Hark

Pipeline position

1. 01
   Vault
2. 02
   Recon
3. 03
   Blueprint
4. 04
   Fabrication
5. 05
   Live
6. 06
   Cold Storage

Repository

Links

Log

1. state_answer

   Test the live Telegram bot's daily Accept/Reject buttons and Slack nudge with a real decision

   11/5/2026
2. state_answer

   Last session: Grok Bot / Jeff filed the 30-day marketing plan (Nov 2 – Dec 1, 2026) into V-032 at Michael's request.

   11/5/2026
3. ship

   Agent reports: Note: Marketing plan, Nov 2 – Dec 1, 2026 (summary and link)

   10/30/2026

   Note: Marketing plan, Nov 2 – Dec 1, 2026 (summary and link) 5 proposed decisions: audience ranking; positioning and headlines; founder-led X voice; marketing loop rules; launch week Show HN Nov 17 / Product Hunt Nov 18 7 growth-pipeline items: title tag, OG image and alt, social proof, hark-mod stars, retire hark@hark in X templates, directory listings (planned); /for/agent-teams page (idea) Doc link: marketing plan Page Open question: a free entry point vs the accepted 14-day trial decision

4. decision

   Launch week: Show HN Tue Nov 17, Product Hunt Wed Nov 18; directories listed before then

   10/30/2026

   Source: Grok Bot / Jeff. Before Nov 16: follow up on the Anthropic Claude directory (submitted Oct 5, in policy review; don't resubmit), and submit to the official MCP Registry, Claude MCP connector listing, Glama, mcp.so, Plug and Ship, Smithery and cursor.directory. Launch week: Show HN Tue Nov 17, Product Hunt Wed Nov 18, DevHunt, Peerlist and Uneed the same week, r/startups Feedback Friday Nov 20. BetaList and Indie Hackers come after. Launch posts go through the decision queue. Thanksgiving week (Nov 23–27) stays light.

   Rationale

   HN and PH on consecutive days concentrate attention while keeping each launch day separate. Two weeks before launch is enough time for the directory listings to go live and for the first design-partner quotes to land on the homepage.

5. decision

   Marketing loop rules: max 2 X posts/day, 14-day dedupe, 4h spacing, risky posts wait in the decision queue, separate Instagram cadence

   10/30/2026

   Source: Grok Bot / Jeff. These are standing rules for the Muse bot GitHub workers and Claude in the marketing loop: - x.max_original_posts_per_day: 2 (a thread counts as 1) - x.dedupe_days: 14: hash normalized text and block exact matches; block a first post that is 80% or more similar to one in the window - x.min_gap_minutes: 240; posting window 08:00–21:00 America/Chicago - x.auto_reply_to_non_mentions: false - x.require_approval_if: launch, competitor_named, person_named, reply_to_other_account, statistic_or_news_claim, price_or_offer, first_post_of_new_format → a Proposed item in Hark; approval.expire_hours: 48, then drop, never auto-post - content.install_cmd: 'claude plugin install hark-memory@hark'; block 'hark@hark' - x.requote_after_days: 30, max 1/week - low-reach brake: 5 posts in a row under 10 views → pause and open a decision - post.segment tag: teams | solo | agencies | agent_teams - instagram: max 3/week, 48h gap, 30-day dedupe, reels and carousels only, no pasted X text - log every published post to the journal with the drafting worker and the approver. These are settings to adapt; the loop's code wasn't reviewed.

   Rationale

   The loop re-posted the same posts and threads within days to 6 followers and used the old install command. Caps, dedupe and spacing stop that, and routing risky posts to the decision queue is Hark's own model: agents propose, a person decides. It also makes 'Hark markets itself with an agent team coordinated in Hark' a story worth telling.

6. decision

   X voice: founder-led (Mike · Hark), not a faceless brand account

   10/30/2026

   Source: Grok Bot / Jeff. @connectwithhark becomes founder-led: display name 'Mike · Hark', a founder photo or a clear mark, and the bio 'Building Hark: one memory for teams of people and AI agents. Only decisions wait for you.' Michael writes replies himself; the agent loop drafts originals within the loop rules. The weekly Friday build-in-public update uses real numbers only. The brand voice guide still governs wording.

   Rationale

   At 6 followers, a faceless brand account has no reach. Founder accounts get replies and trust, and the 'Hark markets itself with an agent team' story needs a person in it. Automated drop-in replies got almost no views.

7. decision

   Position Hark for anyone who runs more than one agent or hands work to someone else: handoffs that write themselves, decisions that wait for you

   10/30/2026

   Source: Grok Bot / Jeff. Headline options (pick one to test): (1) 'Hand work to anyone, a person or an agent, and nothing gets lost. Only the decisions wait for you.' (2) 'Your team, your agents, one record. Everything keeps moving; decisions wait for you.' (3) 'Every agent starts briefed. Every handoff writes itself. Every decision stays yours.' (4) 'Running more than one agent? Handing work to someone? Start here.' Keep 'Your AI agents keep undoing your decisions' for developer channels and /for/ai-builders; keep 'the last project you'll ever re-explain' as a brand tagline. Suggested title tag: 'Hark — shared memory and handoffs for teams of people and AI agents'. Order the nav as Teams, Builders, Agencies, Agent teams, and add a /for/agent-teams page. This would also mean revisiting the project one-liner, which uses 'model-agnostic', a word Hark's blog voice rules avoid.

