Building in Public Just Got Easier

(Loud ape sounds)

I'll be honest — I've been terrible at this.

Building things? That's the easy part. The late nights, the debugging sessions, the quiet satisfaction of watching something finally work. That's where I live.

But telling people about it? Sharing what we built? That's where I disappear.

I spent the last year shipping feature after feature, and you know what I realized? Nobody knew. Not because they didn't care — because I never told them.

Here's the thing about building in public: it's not just about transparency. It's about connection. Every release is a chance to say "here's what I learned." Every research article is a chance to say "I don't have all the answers, but I found something interesting."

So we built something to fix that.

The 70% Problem (Again)

If you've been following along, you know I'm obsessed with the 70% problem — the way AI tools get you most of the way there, then leave you stranded in the details.

Content was my 70% problem. I could write the essays. I could format the MDX. I could commit to git. I could post to Twitter. I could adapt for LinkedIn.

But doing all of that, every time, after already being exhausted from shipping the actual thing? That's where I'd stall.

What We Built

Stage 10.5 in the ID8Pipeline: ANNOUNCE.

After you ship (Stage 10), before you listen (Stage 11), there's now a checkpoint: "Is the release announced on website and social?"

Here's how it works:

1. -/announce-release v1.0.0 "description" — One command triggers everything
2. -Essay generated in my voice (yes, the parenthetical energy, the pattern recognition, all of it)
3. -MDX file created and committed to the website repo
4. -Vercel auto-deploys
5. -X thread posted from @id8labs
6. -LinkedIn post from my profile

Five minutes. Done. No excuses.

The Deeper Pattern

I don't know about you, but I've noticed something about the tools we build for ourselves.

They're never about saving time. Not really.

They're about removing the friction between who we are and who we want to be. I want to be someone who shares what he's learning. I want to be someone who builds in public. I want to be someone who connects the dots for other people, not just for myself.

This pipeline doesn't make me a better writer. It removes the obstacles that were stopping me from being the writer I already am.

What This Means for You

If you're building with Claude Code, you can do the same thing. The skills are open:

• -/write-release — Generate release essays
• -/write-research — Generate research articles
• -/publish-essay — Commit to your website
• -/post-linkedin — Automate LinkedIn posting

All in the claude-settings repo. All customizable to your voice.

The Invitation

Is there anyone else here who ships things and then forgets to tell anyone?

Is there anyone else who has a graveyard of features that nobody knows exist?

Is there anyone else who wants to build in public but keeps getting stuck on the "public" part?

This is what we're doing now. This is what we're building together.

I love each and every one of you.

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This essay was generated using the very pipeline it describes. Meta? Maybe. But it works.