devine/mvp.md at dev · amaruki/devine

Devine MVP Specification

Product Overview

Name: Devine Tagline: Define your stack, develop your mind.

Concept: Devine is a daily.dev-powered virtual rubber duck companion whose evolution reflects the user’s technology reading habits. The duck gains energy from meaningful developer learning signals such as reading, bookmarking, upvoting, commenting, and sharing daily.dev posts.

Instead of using traditional pet states like hungry/full, Devine uses a satirical developer maturity system. The duck evolves from an Ignorant Copaster into a Tech Philosopher as the user develops better reading, curation, and discussion habits.

Core hook: A developer’s rubber duck becomes smarter when the developer learns from daily.dev. If the user passively consumes, ignores, or avoids meaningful engagement, the duck regresses.

MVP Goal

Build a web dashboard that demonstrates:

daily.dev-connected reading habit tracking.
A virtual rubber duck whose energy and health depend on user activity.
A seniority system based on 7-day engagement quality.
Quests and power-ups that guide users toward better learning habits.
A shareable static public snapshot of the user’s Devine state.

The MVP should prioritize hackathon demo clarity over complete automation.

Target User

Developers who use daily.dev and want to build a more meaningful habit around reading, curating, and discussing technology content.

Core Product Philosophy

Devine is not just a Tamagotchi clone.

It is a playful critique of how developers learn:

Passive clicking creates a Code Monkey.
No reading creates an Ignorant Copaster.
Active curation creates a Grounded Scholar.
Reflective discussion and deep learning create a Tech Philosopher.

The app should reward meaningful learning, not empty activity farming.

Product Tone

Primary tone: elegant, developer-native, and philosophical. Pet personality: chaotic, satirical, funny, and slightly unhinged.

Use English for the product UI, with developer slang, jokes, and satire.

Tone rules:

Use playful satire, not personal insults.
Mock developer habits, not the user directly.
The duck regresses; the user is not called stupid.
Keep humor memorable but not hostile.

Examples:

It works on my machine. Therefore, architecture is optional.
Your duck just tried to solve distributed systems with a global variable. Please read something.
It copied a Stack Overflow answer from 2014 and called it architecture.
A stack is not a belief system. Choose tools that expand human agency.

MVP Pages

6.1 Landing Page /

Purpose: emotional narrative + CTA.

Should include:

Product name: Devine
Tagline: Define your stack, develop your mind.
Subheadline:

▎ A daily.dev-powered rubber duck that evolves with your reading habits — or regresses into an Ignorant Copaster.

Primary CTA:

Connect daily.dev

Secondary CTA:

Try Demo Mode

Three benefit cards:

Read with purpose Turn daily.dev activity into learning energy.
Evolve your duck Progress from Copaster to Tech Philosopher.
Escape the echo chamber Get quests that broaden your tech perspective.

Small preview:

Rubber duck visual
Seniority level
Health/energy preview
One quest card

6.2 Dashboard /dashboard

Main MVP surface.

Visual hierarchy:

Pet visual + seniority title
Speech bubble
Next best action
Core stats
Quest cards + power-up inventory
Breakdown + recent activity
Demo controls, only in demo mode

Dashboard sections:

A. Pet Hero

Shows:

SVG rubber duck
Seniority level
Health state
Speech bubble
Micro-animation based on state

Example:

The Code Monkey Health: Stable Energy Today: 18 / 50

"I can set up NGINX, but please don't ask me why this architecture exists."

B. Next Best Action

Show one most important recommendation.

Examples:

Join one discussion today to strengthen your Discussion score.
You read enough today. Now bookmark one article future-you will thank you for.
Escape the echo chamber: read one post outside your usual tags.

