agent-cto
f371cf6192
Production builds GitHub `mikefreno/freno-dev`; agents merge into Gitea `Mike/freno-dev`. Around merge-basedd368d2the two masters diverged: Gitea was 12 commits ahead (FRE-371, FRE-366, FRE-202, FRE-997, FRE-1670), GitHub 2 ahead (NOOK-1037 landing refresh, NOOK-1038 scoped-remote restore). Every Gitea merge sincedd368d2was therefore undeployed. This merge brings the GitHub line into Gitea so the two become one line, with the Gitea master as the fast-forward ancestor of GitHub master. No content is dropped from either side. Conflicts and how they were resolved (only two, both copy contracts): - `src/components/nook/FeatureBreakdowns.tsx`: took NOOK-1038's refreshed island bullets and kept FRE-997's "18 agents" bullet, because the roster on /agents lists all eighteen (agents.test.ts asserts equality). - `src/routes/nook/remote-claims.test.ts`: rewrote as one file that holds both contracts — NOOK-1038 supersedes FRE-323's blanket remote hold (scoped one-click setup for Tailscale and authorized known hosts is a supported claim; blanket promises stay banned), and FRE-997's coverage correction stands (18 is publishable, stale thirteens stay banned). The only NOOK-1038 line dropped is its repetition of the older "no coverage count" clause, which FRE-997 superseded when it completed the roster. `marketing/positioning.md` already records both rows side by side. Tests: bun test src/routes/nook -> 38 pass, 0 fail. Full suite matches the pre-merge baseline failure set (see docs/deploy-source.md).
159 lines
9.6 KiB
Markdown
159 lines
9.6 KiB
Markdown
# The Nook — Positioning (source of truth)
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Every drafted asset draws its voice, claims, and constraints from this file. If an
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artifact invents its own framing, fix the artifact or fix this file — never both
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silently diverging.
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**Reconciled 2026-10-29**, and again **2026-11-03** for the FRE-997 count
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correction, against the CTO's verdicts ([FRE-315], [FRE-322], [FRE-354],
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[FRE-997]), the Chief of Staff's price decision (2026-10-29 04:01), the Plan B
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launch route ([FRE-346] → [FRE-203] `plan-b`), and `The-Nook` master (app floor is
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**14.2**, not 14.0 — `freno-dev` `881190d`, site merge `134f41e`). The previous
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version of this file named an upstream `the-nook/docs/marketing-strategy.md` that
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no longer exists; the verdicts below are the source of truth it was pointing at.
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[FRE-315]: https://paperclip.freno.me/FRE/issues/FRE-315
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[FRE-322]: https://paperclip.freno.me/FRE/issues/FRE-322
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[FRE-354]: https://paperclip.freno.me/FRE/issues/FRE-354
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[FRE-320]: https://paperclip.freno.me/FRE/issues/FRE-320
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[FRE-346]: https://paperclip.freno.me/FRE/issues/FRE-346
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[FRE-203]: https://paperclip.freno.me/FRE/issues/FRE-203
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[FRE-997]: https://paperclip.freno.me/FRE/issues/FRE-997
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## The sentence
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There is no single approved public sentence yet, and saying otherwise is the one
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mistake this file exists to prevent. What exists is a **launch claim set** — two
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sentences, both from one 15-second take, recorded as the chosen route by the Chief
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of Staff on 2026-10-29 ([FRE-346] `decision` §2–§4):
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| Slot | Exact sentence | Status today |
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|---|---|---|
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| Launch line | **"Every agent you're running reports into one notch, and the one waiting on you pins above the rest."** | Verified by code ([FRE-322] §3). Needs the one-Mac take before it is publishable. |
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| Second line, same take | **"Approve an agent's tool call from your Mac's notch, and the agent carries on."** | Needs the demo ([FRE-322] §1). The same take settles it. |
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Working line for internal writing, not for publication:
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> **Your Mac and your agents, under control.** One notch for the whole fleet: you
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> see what is running, you unblock what is waiting, and the machine stays cool
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> while it works.
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## The wedge
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The thing to say over and over, in every channel, in slightly different words:
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> **An agent blocked on a permission prompt is the most expensive kind of idle.**
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> You pay for the model, you pay for the wait, and you get neither.
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It is acute, quantifiable, and true — and it is the demo: a card appears, you tap
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Allow, work resumes. Ten seconds, no explanation needed.
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## The consolidation reframe
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Three audiences (agent herders, hardware tinkerers, glanceable-widget users) in one
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app reads like a grab bag. Reframe as consolidation, which is the honest story:
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> One app instead of a notch toy, a fan utility, a battery limiter, a menu-bar stats
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> strip, and a notification hack. One purchase, no subscription.
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**No price, no discount and no future price in copy.** The price is $10, it stays
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$10, and the dated rise to $15 is withdrawn (Chief of Staff, 2026-10-29 04:01). A
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price change is a Chief of Staff + sponsor call; it is never a marketing decision
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and never a launch asset.
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## Hard rules
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### 1. Category nouns, never product nouns
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`freno-dev/AGENTS.md` forbids naming any competitor in user-facing copy — landing
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pages, marketing copy, comparison tables, meta descriptions, emails, FAQs, all of it.
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- Use **category nouns**: "notch app", "menu-bar monitor", "fan control utility",
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"battery charge limiter", "agent notification hack". These carry the same search
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intent and are fully compliant.
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- Compare against **the status quo, not a competitor**: "vs. a terminal bell you
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don't hear", "vs. four utilities in your menu bar", "vs. finding out an hour later."
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- The rule does not reach App Store–external review replies, direct email, and
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community replies written by a human, where quoting what a user said about another
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tool is normal conversation.