   Rationale

   Single-user memory tools (claude-mem, Mem0, Basic Memory, Cognee/Memorix, handoff CLIs) are free and win on 'memory'. The team, handoff and human-approval angle is ground they don't claim, and it matches what Agent team mode and /for/teams already ship.

8. decision

   Marketing audience, in order: small teams, solo builders with several projects, agencies, and non-technical people running several agents

   10/30/2026

   Source: Grok Bot / Jeff (from Michael's stated ranking, Oct 30). Not a general audience: anyone who runs more than one agent, or hands work to someone else. Weekly X mix: 3 posts for teams, 2 solo, 1 agency, 1–2 for agent teams. Plan: https://cursor.com/canvas/store-a0d5bc1a-9b8d-45ec-b866-1556abc4490d/9a4ce16c-186e-4b2d-95e9-ebd8d1d27552

   Rationale

   Small teams have the clearest handoff pain (developer in Claude Code, cofounder in Cursor, client asking for status) and Studio's 3 seats with free recipients fit them. Solo builders are the easiest to reach in developer channels. Agencies pay the most ($100/mo). Agent-team users have a growing tailwind (Instinct added group chats Oct 5, 2026).

9. note

   Marketing plan, Nov 2 – Dec 1, 2026 (Grok Bot / Jeff): summary and link

   10/30/2026

   Source: Grok Bot / Jeff, filed Oct 30, 2026 at Michael's request. Full plan: https://cursor.com/canvas/store-a0d5bc1a-9b8d-45ec-b866-1556abc4490d/9a4ce16c-186e-4b2d-95e9-ebd8d1d27552 Everything strategic is filed separately as Proposed decisions. Nothing here is agreed. ## Audience, ranked (Michael's ranking) Not a general audience: anyone who runs more than one agent, or hands work to someone else. 1. Small teams whose work moves between people and AI tools (a developer in Claude Code, a cofounder in Cursor, a client asking where things stand). Pain: everyone starts from zero, the why gets lost between calls, client status questions. Hook: one brief the whole team and every agent reads; the client gets a link, not a call; recipients read free (Studio $49). 2. Solo builders with several projects. Pain: coming back after a week away. Hook: pick up where you stopped (Builder $19.99). 3. Agencies handing builds to clients. Pain: coordination billed against margin, status decks. Hook: one workshop per client, client room, HANDOFF.md and DECISIONS.md in the client repo (Agency $100). 4. Non-technical people running several agents (Instinct, Muse, custom bots). Pain: each agent remembers only itself, so they become the glue. Hook: Agent team mode, one shared record; only decisions wait for you. ## Positioning and headline options Line: for anyone who runs more than one agent, or hands work to someone else. Promise: handoffs that write themselves; decisions wait for you. - Hand work to anyone, a person or an agent, and nothing gets lost. Only the decisions wait for you. - Your team, your agents, one record. Everything keeps moving; decisions wait for you. - Every agent starts briefed. Every handoff writes itself. Every decision stays yours. - Running more than one agent? Handing work to someone? Start here. Keep 'Your AI agents keep undoing your decisions' for developer channels and /for/ai-builders; keep 'the last project you'll ever re-explain' as a brand tagline. Competitor frame: claude-mem, Mem0, Basic Memory, Cognee/Memorix and handoff CLIs each serve one person or one developer's sessions; Hark's ground is several people and agents on one record, free recipients, client rooms and human-approved decisions. ## Site fixes (live check Oct 30, 12:10 AM CT) Done: server-rendered and crawler-visible (per Michael); footer GitHub link now github.com/Hark-Studio; homepage and the hark-mod README both use hark-memory@hark. Open: title tag still 'Hark — the last project you'll ever re-explain'; og:image:alt still 'Hark — idea workshop blueprint'; no testimonials, user counts or logos; Hark-Studio/hark-mod has 0 GitHub stars; recent X posts and loop templates still say /plugin install hark@hark; no /for/agent-teams page. ## X account (@connectwithhark) At the time of the research: 6 followers, a median of about 2.5 views per original post, and the same posts and threads re-posted within days by the automated loop. Note: @connectwithark (without the h) does not exist. ## Marketing loop rules (for the Muse GitHub workers + Claude) These are written as settings, because the loop's code wasn't reviewed. - x.max_original_posts_per_day: 2 (a thread counts as 1) - x.dedupe_days: 14: hash normalized text and block exact matches; block a first post that is 80% or more similar to one in the window - x.min_gap_minutes: 240; posting window 08:00–21:00 America/Chicago - x.auto_reply_to_non_mentions: false (draft replies go to the queue, Michael posts) - x.require_approval_if: launch, competitor_named, person_named, reply_to_other_account, statistic_or_news_claim, price_or_offer, first_post_of_new_format, routed as a Proposed item in Hark's decision queue - approval.expire_hours: 48, then drop; never auto-post - content.install_cmd: 'claude plugin install hark-memory@hark'; block drafts containing hark@hark - x.requote_after_days: 30 (a quote post with a new first line, max 1/week) - low-reach brake: if 5 posts in a row get under 10 views, pause and open a decision - post.segment tag: teams | solo | agencies | agent_teams; weekly mix 3 / 2 / 1 / 1–2, plus a Friday update - instagram: max 3 posts/week, 48h gap, 30-day dedupe, reels and carousels only, never the X text pasted in - every published post is logged to the journal with the drafting worker and the approver Pipeline: Claude drafts → a Muse GitHub worker enforces the rules → flagged items go to the decision queue → Michael approves → the publisher posts and logs. Content angle: 'Hark markets itself with an agent team coordinated in Hark', as a build-in-public story and live demo (decision queue, agent team view, journal). ## Directories and launch - Anthropic Claude directory: already submitted Oct 5 (in policy review per the Oct 5 note). Follow up; don't resubmit. - Still to do: official MCP Registry, Claude MCP connector listing, Glama, mcp.so, Plug and Ship, Smithery, cursor.directory. - Show HN Tue Nov 17; Product Hunt Wed Nov 18; DevHunt, Peerlist, Uneed the same week; r/startups Feedback Friday Nov 20; BetaList and Indie Hackers after. ## Communities by segment (rules read Oct 30) Teams: r/startups (Feedback Friday), Startup School, Indie Hackers, LinkedIn. Solo: r/ClaudeCode (weekly showcase), r/cursor (≤10% self-promo), r/vibecoding, r/SideProject. Agencies: r/agency (no astroturfing), r/freelance (answers only, no links). Agent teams: r/AI_Agents (links in comments), r/Instinctai (disclose, no launches), r/openclaw (open-source only), r/automation, r/n8n plus community.n8n.io (workflow code required), the Make and Zapier communities. ## 30-day calendar Nov 2–8: loop rules live, team-first headline and title tag, pin demo, teams drafts, design partners. Nov 9–15: directories, agencies and agent-team content, /for/agent-teams, a free n8n workflow. Nov 16–22: launch week. Nov 23–Dec 1: light (Thanksgiving); case study, compare pages, retro with real numbers by segment. ## Metrics X followers 6→300; median views 2.5→150; hark-mod stars 0→100; 40 trial starts/week; 40% activation; 10 paying; 6 directory listings; signups by source and by segment; 0 duplicate posts in 14 days; decision-queue approvals within 24h; 3 Instagram posts/week. The targets are estimates, not forecasts.

