Roadmap

What's being built, documented as it happens. Code, decisions, screwups. All visible.

Slop Detector V2 — In Progress

Ground-up rebuild of the detection engine. 3 of 7 epics complete (Detection, UI, Launch Hardening). 299 tests passing. Security hardened. Ready for public launch.

Epic 1: Detection Engine + Confidence

✓ Complete

Decoupled Origin/Quality pipelines with formal interfaces. V3-ready architecture.

  • ✓ Story 1.0: Decouple Origin/Quality interfaces
  • ✓ Story 1.1: Rules-authoritative architecture
  • ✓ Story 1.2: Origin signal detection (35+ signals)
  • ✓ Story 1.3: Quality signal detection (65 clichés, Jaccard)
  • ✓ Story 1.4: Scoring with density/combo bonuses
  • ✓ Story 1.5: Confidence bands + ESL detection
  • ✓ Story 1.6: Remove cross-pollination (36 native quality signals)

Epic 2: UI & Explanation System

✓ Complete

Signal citations with JSON/Markdown export, prominent ESL warning banner, collapsible sections, progressive disclosure. All 7 stories complete.

  • ✓ Story 2.1: Signal citation system with character positions
  • ✓ Story 2.2: ESL warning banner (61% false positive stat)
  • ✓ Story 2.3-2.4: Collapsible signal sections
  • ✓ Story 2.5: Language audit (detection → analysis)
  • ✓ Story 2.6: Basic analytics tracking
  • ✓ Story 2.7: Test data filtering flag

Epic 3: Test Corpus & Validation

7/9 Done

54-sample corpus with regression testing. Multi-model + anti-signal expansion complete.

  • ✓ Directory structure + TypeScript types
  • ✓ 30+ obvious-slop samples (ChatGPT, GPT-5.2, Gemini, Wikipedia)
  • ✓ 10 human-written samples (Gutenberg, Wikipedia pre-2022)
  • ✓ 13 polished-ai samples (including anti-signal prompted)
  • ✓ Regression test runner + CI pipeline
  • ✓ Multi-model generation (GPT-5.2, Gemini)
  • ✓ Anti-signal prompted polished AI
  • ○ Humanizer adversarial samples
  • ○ Supabase feedback export (full)

Epic 4: Launch Hardening

✓ Complete

Security and compliance for public launch. Bot protection, rate limiting, cost controls, CSP headers, privacy policy.

  • ✓ Story 4.1: Circuit breaker ($5/hr, $25/day API limits)
  • ✓ Story 4.2: Turnstile + rate limiting + constant-time response
  • ✓ Story 4.3: CSP headers + XSS audit
  • ✓ Story 4.4: Privacy policy page

Epic 5: V2.5 UX/Engagement

V2.5

Transform from utility tool to engagement platform. Voice fingerprinting, leaderboards, and community contribution.

  • ○ Voice fingerprint MVP — understand your writing style
  • ○ Voice transformation — AI drafts → your voice
  • ○ Leaderboard — gamification and viral sharing
  • ○ Contribution flow — community corpus building
  • ○ Verdict voting — one-click feedback

Epic 6: Statistical Features

Later

Burstiness analysis, em-dash density, type-token ratio. Quantitative signals that complement pattern matching.

Epic 7: API Endpoint

Optional

REST API at /api/detect for programmatic access. Will build if there's demand.

Shipped

74 items

Dec 16

Blog post or documentation Vibe Distillery: 1 new insight
Blog post or documentation Blog rubric + queue rewrite
Visual or UX change Rebrand: 'Build in public' positioning
New feature Epic 3 expansion: Multi-model + anti-signal corpus
Infrastructure or tooling Security hardening: PAL review fixes
Major milestone Epic 4 Complete: Launch Hardening
New feature Story 4.4: Privacy policy
New feature Story 4.3: CSP headers + security hardening
New feature Story 4.1: API cost protection
Blog post or documentation Vibe Distillery: 2 new insights
New feature Vibe Coding Insights page
Blog post or documentation The Stack v11: Style Extractor + de-slopped
Blog post or documentation Going Too Fast blog post
Design or planning work Epic renumbering by priority
New feature Story 4.2: Subscribe hardening
Design or planning work Epic 4 tech spec + stories drafted

Dec 15

Visual or UX change Blog version info moved to top
Design or planning work Epic 2 Retrospective completed
Infrastructure or tooling Migration 003: is_test flag applied to prod
Major milestone Epic 2 Complete: Detection Engine + Confidence
New feature Story 2.0: Decouple detection pipelines
Infrastructure or tooling BMAD sprint-status sync
Major milestone Epic 4 Complete: UI & Explanation System
Infrastructure or tooling CLAUDE.md protection rules
Major milestone Story 1.9: Feedback export to corpus

