buildpulse/docs/PRODUCT_BRIEF.md

Product Brief — BuildPulse

Product Name

BuildPulse

One-Line Description

BuildPulse is a calm planning cockpit that helps a solo builder capture features, park distracting ideas, log progress as Pulse events, and export clean context for AI coding agents.

Problem

The user has many ideas and several AI coding tools, but lacks a stable system for:

• Capturing new ideas without derailing active work
• Deciding what belongs now vs later
• Following a clear feature plan
• Keeping context visible across AI coding sessions
• Preventing working builds from being broken by random new features
• Seeing progress based on evidence instead of vague task status
• Preparing clean handoff context for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw, or other agents

Target User

Primary target user:

• A solo builder using AI coding tools to create apps, games, and tools.
• The user is technically curious but does not want to manually manage complex development workflows.
• The user benefits from ADHD-friendly guardrails, visible plans, parking lots, and short work sessions.

Secondary future users:

• Indie hackers
• AI-assisted builders
• Small teams working with autonomous coding agents
• Users who want a lightweight alternative to Jira/task boards for AI-assisted work

Core User Need

The user needs one trusted place to answer:

• What am I building?
• What is currently in scope?
• What should I work on next?
• Where should this new idea go?
• What has changed?
• What can I safely hand off to an AI coding agent?

v0.1 Product Promise

BuildPulse v0.1 lets the user manage one active project with:

• A simple feature plan
• A parking lot for distracting ideas
• A manual Pulse log
• Appwrite-backed persistence on the Unraid server
• Exportable project context

Core Workflow

1. User opens BuildPulse.
2. User sees the current project and active feature plan.
3. User adds or edits feature cards.
4. User parks distracting ideas instead of adding them to active scope.
5. User logs progress using Pulse events.
6. User exports clean Markdown context for an AI coder.
7. AI coder works from exported context.
8. User logs results back into BuildPulse.

Product Positioning

BuildPulse is not:

• Jira
• Trello clone
• Full agent framework
• Full project management suite
• Autonomous AI orchestration system
• Multi-user SaaS platform

BuildPulse is:

• A calm cockpit for solo AI-assisted building
• A pulse-compatible planning layer
• A scope guardrail
• A structured bridge between human ideas and AI coding agents

Success Criteria for v0.1

v0.1 succeeds if the user can use it to plan and manage BuildPulse itself, then use it to plan another project such as Crimson Drive.

First Dogfood Project

BuildPulse should track itself as the first project.

Initial feature groups:

Now:

• Feature Plan
• Parking Lot
• Pulse Log
• Export

Later:

• AI triage
• Phases/releases
• Local/cloud router
• Real Agent Pulse ingestion