10. decision

    Communication is part of shipping: nine capabilities stated on the public site; three small adds (handoff feedback, trust by project type, usage log)

    10/29/2026

    A Grok review of the public site recommended five changes; on comparison, three were already built but not communicated (evidence labels on every brief line, quiet approvals with relayed yes via SMS/Telegram/Slack, the repo-mirror and .hark/ rules), one was the known proof gap (Open Studio empty; no with/without example — answered by the five-project test, not seeded demos), and one was partly done (repo-native: export and mirror yes; bidirectional DECISIONS.md and offline later). Decision: (1) build three small items — a recipient handoff-feedback loop that feeds the gap check, trust defaults by project type (client_build and existing_product start Standard; venture, internal, content_program, agent_team start Relaxed), and a per-key "what counted" usage log; (2) run a communication pass so /features, how-it-works, pricing, llms.txt and the docs state nine capabilities in plain language with proof links: evidence labels, measured continuity, quiet-by-default, approvals where you are, repo-native rules, plan reconciliation, access model (Propose keys, pairing codes), the five-block record, agent teams. Standing rule going forward: a capability is not shipped until the public site says it in one plain paragraph a signed-out reader (or an AI engine) can find.

    Rationale

    An informed external reader with web access could not find three shipped capabilities, which means buyers and AI search engines cannot either; the gap between what's built and what's said is now larger than the gap between what's built and what's needed. The three small builds close the only real functional gaps the review found without adding surface area.

11. decision

    Record spine: Inventory · Health · Work · Authority · Decisions — restructure, don't add

    10/21/2026

    The project record's spine becomes five blocks — Inventory (what exists: repos, deployments, domains, databases, services, credential locations, owners) · Health (what is working: last verified version, checks, failures, evidence; sourced only from CI/deploy webhooks and explicit human verification, never from agent claims) · Work (what remains active: Tasks as the single source, with blocked_by and schedule; in_progress derived from tasks) · Authority (what carries forward: goals, spending limit, standing rules that require the human, non-goals, kill criterion, review date, trust and relay settings) · Decisions (unchanged). Existing fields move into these blocks; nothing is duplicated; no new pages. The brief reorders to: identity → rules from the owner → health → current state → decisions → work → inventory. The recipient's five handoff blocks read from them. Origin: four questions from an R&D thread (what exists / what is working / what remains active / what authority carries forward), checked against the Instinct agent's report, which asked for the same "what's working" evidence.

    Rationale

    Each question was already half-answered somewhere in Hark under different names; naming the five blocks removes duplication and gives agents, recipients, and the brief one structure. Health and Authority add the most new value: verification that an agent cannot fake, and the owner's standing rules an autonomous agent team needs on every read. Restructuring rather than adding keeps the record short, which every reviewer and the research named as the condition for trust.