C. Core Stats

Health
Energy Today
Seniority Score
Current streak / active days this week

D. Seniority Breakdown

Show score breakdown:

Seniority Score: 62 / 100 Level: The Grounded Scholar

Reading Consistency: 24 / 30 Topic Variety: 9 / 15 Curation: 14 / 20 Discussion: 8 / 20 Social Contribution: 4 / 10 Deep Tech Signals: 3 / 5

E. Quests

Show:

Daily quests
Personalized quest
Weekly quest

F. Power-Up Inventory

Show power-up cards with count and Use button.

G. Recent Activity

Show recent tracked events:

Read article
Upvoted post
Bookmarked post
Joined discussion
Shared post

Each event should show:

action type
post title if available
tags/topics
energy earned
timestamp

H. Demo Mode Controls

Only visible in demo mode.

Actions:

Read article
Upvote
Bookmark
Comment
Share
Complete quest
Use power-up

Persona presets:

Copaster Mode
Code Monkey Mode
Scholar Mode
Philosopher Mode

Default demo persona: Code Monkey.

6.3 Settings /settings

Purpose: daily.dev connection and demo fallback.

Should include:

Connected Mode

Input for daily.dev Personal Access Token.
Save token server-side encrypted.
Test connection.
Fetch profile/feed/bookmarks.
Show connection status.

Actions

Disconnect daily.dev
Delete token
Switch to Demo Mode
Reset Demo State

Security copy

Your daily.dev token is encrypted and only used server-side. Devine never exposes it to the browser.

6.4 Share Page /share/[snapshotId]

Public static share URL.

Purpose: hackathon-friendly shareable output.

Shows only privacy-safe snapshot data:

Pet visual
Seniority level
Seniority score
Health state
Top 1–3 tags/topics
Witty speech bubble
Generated date/week
Powered by daily.dev

Must not show:

email
API token
raw activity events
comments written by user
private identifiers
full article list unless explicitly chosen later

Example:

Devine Snapshot

The Grounded Scholar Seniority Score: 67 / 100 Health: Stable

Top Signals: architecture · ai · security

"My duck stopped saying 'it works on my machine' this week."

Image export is a bonus, not MVP-critical.

daily.dev Integration

7.1 Primary Mode

Use user-provided daily.dev Personal Access Token as the primary connected mode.

Reason: daily.dev Public API uses Bearer tokens and provides personalized data tied to the token owner.

7.2 Server-Wide Token

Use a server-wide token only for:

fallback
demo mode
non-personal content fetching, if useful

Do not rely on server-wide token for personal user behavior.

7.3 Demo Mode

Required fallback.

Use when:

user has no token
token fails
API rate limit occurs
API does not expose required behavioral data

Demo mode should still feel interactive and complete.

API Feasibility

Based on daily.dev Public API docs:

Likely feasible:

personalized feed
popular/trending posts
post details
comments/discussions per post
bookmarks
search posts
search tags
profile
tech stack
custom feeds
feed filters

Needs verification through OpenAPI:

read history
personal upvote history
personal comment history
share detection

Likely tracked inside Devine:

read confirmation
share event
upvote confirmation if API does not expose it
comment confirmation if API cannot identify user comments

Hybrid Tracking Model

Devine uses a hybrid model:

From daily.dev API

feed posts
post metadata
tags/topics
bookmarks
profile
tech stack
post comments/discussions where available

Tracked inside Devine

opening a post from Devine
marking a post as read
sharing via Devine
“I upvoted this” confirmation
“I joined the discussion” confirmation
demo simulation events

Use trust user + light friction for MVP.

Anti-farming microcopy:

Devine rewards intentional learning signals. Don’t farm your duck; educate it.

