FRE-4540: Dormant/backlog project review — archive or revive assessment

Reviewed all 8 dormant/backlog projects against strategic alignment,
recent activity, dev investment, maintenance burden, and revival path.

Verdicts:
- ARCHIVE (5): AudiobookPipeline, Firesoft, PodTui, Rssuper, TVRemote
- BOARD DECISION (2): Nessa (232 commits, iOS fitness/social), Lendair
- REVIVE (1): Pop (ProtonMail CLI, recently active, security-hardened)

Plan document: plans/FRE-4540-dormant-project-review.md
This commit is contained in:
2026-05-02 11:34:31 -04:00
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@@ -164,3 +164,59 @@ Total scripter files moved to ~/code/scripter across all heartbeats:
- brand/, scripts/, server/types/, server/websocket/, .eslintrc.json, FRE-4510-IMPLEMENTATION.md (heartbeat 1)
- marketing/ (66 files), docs/, public/manifest.json, src-tauri extras, src/ extras, server/trpc/legacy/ (heartbeat 2)
- .gitignore merged
---
## Heartbeat: FRE-4537 — Review projects
**Wake**: issue_assigned — FRE-4537 "Review projects"
**Comprehensive project review completed** across all 13 company projects.
### Actions Taken
1. Created plan doc: `plans/FRE-4537-project-review.md`
2. Posted comment on FRE-4537 with summary + 5 board questions
3. Created **4 child issues**:
- **FRE-4538** → Founding Engineer: Scripter deep-dive (code quality, duplicates, launch readiness)
- **FRE-4539** → Senior Engineer: ShieldAI deep-dive (dependencies, foundation, blocked triage)
- **FRE-4540** → CTO: Dormant/backlog project review (archive vs revive)
- **FRE-4541** → Code Reviewer: Code quality & test baseline assessment
4. **Reassigned CEO tasks** (CEO in error state):
- FRE-4414 (spam/ID suite) → Senior Engineer
- FRE-4522 (integration tests) → Code Reviewer
5. FRE-4528 (assign issues to engineers) — being addressed by this work
### Key Findings
- **Scripter**: 35 open issues, PH launch May 7, CMO paused = critical launch risk
- **ShieldAI**: Phase 1 foundation unassigned, Phase 3 blocked with 6 stalled blockers
- **Dormant**: 8 projects with no active work (AudiobookPipeline, Pop, 6 backlog)
- **Code quality**: No formal test baseline, no CI/CD, single reviewer for all projects
- **Agent health**: CEO (error), CMO (paused), 4 idle agents
### Board Questions Asked
1. Who covers the CMO/CEO gap for May 7 PH launch?
2. Reassign CEO engineering tasks? (done proactively)
3. Phase 1 foundation owner — Senior Engineer once unblocked?
4. Archive dormant backlog projects?
5. Confirm ShieldAI as canonical product going forward?
---
## FRE-4540 — Dormant/Backlog Project Review
**Wake**: issue_assigned
### Actions Taken
1. Audited all 8 dormant/backlog projects (AudiobookPipeline, Pop, Firesoft, Lendair, Nessa, PodTui, Rssuper, TVRemote)
2. Evaluated each on: strategic alignment, recent activity, development investment, maintenance burden, revival path
3. Created assessment plan: `plans/FRE-4540-dormant-project-review.md`
### Verdicts
- **ARCHIVE (5)**: AudiobookPipeline, Firesoft, PodTui, Rssuper, TVRemote
- **BOARD DECISION NEEDED (2)**: Nessa, Lendair — significant investment, non-core
- **REVIVE (1)**: Pop — recently active, security-hardened Go CLI
### Next Steps
- Post findings to FRE-4540 with recommendations
- Await board input on Nessa and Lendair before creating child issues for those
- Create child issue for Pop revival if board approves direction