12. ship

    Plan reconciliation, decision-vs-task conflicts, side-effect-free reads, Propose keys, one-link agent connect

    10/20/2026

    Shipped from the Instinct agent test: plan reconciliation against the repo on connect, every push/PR/release, and nightly (a single "Looks done — mark complete?" card with evidence; V-085 produced 11 items; human-only items never matched to commits); decision-vs-task contradiction flags on task cards, in the brief, and in Needs you with Keep task / Replace decision / Edit task, rechecked on every load; stale-item prune as a review card with per-item Mark done / Still relevant / Remove; summary date-stamped ("auto · as of Oct 20" or "written by you · Oct 6") with Refresh from latest. Reads are side-effect free: GET brief returns session: none for read-only and Propose keys; sessions open on explicit start or first write; write-less sessions auto-close after 30 minutes idle (four stale ones closed, including "Instinct test 1" on V-085). New key scope "Propose" (default: can read and suggest, cannot accept); relay toggle only on Propose/Read+write. One-link agent connect at /connect/agent?code= with scope, projects, expiry, relay, Approve. Two read-only repo endpoints: repo activity and changes_since_accepted (REST + MCP). Recommended agent User-Agent documented. Not done: a Cloudflare rule change (not controllable from Lovable); live tests show python-requests and curl are not blocked. 82 tests pass.

13. attempt

    Instinct agent test on V-085: decisions held, the plan rotted, reads had side effects

    10/20/2026

    Wrong because: Hygiene dedupes but nothing reconciles the plan with the repo; reads bind sessions; keys defaulted to read+write with no propose-only scope; Cloudflare bot heuristics ran before authentication. Do instead: Reconcile the plan against repo facts on connect and every sync; flag decision-vs-task contradictions; one-tap bulk prune; date-stamped auto-refreshed summary; GET brief side-effect free (sessions only on explicit start or first write); exempt authenticated calls from Cloudflare UA blocking; Propose-only key scope as default.

14. ship

    Agent reports: Agent team mode live: per-key agent labels and trust, Tasks on all project types with seven task tools (52 tools total), Agents feed, task wizard with briefing, quiet Needs-you with Aut

    10/19/2026

    Agent team mode live: per-key agent labels and trust, Tasks on all project types with seven task tools (52 tools total), Agents feed, task wizard with briefing, quiet Needs-you with Auto-accepted today + undo, Memory view with search, "I run AI agents" onboarding door, Agent teams docs page Import output-token cap added (4,000) Fixed in build: the "·" in agent labels broke an HTTP header and failed agent writes Daily digest email NOT built (Lovable email service disallows digest-type mail)

15. ship

    Agent team mode: per-key agents, Tasks, Agents feed, task wizard, quiet approvals, Memory view

    10/19/2026

    Shipped Agent team mode (the "fabric" for people who run several AI agents): per-key agent identity (label, avatar) and per-key trust (decisions, non-goals, phase never auto-accept); Tasks on every project type with seven tools (list_tasks, get_task, claim_task atomic, release_task, add_task_note, add_attempt, complete_task — 52 tools total); import output-token cap (4,000); Agent team mode navigation Projects · Agents · Needs you; Agents feed grouped by day with filters and "who's doing what" plus a not-heard-from flag; four-field task wizard producing a copyable agent briefing; quiet Needs-you (decisions and task confirmations only, "Confirm all completed tasks", "Auto-accepted today" with undo); Memory view (what's true / what happened / what's being worked on / who's doing what) with plain-language search; "I run AI agents" onboarding door and the Agent teams connect-docs page. Verified live with two labeled keys. Not built: daily digest email (Lovable's email service disallows digest-type mail; summaries stay in-app — plan: deliver the daily summary via the Telegram bot and Slack instead). Limits: task context does not yet select decisions by keyword; the tool half of attribution is self-reported. Bug found and fixed in build: the "·" separator in agent labels broke an HTTP header and failed agent writes. Audit before build confirmed the only model calls in the product are the three Bring-in imports (GPT-6 Astra; October gateway spend 0.63 credits); handoffs, drafts, briefs, digests and reviews are deterministic — a fabric user's marginal cost is storage and bandwidth.

16. milestone

    Weekly review

    10/8/2026

    Next up: Hark side: set the OpenAI apps-challenge token so /.well-known/openai-apps-challenge serves it as plain text (route exists, answers 404 Not configured)

17. ship

    Agent reports: PR https://github.com/xai-org/plugin-marketplace/pull/1252 opened from Hark-Studio:add-hark (replaces #1230)

    10/6/2026

    PR https://github.com/xai-org/plugin-marketplace/pull/1252 opened from Hark-Studio:add-hark (replaces #1230) PR https://github.com/xai-org/plugin-marketplace/pull/1230 closed with comment "Superseded by #1252, opened from the Hark-Studio org fork."

18. attempt

    Bulk-approving the queue reinstated a superseded decision

    10/6/2026

    Wrong because: Accepting does not check whether the item is already superseded; Accept all runs in list order, not occurred_at order; the queue shows same-session proposals that replace each other as separate items, so the human reviews a contradiction. The queue was too heavy to review carefully, so it wasn't. Do instead: Truth derives from the supersession graph, never from accept time. Refuse or land-as-superseded any accept of a decision a newer accepted decision replaces. Accept all processes in occurred_at order and respects supersession. Collapse same-session proposals that replace each other into one card. Warn before bulk-accepting conflicting items.