Activity Energy Formula

Daily Energy Target

Daily Energy Target = 50

Energy Per Action

┌─────────────────────────────┬────────┬───────────┐ │ Action │ Energy │ Daily Cap │ ├─────────────────────────────┼────────┼───────────┤ │ Read article │ +10 │ 5/day │ ├─────────────────────────────┼────────┼───────────┤ │ Upvote │ +3 │ 10/day │ ├─────────────────────────────┼────────┼───────────┤ │ Bookmark │ +5 │ 5/day │ ├─────────────────────────────┼────────┼───────────┤ │ Comment / joined discussion │ +15 │ 3/day │ ├─────────────────────────────┼────────┼───────────┤ │ Share │ +12 │ 3/day │ └─────────────────────────────┴────────┴───────────┘

Maximum possible daily energy:

read: 50 upvote: 30 bookmark: 25 comment: 45 share: 36 total: 186

But only 50 is needed to meet the daily target.

Design implication:

Reading alone can keep the duck healthy.
Reading alone should not make the duck a Tech Philosopher.
Higher seniority requires curation, discussion, sharing, and topic variety.

Health System

Health is an internal numeric value:

health: 0–100

Health changes daily based on energy.

Health Daily Formula

┌──────────────┬───────────────┐ │ Energy Today │ Health Change │ ├──────────────┼───────────────┤ │ >= 50 │ +5 │ ├──────────────┼───────────────┤ │ 30–49 │ +0 │ ├──────────────┼───────────────┤ │ 10–29 │ -8 │ ├──────────────┼───────────────┤ │ 1–9 │ -12 │ ├──────────────┼───────────────┤ │ 0 │ -20 │ └──────────────┴───────────────┘

Clamp:

health = min(100, max(0, health))

Missed Days

For MVP, no background cron is required.

When user opens dashboard:

Check last processed date.
Calculate missed days.
For each missed day, estimate/fetch activity if available.
Apply health decay based on energy for that day.
Save new snapshot.

Health Visual States

┌────────┬─────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┐ │ Health │ State │ Visual Direction │ ├────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤ │ 80–100 │ Thriving │ glow, confident, active │ ├────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤ │ 60–79 │ Stable │ normal idle animation │ ├────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤ │ 40–59 │ Tired │ slightly weak, self-aware speech │ ├────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤ │ 20–39 │ Sick │ sweat, panic, shake │ ├────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤ │ 10–19 │ Critical │ glitch, warning UI │ ├────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤ │ 0–9 │ Hibernating │ melted/suspended duck │ └────────┴─────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘

Hibernating message:

Fatal Exception: Brain Activity Not Found. Process Suspended.

Important: Hibernating is the lowest state, not permanent death.

Seniority System

Seniority is displayed to the user. Health remains internal/systemic.

Seniority is based on a rolling 7-day quality score.

Seniority Score = 0–100

Seniority Levels

┌────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Score │ Level │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 0–24 │ Si Dungu / The Ignorant Copaster │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 25–49 │ Si Pekerja Mekanis / The Code Monkey │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 50–79 │ Sang Intelektual / The Grounded Scholar │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 80–100 │ Sang Filsuf / The Tech Philosopher │ └────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Level 1: The Ignorant Copaster

Represents isolation from community and low-quality learning.

Visual:

duck with horse blinders
trapped in shallow well
confused
bumps into screen

Behavior:

hallucinated nonsense
spaghetti-code energy
“It works on my machine”

Philosophy:

echo chamber
ignorance
disconnected from community curation

Level 2: The Code Monkey

Represents passive consumption and mechanical work.

Visual:

factory uniform
hammer/wrench
repetitive machine-like behavior

Behavior:

can answer basic technical questions
rigid, tool-focused, no architectural perspective

Philosophy:

reads but does not reflect
consumes but does not curate
uses tools without deeper understanding

Level 3: The Grounded Scholar

Represents active curation and grounded technical understanding.

Visual:

reading glasses
mini library
thick book

Behavior:

analytical
understands tags, bookmarks, topic patterns
gives architectural reasoning
separates tools from design principles

Philosophy:

finds signal in noise
knowledge grounded in community validation

Level 4: The Tech Philosopher

Represents reflective, mature, community-aware technology thinking.

