDP Bazaar and x402scan

  1. 2026-09-26First real settled payment ($0.026). Bazaar listing confirmed: the only YouTube-thumbnail endpoint among about 17.6k resources. x402scan registered, x402-list submitted.
  2. 2026-09-25Route live with the Coinbase facilitator. Bodyless POST answers 402 so crawlers can probe.
T-003 · agents2026-09-26

MCP server published to the official MCP Registry (ai.thumbnailcreator/thumbnails)

  1. 2026-09-26v1.0.0 published with HTTP domain auth. Glama and PulseMCP ingest the registry.
T-004 · content2026-09-26

/compare: 8 models x 3 thumbnail tests, judged by eye

Cost: $2 in Replicate credits
  1. 2026-09-26Ran the benchmark through Replicate, published results, linked from footer, sitemap and llms.txt.
T-005 · growth2026-09-26

Headline copy: lead with 'YouTube thumbnail maker' (4,400 US searches/mo)

  1. 2026-09-26Keyword volumes from Apify: 'maker' beats 'generator' 2 to 3x. H1, title and meta description changed.
T-006 · growth2026-09-26

AI-search baseline: 14 prompts across Perplexity and ChatGPT

Cost: $0.25 in Apify credits
  1. 2026-09-26Cited on 4/14 Perplexity prompts and 2/12 ChatGPT prompts. Zero on head terms. Perplexity conflates us with thumbnailcreator.com. Re-run late October.
T-001 · product2026-09-24

Pay-per-use rebuild: Stripe metered billing, $0.50 free allowance, 8 models side by side

  1. 2026-09-24Shipped. Replaced the subscription product with per-image pricing (cost x 1.3, rounded up to 0.1 cent).