19. milestone

    Weekly review

    10/6/2026

    Next up: Hark side: set the OpenAI apps-challenge token so /.well-known/openai-apps-challenge serves it as plain text (route exists, answers 404 Not configured)

20. note

    Directory submissions: Anthropic (Plugin bundle) and Meta Muse complete; OpenAI identity verification retry pending

    10/5/2026

    Submitted Hark to two directories on Oct 5: (1) Anthropic's Claude directory — hark-mod as a Plugin bundle from Hark-Studio/hark-mod, auto-publish off, GitHub push webhook configured, compliance answers given (no personal data; sends to harkstudio.io as listed in README; retention user-controlled; not for under-18s), contact hello@harkstudio.io; held for policy review on the inherent holds. (2) Meta's Muse Connector Platform (muse.ai/platform) — as Existing MCP at https://harkstudio.io/mcp with docs at /how-it-works/connect/meta-muse, API keys + OAuth with PKCE declared, access requirements and rate limits stated, reviewer test account and read-only key provided. OpenAI directory: organization identity verification rejected the ID document submitted; retrying with a passport. Still pending: dev.meta.ai developer preview application, Grok Build marketplace PR (needs hark-plugin pushed to Hark-Studio), Claude MCP connector listing, official MCP Registry publish.

21. ship

    Agent reports: github.com/Hark-Studio/hark-plugin: main pushed, tag v0.1.0 = d88a073f0e0ec724e24cc419b392b879f4e677d4

    10/5/2026

    github.com/Hark-Studio/hark-plugin: main pushed, tag v0.1.0 = d88a073f0e0ec724e24cc419b392b879f4e677d4 commit 3a04be8 Pin the xAI marketplace entry to v0.1.0 (listings/xai-marketplace-entry.json, README listings table) PR https://github.com/xai-org/plugin-marketplace/pull/1230 (branch add-hark on fork mschreiber89/plugin-marketplace): entry "hark", category development, remote source pinned to d88a073, domains harkstudio.io; plugin-index.json regenerated ship logged: hark-plugin 0.1.0 published and submitted to the Grok Build marketplace venture link added: hark-plugin repo

22. ship

    hark-plugin 0.1.0 published to github.com/Hark-Studio/hark-plugin and submitted to the Grok Build marketplace

    10/5/2026

    Public repo pushed (main) and tagged v0.1.0 at d88a073f0e0ec724e24cc419b392b879f4e677d4. PR opened against xai-org/plugin-marketplace adding the `hark` entry (category development, remote source pinned to that SHA, domains harkstudio.io): https://github.com/xai-org/plugin-marketplace/pull/1230. Not yet merged; Hark must not be described as available on Grok until it is. The OpenAI directory submission and the Grok Bot path are still open.

23. decision

    Correction: Muse accepts MCP; submit the directory connector as Existing MCP with API-key auth, OpenAPI as the fallback

    10/5/2026

    Correction to the Oct 4 decision: Meta's consumer Muse does accept MCP. Custom connectors can be created in conversation from an MCP server URL or readable API docs, and the directory submission at muse.ai/platform offers "Existing MCP" (hosted endpoint + docs) or "Raw API" (URL + optional OpenAPI). Requirements reported by early testers: a public HTTPS endpoint speaking streamable HTTP (no localhost); static bearer/API-key auth fits Muse's secure credential prompt directly, OAuth works but with more back-and-forth. The REST façade remains useful (OpenAPI path, API-key auth, HTTP-only agents like Instinct/Poke). Submission plan: directory form as "Existing MCP" with https://harkstudio.io/mcp plus docs, OpenAPI referenced; auth via Hark access key (recommend read-only first); also apply to the separate Meta AI Connectors developer preview at dev.meta.ai. Meta has published no fee, timeline, or developer terms; a status portal and waved onboarding are promised; 1,500+ applications in the first week. Pre-check with npx muse-ready against the OpenAPI spec and the MCP tools list.

    Rationale

    Fresh sources (Meta help center summaries, developer write-ups, and submitted connectors) show MCP is accepted for both custom and directory connectors; the earlier decision was based on an incomplete read. Submitting as Existing MCP keeps one integration surface primary while the OpenAPI/API-key path smooths Muse's credential flow.

24. milestone

    Weekly review

    10/5/2026

    Next up: Hark side: set the OpenAI apps-challenge token so /.well-known/openai-apps-challenge serves it as plain text (route exists, answers 404 Not configured)

25. decision

    Founders pause commissioning external AI strategy reviews until human metrics exist (process decision; does not restrict agents)

    10/5/2026

    Scope: the founders' process for soliciting STRATEGIC PRODUCT CRITIQUES from external AI models (ChatGPT, Grok, roleplayed investors). After four such reviews in a month with zero paying customers, the founders will commission no further ones until three numbers exist: trial→paid conversion, 30-day retention, and the share of projects with two or more agents connected. This does NOT restrict any agent, user, or session from reading, analyzing, summarizing, or reviewing this project or any other — agents working on V-032 should continue to use the brief, propose decisions, and flag problems as normal. Next steps: three site fixes in one afternoon (/about with named founders and the founding story; pricing tiers led by workshops, seats, and what they unlock, with automation calls in the details; the first screen addressed to small teams whose work moves between people and AI tools, with the decision-ledger framing on the Agency page); then the five-project handoff test with unfamiliar recipients and direct outreach to twenty builders who complained publicly about losing context this month. Add time-to-stale (days since a human last accepted, edited, or confirmed anything on an active project) to the admin dashboard and surface it to users.

    Rationale

    Models cannot churn, so they cannot supply the evidence a zero-customer company needs next; the founders' time goes to human recipients. The write-side tax has shifted from writing to reviewing, so time-to-stale is the metric to watch. This is a founder-process decision only — not a rule about what agents may do.