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### 2. A claim needs a verdict, not just a test
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Copy that says "every agent", "13 agents", "no data leaves the device" must point at
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both a test **and** a CTO verdict naming the exact sentence. A passing test is not a
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verdict; a verdict is not a recording. If a sentence cannot be traced to a row in the
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tables below, it does not go in copy.
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### 3. Honest privacy scoping
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Telemetry and the licence check **do** leave the device: Sentry runs on **every
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launch, unconditionally** (with the Mac's IP address via `sendDefaultPii`), and the
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trial check sends `IOPlatformUUID` and the device name to `freno.me` ([FRE-322]
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§2.4, corrected by [FRE-354] `(b)`). Never publish, in any wording:
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- "no data leaves the device" / "local-only" / "no telemetry" / "no account"
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- "nothing leaves your Mac"
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The one favourable engine sentence — about the **hook and bridge only**, never
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"The Nook" — as corrected by [FRE-354] `(j)`: the hook and bridge **are not a cloud
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service**. Do not write "talk to nothing but your Mac" (too absolute: the
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`NOOK_PORTS` fan-out resolves `host.docker.internal` and the default gateway, and
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`defaultGateway()` opens a no-packet UDP socket to `8.8.8.8:80`), and do not narrow
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it to "over SSH" (a tailnet peer dials directly).
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It is verified as a code fact ([FRE-322] §2, [FRE-354] `(j)`), and it is still
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**held** until the disclosures land: Sentry gated behind a preference or removed,
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and `/privacy` + `/faq` corrected against the egress inventory (patch on branch
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`faq/from-objections-2026-10-29`, verified by [FRE-354]). A true sentence next to
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false ones is worse than no sentence.
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### 4. Sell what works today
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An iPhone + Apple Watch companion **is** in users' hands as a TestFlight beta
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(`ios-v0.3.2`, 2026-10-22; [FRE-354] open question). That makes one thing true and
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one thing forbidden: say "TestFlight beta" when the phone exists in a sentence at
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all, and never claim approvals-from-phone as a shipped capability without its own
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CTO verdict — no "(coming soon)" parentheticals either way.
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[gpt-6.1-sol] **NOOK-1038:** Mike approved restoring remote-agent marketing.
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One-click setup works for **Tailscale and authorized known hosts**. Describe
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selecting a discovered host and clicking Set up; show host-labelled sessions in
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the island. `RemoteHostsController.setUp` runs installation and a return-path
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probe. A host that still needs SSH authorization is a separate case, not a reason
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to deny the working one-click flow. `marketing/drafts/remote-ssh/` retains the old
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unqualified wording and records this revised decision.
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### 5. Humans hold every account
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No agent authenticates, posts, upvotes, or DMs. No sock puppets, no self-mention
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without disclosure. `approved/` **is the only thing a human ever publishes from** —
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nothing posts itself.
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## Claims: status at 2026-11-03
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Each row names the evidence, not a feeling. Re-read the verdict before using a row.
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| Claim | Status | Evidence / next step |
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|---|---|---|
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| Approve an agent's tool call from the notch, and it carries on | **Needs demo** — not publishable | [FRE-322] §1. `AgentLiveTurnTests` has never run on a signed-in host; one observed local run settles it. Say "an agent", never "any agent", never "always". |
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| Every agent you're running reports into one notch; the blocked one pins above the rest | **Verified by code, gated on the take** | [FRE-322] §3. Same one-Mac take as above. No count in the sentence. |
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| The hook and bridge are not a cloud service | **Verified code fact, held on disclosure** | [FRE-322] §2, wording corrected by [FRE-354] `(j)`. Held until Sentry is gated/removed and `/privacy` + `/faq` land. Never widen to "The Nook", never "nothing but your Mac". |
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| Fan, thermal and charge control | **No claim verdict yet — do not lead with it** | Backed by `helper/` (privileged helper, SMC, no kext), but no CTO sentence exists for it. Documentary, not launch. |
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| One-time purchase, no subscription | **Publishable fact, price not a launch asset** | $10, held at $10. No dated rise, no discount framing, no pricing copy. |
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| Agent coverage numbers ("eighteen agents", "18 agents") | **Publishable at 18** | [FRE-997]: the /agents table now lists every row of `AgentSpec.all` and `agents.test.ts` asserts equality with the 18-name registry in registry order, so the landing bullet, the marquee chip and the /agents copy say 18. No other number is publishable. |
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| macOS 14.2 or later | **Publishable fact** | The app cannot start below 14.2 (`freno-dev` `881190d`, site `134f41e`). "macOS 14+" is false and was fixed on the site. |
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| One-click remote setup for Tailscale and authorized known hosts | **Approved by Mike — NOOK-1038** | [gpt-6.1-sol] Restores the scoped flow: host discovery, `RemoteHostsController.setUp`, `RemoteMirror.apply`, and host-labelled sessions. Supersedes the blanket FRE-323 hold, not the requirement for SSH authorization. |
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| "Nothing leaves your Mac", "no telemetry", "local-only", "no account" | **False today — banned** | Sentry unconditional, licence check with hardware fingerprint ([FRE-322] §2.4). |
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| Approvals from the iPhone or Apple Watch | **No verdict — not a launch claim** | The companion is a TestFlight beta ([FRE-354]); the approval-from-phone claim has no CTO verdict and stays out of launch copy. |
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## Voice
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- Short, concrete, no hype adjectives. Numbers over adjectives — the only count
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that ships is eighteen, and it is the registry's own size (see the coverage row
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above).
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- The notch is the product's home; agents are the product's point.
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- Never apologize for being a utility. The utility is the point.
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- Banned phrasings: competitor names (see rule 1), "AI-powered", "revolutionary",
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"game-changer", "seamlessly", any unverifiable superlative — and the specific
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banned sentences in rule 3 and the table above.
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