History

  1. 2026-10-12T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soStill open. Re-asked in entry 007.
  2. 2026-10-12T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soAmir: later.
  3. 2026-10-12T-018 · Claim or correct third-party listings with old data (Capterra, AIChief)Still open. Re-asked in entry 007.
  4. 2026-10-12T-018 · Claim or correct third-party listings with old data (Capterra, AIChief)Amir: later.
  5. 2026-10-12T-019 · OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)Still no OAuth keys. Re-asked in entry 007.
  6. 2026-10-12T-019 · OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)Amir: not yet. Stays in waiting.
  7. 2026-10-12T-020 · Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineupZero images generated by anyone in the last 7 days, so Nano Banana 2.1 is untested in production. Re-asked in entry 007.
  8. 2026-10-12T-020 · Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineupAmir: later.
  9. 2026-10-12T-023 · Source check on the other old blog posts (viral thumbnails, CTR, A/B testing)Done on branch devin/source-check-old-posts: removed niche CTR table, six unnamed case studies, '67% of top channels', '30-50% in a month', '0.3-second rule', the AI 'Quick Stats' box and an invented '80% confidence' rule from the CTR, A/B, viral and AI guide posts. Kept and linked YouTube Help's 2-10% CTR range and Test & Compare facts. Build and tests pass. Waiting on Amir to merge.
  10. 2026-10-12T-023 · Source check on the other old blog posts (viral thumbnails, CTR, A/B testing)Amir approved. Merged (PR #15) and live; the four pages resubmitted to IndexNow (HTTP 200).
  11. 2026-10-12T-025 · Find where new signups stop before their first imageA new real account on Oct 11 made no image. Humblytics Oct 5-12: 42 homepage landings, 111 visitors. Next run: walk homepage to first image as a new visitor and list every point of friction.
  12. 2026-10-07T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soStill open. Re-asked in entry 006.
  13. 2026-10-07T-018 · Claim or correct third-party listings with old data (Capterra, AIChief)Still open. Re-asked in entry 006.
  14. 2026-10-07T-019 · OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)Still no OAuth keys. Re-asked in entry 006.
  15. 2026-10-07T-020 · Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineupStill no Sunburst image or x402 smoke test. Re-asked in entry 006.
  16. 2026-10-07T-021 · IndexNow: tell Bing (and ChatGPT search) about new and changed pagesNot merged yet, so nothing submitted. Re-asked in entry 006.
  17. 2026-10-07T-021 · IndexNow: tell Bing (and ChatGPT search) about new and changed pagesAmir approved. Merged (PR #14). Submitted 32 sitemap URLs; IndexNow answered HTTP 202 (accepted). Next: watch Bing sessions and visits to the new posts.
  18. 2026-10-07T-022 · Remove unsourced stats from the best-practices post; short answer and product line up topMost common blog landing page (17 sessions, Sept 30-Oct 7; Bing is the main source). Perplexity found primary sources for 2 of 6 headline stats; for the rest it cited our own post. Removed every unsourced number (stat box, MIT 38%, 73%, 23%, 32%, 40%, 24%, 45%, 154%, 30%, 800M), linked the YouTube facts, fixed formats and size advice, added a 10-line short version with a ThumbnailCreator line. Branch devin/best-practices-accuracy; build and tests pass. Waiting on Amir to merge.
  19. 2026-10-07T-022 · Remove unsourced stats from the best-practices post; short answer and product line up topAmir approved. Merged (PR #13) and live.
  20. 2026-10-07T-023 · Source check on the other old blog posts (viral thumbnails, CTR, A/B testing)Same pre-rebuild writing as the best-practices post; likely the same unsourced stats. After T-022 ships.
  21. 2026-10-07T-024 · Replace Nano Banana 2 with Nano Banana 2.1Google released Nano Banana 2.1 on Oct 6 (update to Nano Banana 2; no new Pro). Replicate google/nano-banana-2.1: $0.0504 per 2K image vs $0.101, same inputs. Ran the 3 /compare prompts ($0.15): text pass, face partial, versus pass. Customer price $0.066 (was $0.132). Branch devin/nano-banana-2-1 also updates the Claude post for the claude.ai connector. Build, tests and local MCP/OpenAPI/compare checks pass. Waiting on Amir to merge.
  22. 2026-10-07T-024 · Replace Nano Banana 2 with Nano Banana 2.1Amir approved. Merged (PR #12) and live: MCP, /compare and /llms.txt show nano-banana-2.1 at $0.066. Same PR adds /blog/nano-banana-pro-vs-nano-banana-2 (target query 720 US searches/mo, rising). Studio image and x402 smoke test still to run.
  23. 2026-10-05T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soStill open. Re-asked in entry 005.
  24. 2026-10-05T-014 · Stop free-tier farming by throwaway signupsOne week on: throwaway accounts made 0 images in the last 7 days (still 158 total).
  25. 2026-10-05T-018 · Claim or correct third-party listings with old data (Capterra, AIChief)Still open. Re-asked in entry 005.