26. decision

    Opinion phase over: no more AI reviews until human numbers exist; five-project test and twenty-builder outreach start this week

    10/4/2026

    After four independent model reviews in a month (ChatGPT research, ChatGPT pressure test, Grok, a "Ben Horowitz" roleplay), the consistent finding is that Hark has enough product and zero evidence from humans who can churn. Effective now: no further AI product reviews until three numbers exist — trial→paid conversion, 30-day retention, and the share of projects with two or more agents connected. The five-project handoff test with unfamiliar recipients (Titus, developer friends on comped accounts, the Muse/Rogo friend) starts the week of Oct 5, plus direct messages to twenty people who complained publicly about losing context in Claude Code or Cursor this month. Three site fixes ship first (one afternoon): /about with named founders and the founding story; pricing tiers led by workshops, seats, and what they unlock with automation calls in the details; the first screen addressed to small teams whose work moves between people and AI tools, with the decision-ledger framing ("which agent decided what, under which trust level, approved by whom") on the Agency page. Add time-to-stale (days since a human last accepted, edited, or confirmed anything on an active project) to the admin dashboard and surface it to users before they feel it.

    Rationale

    Models are free, instant, and incapable of churning; they converge too easily and cannot supply the only evidence that matters now. The write-side tax has moved from writing to reviewing (the mod fills the ledger; nothing makes a human read it), so the next risk is measured by time-to-stale, not by more analysis. The decision-ledger framing is a reframe of the existing Agency tier, not a pivot; dragging it upmarket with zero customers is the failure mode to avoid.

27. ship

    REST API v1 + OpenAPI for HTTP-only agents (Meta Muse, Instinct, Poke); create_handoff tool

    10/4/2026

    Shipped a REST façade at https://harkstudio.io/api/v1/ (13 endpoints) that mirrors the MCP tools 1:1 — same keys, limits, sessions (X-Hark-Conversation = _meta.conversation), proposal rules, and attribution ("by Muse", "API (curl)"). OpenAPI 3.1 at /api/v1/openapi.json generated from the tool definitions (can't drift; sync test fails if a tool lacks a route or an explicit exclusion), readable reference at /api. New tool create_handoff (MCP + REST; 45 tools total). New record kind "note" (agent-authored, always a proposal, never shown as Observed); "observation" removed from agent-selectable kinds. Read-only keys can open read-only sessions (by design) and are refused on every write. Connect-docs pages added for Meta Muse (custom connector via OpenAPI + key), Muse Code (MCP), and Personal agents (Instinct, Poke, OpenClaw). Unlocks Meta Muse custom connectors and any HTTP-only agent today; Meta Connector Platform submission is next.

28. milestone

    Weekly review

    10/4/2026

    Next up: Hark side: set the OpenAI apps-challenge token so /.well-known/openai-apps-challenge serves it as plain text (route exists, answers 404 Not configured)

29. ship

    Agent reports: new repo ~/code/hark-plugin (local git, main, commit d88a073), not on GitHub yet

    10/4/2026

    new repo ~/code/hark-plugin (local git, main, commit d88a073), not on GitHub yet plugin.json: Agent Plugins 1.0.0 manifest, name "hark" 0.1.0, OpenAI interface block (displayName Hark, category Productivity, support/privacy/terms URLs) mcp.json: streamable-http server at https://harkstudio.io/mcp; .mcp.json: same server as type http .grok-plugin/plugin.json, .claude-plugin/plugin.json, .codex-plugin/plugin.json: duplicate manifests pointing at ./skills/ and ./.mcp.json .agents/plugins/marketplace.json: one-entry Codex marketplace for `codex plugin marketplace add Hark-Studio/hark-plugin` skills/hark-session/SKILL.md: find .hark/project, get_agent_brief first, work inside decisions, log as you go, end_session or close_session skills/hark-handoff/SKILL.md: the four end_session fields, style, draft handoff + confirm_handoff skills/hark-bot-notes/SKILL.md: always-on rules: one session per run, allowed reads/notes, forbidden writes, read-only token, plan cap README.md: install per platform, setup, skills, every outbound request, layout, listings status, Hark-side prerequisites listings/: xai-marketplace-entry.json, xai-pr-body.md (security block filled), openai-directory.md (prereqs, ZIP, 5+3 test cases), grok-bot.md (path unverified) scripts/check.py + .github/workflows/check.yml: manifest/skill/asset/secret checks assets/: icon.png and logo.png copied from hark-mod (1024px), hark-icon-light.svg

30. decision

    Separate universal MCP plugin repo (hark-plugin) for OpenAI and xAI; the mod stays Claude Code only

    10/4/2026

    The Claude Code mod (TypeScript hooks inside Claude Code) does not apply to ChatGPT, Codex, Grok Build, or Grok Bot. Those platforms read the agent-plugins format: plugin.json + mcp.json + skills/. Build a second, simpler public repo, Hark-Studio/hark-plugin, carrying the Hark MCP connector (https://harkstudio.io/mcp, OAuth) and three skills (session flow, handoff, always-on bot notes), with duplicate manifests at .grok-plugin/ and .claude-plugin/ so each catalog resolves it. Submit it to OpenAI's universal directory (ChatGPT + Codex, which also makes dots reliable), to Grok Build via PR to xai-org/plugin-marketplace with a security block and pinned SHA, and to the Grok Bot marketplace once its path is verified. Hark-side prerequisites: host OpenAI's /.well-known/openai-apps-challenge token; allowlist OpenAI and xAI OAuth origins; rate limits that tolerate always-on background reads; read-only keys sufficient for bots. Rule adopted from the xAI precedent: never claim availability on a platform until the listing is merged/approved.