Dec 14

Major milestone Story 2.6: Cross-pollination removed
Blog post or documentation The Stack v8: PAL MCP + GPT-5.2
Infrastructure or tooling PAL MCP integrated with GPT-5.2
Design or planning work Epic 6 + 13 new stories added
Major milestone Party Mode: V2 architecture locked
Design or planning work Supabase analytics discovery
New feature Per-signal weight cap + cross-pollination tests

Dec 13

New feature Signal grouping in results UI
Bug fix or improvement Removed accuracy warning from UI
Major milestone Story 2.5: Confidence bands + ESL detection
New feature Story 2.4: Scoring algorithm with bonuses
New feature Story 2.3: Enhanced quality signal detection
New feature Story 2.2: Enhanced origin signal detection
Design or planning work Epic 2 stories drafted (2.2-2.5)
Major milestone Story 2.1: Rules-authoritative detection architecture
Blog post or documentation Wispr Flow added to The Stack
New feature Living documents: updatedDate + Addendum
New feature Contact email in footer

Dec 12

Visual or UX change V1 disclaimer banner on Slop Detector
Blog post or documentation 100 Pages of Planning blog post
Major milestone Epic 1 Complete: Test Corpus & Validation
New feature Regression test runner + CI
New feature 10 polished-ai samples
New feature 10 human-written samples

Dec 11

Major milestone Test corpus: 25 obvious-slop samples
New feature Test corpus directory structure
Infrastructure or tooling Project renamed to Unreliable Machine
Infrastructure or tooling Proton Mail configured
New feature Subscribe form on every page
Bug fix or improvement Code review quick wins
Design or planning work Code review completed
New feature Blog queue voting
Visual or UX change Compact shipped section
New feature Roadmap page + subscriber counter
Infrastructure or tooling Vercel Analytics
Design or planning work V2 sprint planning
Blog post or documentation The Stack blog post

Dec 10

New feature Subscriber notifications
Bug fix or improvement External links open in new tab

Dec 9

Blog post or documentation Slop Detector Ships blog post
Design or planning work V2 architecture complete
Design or planning work V2 PRD complete

Dec 8

Blog post or documentation Hello World blog post
New feature Slop Detector v1 live
Infrastructure or tooling Rate limiting

Dec 7

Visual or UX change Winter blue theme
New feature Mobile hamburger menu
New feature Email capture with Supabase

Dec 6

Major milestone Site goes live

Blog Queue

Posts in the pipeline. Vote for what you want to read next.

My Claude Setup That Ships Code 10x Faster

drafted

The actual mechanics: personas, CLAUDE.md context files, MCP servers. Full walkthrough of my daily workflow.

#ai#technique#tools#meta

I Made 3 AIs Argue About My Code

idea

Claude, Gemini, and GPT-5.2 reviewing the same PR. The value is in disagreements, not agreement. How they found a bug I missed.

#ai#technique#tools

60% of Users Aren't Hunting AI

idea

They're checking their own writing. Slop Detector data shows people want authenticity confirmation, not detection. Product pivot incoming.

#slop-detector#product#insights

Why Every AI Detector is Broken

idea

ESL false positives, paraphrasing defeats everything, and the fundamental impossibility of proving origin. What I learned building one anyway.

#slop-detector#research#technical

I Trusted My Docs and Broke Everything

idea

Session notes said Epic 1 was complete. It wasn't. Documentation drifts. The only truth is the actual files.

#ai#process#mistakes

How I Built an AI Corpus Without Cheating

idea

The provenance problem: you can't train on what you can't prove. Wikipedia reverts, Gutenberg texts, and defensible origins.

#slop-detector#corpus#research

AI Will Always Tell You Your Ideas Are Good

idea

I asked Claude to be a brutal HN commenter and tear apart my site. It found real problems I'd been blind to. The sycophancy problem and how to hack around it with personas.

#ai#technique#process

Future Ideas (V3+)

After V2.5. No promises.

Product

  • • ML origin detection — Self-hosted inference (Fast-DetectGPT, Binoculars)
  • • Browser extension — Analyze text anywhere
  • • De-slop rewriter — Fix AI patterns, not just detect them

Distribution

  • • Twitter/X presence — @unreliablemachine (claim handle)
  • • Reddit strategy — r/ChatGPT, r/artificial, r/writing
  • • HN launch — When V2 detection is validated
  • • Product Hunt — After HN feedback incorporated