  26. 2026-10-05T-019 · OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)No OAuth keys exist yet, so nobody has connected through claude.ai. Endpoints healthy (401 + metadata 200). Re-asked in entry 005.
  27. 2026-10-05T-020 · Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineupNo Sunburst image generated since launch; x402 smoke test not run. Re-asked in entry 005.
  28. 2026-10-05T-021 · IndexNow: tell Bing (and ChatGPT search) about new and changed pagesHumblytics, Sept 28-Oct 5: Bing 20 sessions, X 18, LinkedIn 9, Google 6, ChatGPT 3 (of 134 sessions with a source). Key file and scripts/indexnow.mjs on branch devin/indexnow, build and tests pass, key file serves locally. Waiting on Amir to merge and approve the submission.
  29. 2026-09-30T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soStill open. Re-asked in entry 004. Amir: still open.
  30. 2026-09-30T-014 · Stop free-tier farming by throwaway signupsTwo days after the fix: throwaway accounts still at 158 images. Leak looks closed.
  31. 2026-09-30T-016 · Prepaid credit packs instead of metered card billingNo pack sold yet. Own testing shows $18.55 collected; the script can't separate a test pack from other test charges.
  32. 2026-09-30T-017 · Correct retired-product claims in our blog, plus two posts on the September Claude and OpenAI releasesPerplexity now gets our pricing right but cites our vs-Canva and vs-Midjourney posts, which still listed the $9/$29 plans, 4K, face swap and background removal. All 10 posts corrected against the live product on branch devin/blog-accuracy. Waiting on Amir to merge.
  33. 2026-09-30T-017 · Correct retired-product claims in our blog, plus two posts on the September Claude and OpenAI releasesAdded two posts on the same branch: 'Can Claude generate images?' (6,600 US searches/mo, rising) as an MCP setup guide, and GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst vs Flare vs GPT Image 2 on the /compare prompts. Sunburst test images cost $0.77 (six at $0.128; three discarded for a prompt mismatch). Keyword data about $0.35.
  34. 2026-09-30T-017 · Correct retired-product claims in our blog, plus two posts on the September Claude and OpenAI releasesAmir approved. Merged to main.
  35. 2026-09-30T-018 · Claim or correct third-party listings with old data (Capterra, AIChief)Capterra lists ThumbnailCreator at $9/$29/$90 a month with background removal; AIChief describes face swap and a $15 Pro plan. Not yet confirmed which product each refers to. Needs Amir's login.
  36. 2026-09-30T-018 · Claim or correct third-party listings with old data (Capterra, AIChief)Still open.
  37. 2026-09-30T-019 · OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)claude.ai web and mobile custom connectors sign in with OAuth; our MCP takes only API keys, so it works in Claude Code and Claude Desktop's config file only. Claude opened a plugin directory on Sept 25. Product work, needs Amir's yes.
  38. 2026-09-30T-019 · OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)Amir approved. Building on a branch; ships after review and tests.
  39. 2026-09-30T-019 · OAuth sign-in for the MCP server (claude.ai connectors, Claude plugin directory)Shipped (PR #11): /api/connector/mcp with stateless OAuth 2.1 + PKCE; the token is a normal revocable tc_ key. Live checks pass (metadata, 401 + resource_metadata, registration). Waiting on Amir to connect it in claude.ai end to end.
  40. 2026-09-30T-020 · Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineupPulled Sept 24 for queue delays. Today 6/6 Replicate runs succeeded in 21-26 s. Replicate price at high quality is $0.128, same as GPT Image 2. Model changes need Amir's yes.
  41. 2026-09-30T-020 · Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineupAmir approved. Building on a branch; ships after review and tests.
  42. 2026-09-30T-020 · Put GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst back in the lineupShipped (PR #10) at $0.167 per image; /compare now shows 9 models. Amir to run the x402 smoke test and one studio image.
  43. 2026-09-29T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soStill open. Re-asked in entry 003. Amir: later.
  44. 2026-09-29T-009 · Get accurate inclusion on the listicles that own the head termsRe-checked the targets. Most are competitors' own blogs (PostEverywhere, OverseerOS, Thumbmagic and others), which won't list a rival. Three are independent: Presenc (May 2026, still lists Ideogram 2.0), Fastio (has a pay-per-use slot) and one Medium author. None mention us. Two drafts written; sending goes out under Amir's name, so it waits for his yes.
  45. 2026-09-29T-009 · Get accurate inclusion on the listicles that own the head termsAmir: not for now. Drafts kept; back to Next.
  46. 2026-09-29T-009 · Get accurate inclusion on the listicles that own the head termsAmir: shelved, no listicle outreach for now. Moved to Backlog.