Visual:

levitating duck
golden aura
“The Thinker” pose
minimal UI around it

Behavior:

speaks technically and philosophically
frames technology in relation to human agency
sees beyond code into systems and society

Philosophy:

technology should empower, not trap
developers shape the future collectively

Seniority Score Formula

Rolling window:

last 7 days

Components:

┌─────────────────────┬────────────┐ │ Component │ Max Points │ ├─────────────────────┼────────────┤ │ Reading Consistency │ 30 │ ├─────────────────────┼────────────┤ │ Topic Variety │ 15 │ ├─────────────────────┼────────────┤ │ Curation │ 20 │ ├─────────────────────┼────────────┤ │ Discussion │ 20 │ ├─────────────────────┼────────────┤ │ Social Contribution │ 10 │ ├─────────────────────┼────────────┤ │ Deep Tech Signals │ 5 │ ├─────────────────────┼────────────┤ │ Total │ 100 │ └─────────────────────┴────────────┘

14.1 Reading Consistency

Target:

5 active reading days / 7

Formula:

min(activeReadingDays / 5, 1) * 30

14.2 Topic Variety

Target:

5 unique tags/topics / 7 days

Formula:

min(uniqueTags / 5, 1) * 15

14.3 Curation

Target:

5 bookmarks + 10 upvotes / 7 days

Formula:

bookmarkScore = min(bookmarks / 5, 1) _ 10 upvoteScore = min(upvotes / 10, 1) _ 10 curation = bookmarkScore + upvoteScore

14.4 Discussion

Target:

3 comments or joined discussions / 7 days

Formula:

min(comments / 3, 1) * 20

14.5 Social Contribution

Target:

3 shares / 7 days

Formula:

min(shares / 3, 1) * 10

14.6 Deep Tech Signals

Target:

3 deep-tag interactions / 7 days

Formula:

min(deepInteractions / 3, 1) * 5

Deep Tech Tags

MVP allowlist:

architecture
system-design
distributed-systems
security
ai
machine-learning
devops
cloud
database
performance
observability

Optional:

webdev, only if metadata/content suggests a deep-dive rather than basic content.

Normalize tags:

lowercase
spaces to hyphen
alias mapping:
- ml → machine-learning
- system design → system-design
- cybersecurity → security
- sre → observability or devops

Quest System

Quests guide behavior and give power-ups.

Use:

generic daily quests
one personalized quest
one weekly quest

16.1 Daily Quests

Feed the Duck

Requirement:

Read 3 articles

Reward:

Snack

Future-You Bookmark

Requirement:

Bookmark 1 post

Reward:

Knowledge Gem

Touch Grass, But Online

Requirement:

Comment or join 1 discussion

Reward:

Medicine

16.2 Personalized Quests

Pick based on weakest seniority component.

If Discussion is low

Name:

Join the Conversation

Requirement:

Comment or join 1 discussion

Reward:

Social Boost

If Topic Variety is low

Name:

Escape the Echo Chamber

Requirement:

Read 1 post outside your top tags

Reward:

Knowledge Gem

If Curation is low

Name:

Curate, Don’t Consume

Requirement:

Upvote 2 posts or bookmark 1 post

Reward:

Snack

If Social Contribution is low

Name:

Ship the Link

Requirement:

Share 1 post

Reward:

Social Boost

16.3 Weekly Quest

Five-Day Learning Streak

Requirement:

Active reading on 5 of 7 days

Reward:

Revive Feather

Power-Up System

Power-ups go into inventory. User manually chooses when to use them.

Power-ups affect only:

Energy
Health

Power-ups do not affect:

Seniority Score
Learning profile
Activity history

Power-Up Effects

┌────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐ │ Power-Up │ Effect │ Use Case │ ├────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤ │ Snack │ +15 energy today │ reach daily target │ ├────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤ │ Medicine │ +12 health │ recover from Sick/Critical │ ├────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤ │ Knowledge Gem │ next read gives 2x energy │ encourage another article │ ├────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤ │ Social Boost │ next comment or share gives 2x energy │ encourage active engagement │ ├────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤ │ Revive Feather │ if health 0–9, set health to 25 │ recover from Hibernating │ └────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘

Rules:

inventory stores count
using power-up decrements count
power-up effects should be visible immediately
active multiplier applies to next matching event only

Demo Mode

Demo mode is required.