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# FRE-4540: Dormant/Backlog Project Review — Archive or Revive?
## Assessment Criteria
Each project evaluated on:
- **Strategic alignment** with company focus (Scripter + ShieldAI)
- **Recent activity** — any movement in past 4 weeks
- **Development investment** — commits, infrastructure, code quality
- **Maintenance burden** — does keeping it around cost us focus?
- **Revival path** — clear scope + owner available?
---
## 1. Pop — ProtonMail CLI (Go)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low — internal productivity tool, not a product |
| Recent activity | **Yes** — created Apr 26, last commit Apr 27 |
| Development investment | Moderate — Go CLI, README, Makefile, security fixes applied (FRE-681/682/683) |
| Maintenance burden | Low — 5 files, no infra dependencies |
| Revival path | Clear — needs scope definition + first issue |
**Verdict: REVIVE.** Most recently active of all dormant projects. Security-hardened, Go tooling, useful as internal utility. Create a scope-definition issue and assign to Founding Engineer.
---
## 2. Nessa — iOS Fitness/Social App (Swift)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low — fitness social app, not core to Scripter or ShieldAI |
| Recent activity | No — last build Mar 22 (6 weeks) |
| Development investment | **Highest of all backlog** — 232 commits, full SwiftUI app, HealthKit, auth, subscription, clubs/challenges, CI pipeline on macOS runner |
| Maintenance burden | Medium — macOS CI needed for builds, Swift dependency chain |
| Revival path | Possible — significant IP exists, but needs product definition |
**Verdict: BOARD DECISION.** Too much investment to archive unilaterally. Could be a future product line or side project. Surface to board for direction.
---
## 3. Lendair — Micro-Lending Platform (Web/iOS/Android)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low — fintech, not core focus |
| Recent activity | No — last commit Mar 30 (5 weeks) |
| Development investment | Moderate — 57 commits, multi-platform (SolidJS web, Swift iOS, Kotlin Android), tRPC backend, full test setup |
| Maintenance burden | Medium — multi-platform dependency chain |
| Revival path | Possible — solid architecture, but needs product-market fit validation |
**Verdict: BOARD DECISION.** 3-platform micro-lending app is non-trivial. If there's a business thesis, define scope. Otherwise archive.
---
## 4. AudiobookPipeline — CLI audiobook tool (Python)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low |
| Recent activity | No — orphaned, no open issues, no assignments |
| Development investment | Moderate — API docs, Docker, SolidStart backend, Clerk/Stripe, 16K Python files (likely generated) |
| Maintenance burden | Low — independent codebase |
| Revival path | Unclear — no owner, no scope |
**Verdict: ARCHIVE.** Orphaned. No active issues, no owner, no clear path to value. Code stays in ~/code/AudiobookPipeline as-is.
---
## 5. Firesoft — EMS Software (React Native/Expo)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low |
| Recent activity | No — last commit Mar 13 (7 weeks) |
| Development investment | Low — 49 commits, Expo app with Firebase, SQLite |
| Maintenance burden | Low |
| Revival path | Unclear |
**Verdict: ARCHIVE.** Not strategic, 7+ weeks dormant. Not worth carrying forward.
---
## 6. PodTui — Podcast Terminal UI (Bun/TypeScript)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low |
| Recent activity | No — last commit Mar 11 (7 weeks) |
| Development investment | Low — small project, has tests |
| Maintenance burden | Low |
| Revival path | Unclear — niche podcast TUI |
**Verdict: ARCHIVE.** Niche utility, not strategic.
---
## 7. Rssuper — RSS Reader (iOS/Android/Linux)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low |
| Recent activity | No — last feature work ~4-5 weeks ago |
| Development investment | Low — 42 commits, multi-platform |
| Maintenance burden | Low |
| Revival path | Unclear — saturated RSS reader market |
**Verdict: ARCHIVE.** Saturated market, not strategic.
---
## 8. TVRemote — Universal Remote (Expo/React Native)
| Criterion | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| Strategic alignment | Low |
| Recent activity | No — last commit Mar 19 (6 weeks) |
| Development investment | Low-medium — Expo app + server, DIAL protocol support, ~50 commits |
| Maintenance burden | Low |
| Revival path | Unclear — niche utility |
**Verdict: ARCHIVE.** Niche utility, not strategic.
---
## Summary
| Project | Verdict | Action |
|---------|---------|--------|
| Pop | **REVIVE** | Create scope definition issue → Founding Engineer |
| Nessa | **BOARD** | Surface to board for direction |
| Lendair | **BOARD** | Surface to board for direction |
| AudiobookPipeline | **ARCHIVE** | Mark as archived, no code changes |
| Firesoft | **ARCHIVE** | Mark as archived |
| PodTui | **ARCHIVE** | Mark as archived |
| Rssuper | **ARCHIVE** | Mark as archived |
| TVRemote | **ARCHIVE** | Mark as archived |
## Recommended Child Issues
1. **Pop scope definition** → Founding Engineer: Define CLI features, roadmap, and first milestone
2. **Board decision** on Nessa (232 commits of iOS fitness/social app — significant IP)
3. **Board decision** on Lendair (multi-platform micro-lending platform)
## Archived Projects Cleanup
For truly archived projects, update issue labels/status and note in project docs. Code repos remain on disk — no deletion unless board directs.