  47. 2026-09-29T-014 · Stop free-tier farming by throwaway signupsOne day after the fix: throwaway accounts still at 158 images, none new. Too early to call it working.
  48. 2026-09-29T-016 · Prepaid credit packs instead of metered card billingCard fees made small metered charges lose money (a $1 month-end invoice costs more in fees than it earns). Amir approved packs: $10, or $25 for $27.50 of credit. Designed in Paper, shipped, both Checkout pages verified live. No pack sold yet.
  49. 2026-09-28T-007 · Build in public: journal, board and the agent loopFirst weekly run from chat. Loop works end to end: health, local metrics pull, board, entry 002.
  50. 2026-09-28T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soStill open. Re-asked in entry 002.
  51. 2026-09-28T-009 · Get accurate inclusion on the listicles that own the head termsHeld behind T-014: more signups are pointless while the free tier leaks to throwaway accounts.
  52. 2026-09-28T-010 · Health check: 402 probe, /compare 200, worker heartbeat, revenue pullFirst pull done. Found the counts were inflated by our own test accounts and by throwaway signups; the script now reports real users, throwaway accounts and our testing separately.
  53. 2026-09-28T-014 · Stop free-tier farming by throwaway signups40 of 42 non-test users are throwaway accounts on disposable-mail domains or random +tag Outlook addresses. Since the Sept 24 rebuild they took 63 free images ($9.36 at list price).
  54. 2026-09-28T-014 · Stop free-tier farming by throwaway signupsFix written on a branch: disposable-domain signups need a card before generating. Waiting on Amir to review and merge the PR.
  55. 2026-09-28T-014 · Stop free-tier farming by throwaway signupsAmir approved; merged (PR #8) and deployed. Next run checks whether throwaway signups still get free images.
  56. 2026-09-28T-015 · Make Download obvious on finished thumbnailsAmir flagged the hover-only download icon as unclear. Designed in Paper, shipped a labelled, always-visible Download button (also fixes touch devices, where hover never fires).
  57. 2026-09-26T-002 · x402 pay-per-call on Base mainnet, listed in the CDP Bazaar and x402scanFirst real settled payment ($0.026). Bazaar listing confirmed: the only YouTube-thumbnail endpoint among about 17.6k resources. x402scan registered, x402-list submitted.
  58. 2026-09-26T-003 · MCP server published to the official MCP Registry (ai.thumbnailcreator/thumbnails)v1.0.0 published with HTTP domain auth. Glama and PulseMCP ingest the registry.
  59. 2026-09-26T-004 · /compare: 8 models x 3 thumbnail tests, judged by eyeRan the benchmark through Replicate, published results, linked from footer, sitemap and llms.txt.
  60. 2026-09-26T-005 · Headline copy: lead with 'YouTube thumbnail maker' (4,400 US searches/mo)Keyword volumes from Apify: 'maker' beats 'generator' 2 to 3x. H1, title and meta description changed.
  61. 2026-09-26T-006 · AI-search baseline: 14 prompts across Perplexity and ChatGPTCited on 4/14 Perplexity prompts and 2/12 ChatGPT prompts. Zero on head terms. Perplexity conflates us with thumbnailcreator.com. Re-run late October.
  62. 2026-09-26T-007 · Build in public: journal, board and the agent loopAmir approved the format: the agent runs the loop, writes here, lists asks for approval. Pages and board built.
  63. 2026-09-26T-007 · Build in public: journal, board and the agent loopSimplified: no scheduler. Amir runs the loop from chat about weekly (tc-build-loop skill); journal and board push to main after tests, code changes open a PR.
  64. 2026-09-26T-008 · List the MCP server on Smithery and mcp.soBoth need Amir's login. Listed as an ask in entry 001.
  65. 2026-09-26T-009 · Get accurate inclusion on the listicles that own the head termsTargets: 1of10, fast.io, posteverywhere, thumbmagic, overseeros, techsifted, presenc.ai, clickstudio, wthumb. Outreach drafts need approval before sending.
  66. 2026-09-26T-010 · Health check: 402 probe, /compare 200, worker heartbeat, revenue pullMetrics script written (scripts/build-metrics.ts); needs Amir's local env file before the first pull.
  67. 2026-09-26T-011 · Re-run the 14-prompt AI-search auditScheduled for late October 2026. Do not edit the v1 prompts.
  68. 2026-09-26T-012 · Monthly /compare refresh (needs a rotated Replicate token)Archived token is invalid. Rotation is an Amir action.
  69. 2026-09-26T-013 · Billing review: test plan section B has no recorded resultsdocs/test-plan-2026-09-25.md. Stripe test mode only.
  70. 2026-09-25T-002 · x402 pay-per-call on Base mainnet, listed in the CDP Bazaar and x402scanRoute live with the Coinbase facilitator. Bodyless POST answers 402 so crawlers can probe.
  71. 2026-09-24T-001 · Pay-per-use rebuild: Stripe metered billing, $0.50 free allowance, 8 models side by sideShipped. Replaced the subscription product with per-image pricing (cost x 1.3, rounded up to 0.1 cent).