Default Demo Persona

The Code Monkey

Default state:

Level: Si Pekerja Mekanis / The Code Monkey Health: 62 Energy Today: 18 / 50 Speech: "I can set up NGINX, but please don't ask me why this architecture exists."

Demo Personas

Copaster Mode

low/no activity
low health
seniority 0–24
chaotic speech

Code Monkey Mode

reads only
passive engagement
medium health
seniority 25–49

Scholar Mode

reads + bookmarks + upvotes
good topic variety
seniority 50–79

Philosopher Mode

reads + comments + shares
deep topics
high variety
seniority 80–100

Demo Simulation Buttons

Read article
Upvote
Bookmark
Comment
Share
Complete quest
Use power-up

Visual Design

Overall UI

Style:

elegant dark developer UI
glass/card layout
modern typography
minimal noise
yellow rubber duck accent
green daily.dev-inspired accent

Pet Visual

Use manually created SVG/React components.

Component:

Props:

seniorityLevel
healthState
optional isPoweringUp
optional isDemoMode

Pet Variants

Required SVG variants:

Ignorant Copaster
Code Monkey
Grounded Scholar
Tech Philosopher
Hibernating/Critical

Micro-Animations

Use motion and/or CSS.

Animations:

idle bobbing
glow for high state
shake for sick/critical
glitch for critical
melt/suspended for hibernating
sparkle after power-up
pulse on energy gain

Tech Stack

Approved stack:

Next.js
TypeScript
Tailwind CSS
motion
Drizzle ORM
Neon Postgres
Vercel

Auth/integration:

BetterAuth if OAuth becomes available
user-provided daily.dev Personal Access Token for MVP
server-side encrypted token storage

Data Model

users

Stores app user.

Fields:

id displayName dailyDevHandle dailyDevProfileId selectedPet mode: connected | demo createdAt updatedAt

daily_dev_connections

Stores encrypted daily.dev token.

Fields:

id userId encryptedToken tokenLabel tokenExpiresAt nullable lastValidatedAt createdAt updatedAt

Never expose this token to the client.

activity_events

Stores raw activity events.

Fields:

daily_pet_snapshots

Stores daily calculated state.

Fields:

id userId date energyEarned health healthState seniorityScore seniorityLevel scoreBreakdown json completedQuests json powerUpsEarned json createdAt updatedAt

power_up_inventory

Fields:

id userId type: snack | medicine | knowledge_gem | social_boost | revive_feather quantity createdAt updatedAt

active_power_up_effects

Fields:

id userId type: knowledge_gem | social_boost appliesToAction multiplier expiresAt nullable createdAt

quests

Could be static config in code for MVP.

If stored:

id userId questKey type: daily | personalized | weekly status: active | completed | claimed progress target rewardPowerUp dateScope createdAt updatedAt

share_snapshots

Public static share card.

Fields:

id publicId userId dailyPetSnapshotId seniorityLevel seniorityScore healthState topTags json speechBubble generatedAt createdAt

Core Calculation Flow

On Dashboard Open

Load user.
Check connection mode.
If connected:
- decrypt daily.dev token server-side
- fetch feed/profile/bookmarks as needed
- sync available data
If token fails:
- show fallback/demo prompt
Load Devine-tracked events.
Calculate missed days since last snapshot.
Apply health updates for missed days.
Calculate today’s energy.
Calculate rolling 7-day seniority score.
Generate quests.
Generate speech bubble.
Render dashboard.

Speech Bubble System

Use hybrid template + grounded context.

Inputs

seniority level
health state
recent activity
top tags
weakest seniority component
recent bookmarks

MVP Approach

Do not require full AI chat.