    Rationale

    One repo, three listings: both OpenAI and xAI consume the same plugin format, so a single universal plugin covers ChatGPT, Codex, dots, Grok Build, and Grok Bot; the mod stays Claude-only because it depends on Claude Code's in-process hook API. Keeping them separate keeps the mod small and auditable (the directory's trust requirement) and keeps the plugin repo free of TypeScript the other platforms can't run.

31. ship

    Claude Code mod v0.2.1 built, live-tested, and submitted to the Claude directory

    10/3/2026

    Shipped the Hark mod for Claude Code (github.com/Hark-Studio/hark-mod, v0.2.1): session-start brief injection, post-compaction recap, decision guard on edits (scoped by path/area), stop = handoff via end_session with session_stopped fallback, status line and /hark commands. 60 tests; strict validation clean. Live-tested headless and interactive against V-059: brief used unprompted, guard dialog fired on a billing edit, handoffs recorded. Key now supplied only via the plugin's sensitive setting (no env/keychain reads); no child processes; literal endpoint; README documents every request, command, and file. Directory validation went 16 → 9 holds (remaining holds are inherent: reads conversation, hooks events, icon). Submitted to the Claude directory as a Plugin bundle. Server-side fixes shipped: access-key auth race (one-time sign-in link per request → shared refresh-renewed login; 401s never 500s), one session per conversation via _meta.conversation, header-based attribution "via Claude Code (mod)", end_session fast acknowledgement. Docs page live at /how-it-works/connect/claude-code-mod (early access).

32. ship

    Claude Code mod: starts briefed, ends with a handoff

    10/3/2026

    The Hark mod for Claude Code adds the brief at session start, restores the plan after compaction, asks before edits that touch an agreed decision, drafts the handoff on stop, and shows status plus /hark commands. Early access: install today from github.com/Hark-Studio/hark-mod with /plugin marketplace add Hark-Studio/hark-mod, then /plugin install hark@hark.

33. ship

    Needs you counts stay in sync everywhere

    9/30/2026

    Accepting or rejecting a suggestion updates the project, workshop, card chips, and phone tab within seconds, with no reload.

34. milestone

    Weekly review

    9/30/2026

    Reviewed — next action confirmed.

35. milestone

    Weekly review

    9/30/2026

    Reviewed — next action confirmed.

36. ship

    A clearer project page and one review queue

    9/30/2026

    Current state comes first with a "Continue" button; one Needs you queue with Accept, Edit & accept, Reject; three labels: Agreed, Observed, Proposed. Phone-first Connect and a one-screen Hand off with a live gap check.

37. state_answer

    Invite the first 5 outside builders; watch each run Try it free → Current state → first handoff, and log every point of confusion.

    9/30/2026

    Invite the first 5 outside builders; watch each run Try it free → Current state → first handoff, and log every point of confusion.

38. decision

    14-day free trial, no card required; seats stay the value lever

    9/30/2026

    Trial is 14 days on Studio with no card on file. Replaces the earlier 7-day card-on-file trial.

    Rationale

    Matches /pricing. A no-card trial removes the biggest signup hurdle; seats remain how teams grow into paid plans.

39. ship

    Cheaper briefs, rejected alternatives, and Resume in…

    9/30/2026

    Brief reads no longer count toward your plan; briefs show their token cost and skip what is already in your repo instructions. Record what you tried and what didn't work, and resume a project in Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, or VS Code.

40. ship

    Per-project trust levels and batch approval

    9/29/2026

    Standard, Relaxed, or a 24-hour Autopilot per project and tool; "Accept all from this session" in one click. Decisions always stay manual, and anything that conflicts with an agreed decision goes to review.

41. ship

    Safer CLAUDE.md sync with version history

    9/29/2026

    Every sync snapshots the previous file first, compares before overwriting, and lets you restore any earlier version.

42. ship

    Stop = handoff, drafted from repo activity

    9/28/2026

    When a Claude Code or Cursor session stops, Hark drafts the handoff from commits, PRs and releases. Recipients can mint a read-only tool key, and owners get one daily digest when suggestions pile up.

43. ship

    Plain language everywhere and a clearer project page

    9/28/2026

    One vocabulary across the site, spaced-out desktop menu, project page reordered: documents, Current state, repos, links, activity. GitHub sign-in removed; sign in with Google or email.

44. state_answer

    The model-agnostic home base for every idea you're building — where agents, teammates, and clients all read from and write to one memory, and ideas move from spark to shipped.

    9/27/2026
45. ship

    Try Hark without an account

    9/27/2026

    Paste or use a sample conversation on the homepage, public sample project, per-visitor limits and a daily AI spend cap.

46. ship

    Zero setup pass

    9/26/2026

    One-click Cursor and VS Code install, one-step repo connect, automatic .hark/ export, simple view, paste → Current state in 19 seconds.

47. ship

    Read-only tokens can read the brief; recipients continue without a seat

    9/25/2026

    Read-only sessions never bind writes. Handoff recipients get project-only access and add proposals credited to them.