Use templates with dynamic inserts.

Examples:

Ignorant Copaster

"It works on my machine. Therefore, architecture is optional."

"I have achieved enlightenment: copy, paste, deploy, panic."

Code Monkey

"I can wire the API, but I still don't know why the system exists."

"You read three posts and questioned zero assumptions. Very factory-core."

Grounded Scholar

"Your bookmarks around {tag1} and {tag2} suggest you're starting to separate tools from architecture."

"Finally, a thought that survived contact with the documentation."

Tech Philosopher

"A stack is not a belief system. Choose tools that expand human agency."

"You are no longer reading posts. You are negotiating with the future of software."

Stretch Goal

Ask My Duck

AI chat using daily.dev context
grounded in bookmarks/tags/posts
tone changes by seniority level

Not required for MVP.

Privacy & Security

Token Handling

Store daily.dev Personal Access Token encrypted server-side.
Never store in localStorage.
Never expose token to client components.
Use token only in server routes/actions.
Provide disconnect/delete option.

Public Share Pages

Only expose aggregate non-sensitive data.

Do not expose:

raw events
token
email
private user IDs
full personal comments
embarrassing detailed inactivity history

Demo Mode

Do not require real token.

Hackathon Demo Golden Path

60-second demo:

Landing page:
- Devine — Define your stack, develop your mind.
Connect daily.dev:
- paste Personal Access Token or use demo mode.
Dashboard opens:
- default Code Monkey state.
Show duck:
- speech bubble jokes about shallow technical understanding.
Simulate or fetch activity:
- read
- bookmark
- upvote
- comment
- share
Energy rises:
- progress bar animates
- health stabilizes
Seniority breakdown:
- show reading, curation, discussion, topic variety
Personalized quest:
- “Join the Conversation”
Complete quest:
- earn Social Boost or Medicine
Duck evolves:

Grounded Scholar state
speech bubble becomes more analytical

Generate public share snapshot:

/share/[snapshotId]

MVP Build Priorities

Priority 1: Core Shell

Next.js app
Tailwind layout
landing page
dashboard page
settings page
share page route

Priority 2: Scoring Engine

energy calculation
daily caps
health calculation
seniority score
health states
seniority levels

Priority 3: Demo Mode

default Code Monkey state
persona presets
simulation buttons
quest completion
power-up inventory

Priority 4: Database

Drizzle schema
Neon connection
users
activity events
snapshots
inventory
share snapshots

Priority 5: daily.dev Integration

token input
encrypted token storage
server-side API client
fetch profile/feed/bookmarks
map posts/tags into activity model

Priority 6: Visual Pet

SVG React component
4 seniority variants
hibernating variant
micro-animations

Priority 7: Share Snapshot

create snapshot
public URL
privacy-safe render

Priority 8: Polish

speech bubble templates
next best action
onboarding cards
responsive UI
error states

Non-Goals for MVP

Do not build yet:

full AI chat
leaderboard
browser extension
real-time webhook system
background cron worker
image export/PNG generation
complex anti-cheat
advanced OAuth unless daily.dev clearly supports it
full article reading analytics
public social graph

MVP Success Criteria

The MVP is successful if a judge can:

Understand Devine from the landing page in under 10 seconds.
Connect daily.dev or use demo mode.
See a rubber duck with health, energy, and seniority.
Trigger daily.dev-style actions and watch energy change.
Understand why seniority changes from the breakdown.
Complete a quest and earn/use a power-up.
See the duck personality change by level.
Generate a public share snapshot.
Understand how daily.dev data powers the habit loop.

Final Product Positioning

Devine is a developer habit companion powered by daily.dev.

It turns reading, bookmarking, upvoting, sharing, and discussion into a playful evolution system for a rubber duck that reflects how meaningfully you learn.

You do not just feed the duck.

You define your stack. You develop your mind.

FilesExpand file tree

mvp.md

Latest commit

History

mvp.md

File metadata and controls