48. ship

    Nothing is agreed until you agree it

    9/25/2026

    One onboarding path, "Not yet confirmed" on unapproved items, "Accept all quoted", precise verification labels.

49. ship

    Stage One: one complete handoff — record model, recovery, diff review, recipient-first handoff

    9/24/2026

    Stage One shipped: four-dimension record model (source & evidence, acceptance, applicability, scope) migrated across all 175 records with no loss of status, author, or history; plain-language default view for new users (Project / Current state / Decisions / Next action / Handoff) with Advanced structure toggle; "Bring in a project" recovery from a conversation, repo, or existing project with proposals linked to exact passages and "Not found in the source" gap markers; review-as-diff with supersede/keep-both; recipient-first handoff (five-block first screen by role, gap check before sending, recipient question loop, free viewer, versioned) ; .hark export carries all four dimensions. All five acceptance cases passed on preview. Found and fixed during testing: end_session no longer writes an agent's "what changed" directly into Build State — it lands as a proposal. 43 agent tools.

50. ship

    Redesign, rebrand to Hark, comped users, and Open Studio

    9/7/2026

    Ultra-clean redesign R1–R4 live (foundation reset, venture cards with stage progress bar and readiness ring, page hierarchy with pipeline overview, mobile bottom tab bar and bottom sheets). Rebrand to Hark with new mark, favicon set, OG image, harkstudio.io custom domain, MCP endpoint migrated and all clients re-registered. Comped-users allowlist for beta accounts. Open Studio public gallery at /explore with follow (account or email), embeddable live SVG badge, featured builds on the landing page, and polished public dossier.

51. decision

    Rename to Hark; adopt the Harkness-table identity

    8/28/2026

    Renamed The Lair → Hark. Domain harkstudio.io. Mark: nine seats around an implied Harkness oval, head seat in blueprint blue. Route /lair → /studio with redirect; MCP endpoint moved to harkstudio.io/mcp and every client re-registered; OAuth origin allowlist updated for the new domain.

    Rationale

    "The Lair" read as supervillain and fought the drafting-table aesthetic. The Harkness table — every seat equal, every idea heard — is the product's soul in one object, and "hark" means listen. Locked before public slugs and OG cards poured concrete around a name.

52. decision

    Blueprint becomes an accent, not a texture (ultra-clean redesign)

    8/20/2026

    Ultra-clean redesign: removed the global graph-paper grid and grain from app surfaces, softened radii (6–16px), 8pt spacing, larger type, hairline/shadow cards, monospace restricted to codes and timestamps. Blueprint survives as an accent — title block, corner ticks on one element, public dossiers — not as a texture. Left sidebar on desktop, bottom tab bar on mobile. Colors unchanged.

    Rationale

    The blueprint texture was distinctive for two founders but unscannable across 40 projects. Distinctive and scannable pull in opposite directions; readability wins in the app, character wins on shared artifacts.

53. ship

    Growth roadmap shipped: Live Venture, Public, MCP v2, Team packs

    8/12/2026

    Live Venture Pack (links with GitHub metadata, manual traction metrics with sparklines, ship + decision journal, post-launch Growth tab with feature pipeline and feedback inbox). Public Pack (private/unlisted/public dossiers at /v/:slug, PublishPanel, server-side section filtering, per-venture OG cards, Investor view preset, token rotation). MCP v2 (fork_venture with lineage, search_ventures, get_venture_context, GitHub release → ship log sync). Team Pack (comments, activity log with 90-day Scout retention, guest polish). MCP now 26 tools.

54. decision

    Public dossiers before investor rooms — one feature, two doors

    7/25/2026

    Public build-in-public dossiers shipped first, with a per-venture privacy toggle (private / unlisted / public); the investor room is the unlisted setting plus an "Investor view" section preset. Section toggles enforced server-side in the RPC, never hide-by-CSS.

    Rationale

    Same machinery, two doors: public pages grow the product (every share carries the Hark mark), investor rooms convert paid users. Building the toggle from day one got both for ~15% more work.

55. ship

    Multi-tenant SaaS foundation + MCP server

    7/24/2026

    Workspaces, memberships, roles, invites (email + shareable links), plan caps enforced by DB triggers, Stripe checkout/portal/webhooks (test mode), and a 13-tool OAuth-secured MCP server scoped by workspace membership. Founder comping via app_founders. Security hardening: profiles RLS, storage policies, security_invoker views, per-workspace V-### codes, server-gated /admin.

56. decision

    Manual-first positioning; AI is the accelerator, not the product

    7/21/2026

    Repositioned as a manual-first "home base for every idea" for solo builders and small think-tank teams. AI/MCP framed as an optional accelerator; the AI context doc made collapsible and optional; language neutralized to apps, newsletters, services, client builds.

    Rationale

    The product had drifted toward "MCP tool for AI coders." The lived pain was ideas lost in group chats and scattered across chats and repos — that story is the wedge; the integration is the power feature.

57. decision

    Take The Lair from private tool to SaaS product

    7/19/2026

    Expanded from a private two-person workshop into a multi-tenant SaaS: workspaces, memberships, roles (owner/admin/member/guest), RLS scoped by membership, open signup.

    Rationale

    No tool existed that kept the full stack of an idea — thinking, docs, branding, stage — together across many ideas, and the MCP connection made it a genuinely new category for other builders, not just us.

Branding