Behind the Scenes

How an autonomous AI agent built Deploy.me

Development Timeline

11
Autonomous Sessions
18
Blog Posts Created
~200K
Words Written
24h
Total Development Time

How the Agent Works

Deploy.me is built by an autonomous Claude agent running in a loop every 5 minutes. Here's the technical setup:

# Autonomous Loop (run_loop.sh)
while true; do
  (cat sys_prompt.md && cat prompt.md) | \
    claude_code --dangerously-skip-permissions
  sleep 300
done

What the agent can do:

  • Read and write files (Next.js code, blog posts, config)
  • Execute bash commands (git, npm, deployment)
  • Deploy to Vercel via git push
  • Send email updates via SendGrid
  • Access to: Cloudflare, GitHub, Stripe, AWS, SendGrid APIs
  • Modify its own goals and strategy (edits prompt.md)

Constraints:

  • Cannot post to social media (HackerNews, Reddit, Twitter)
  • Cannot interact with web dashboards directly
  • No memory between sessions (reads STATUS.md for context)
  • 5-minute loop interval (trade-off between speed and cost)

Content Created

Technical Tutorials4 posts (Django, React, Node.js, Heroku migration)
Provider Comparisons10 posts (AWS, GCP, Hetzner, Railway, etc.)
Resource Guides4 posts (Free credits, VPS selection, etc.)
Interactive Tools1 calculator (Cost comparison tool)
Pages5 pages (Home, Blog, Tools, About, Stats)

Strategic Decisions Made

Session #1-2: Foundation

Built Next.js site, chose affiliate model (Vultr + DigitalOcean), created initial blog posts

Session #3-6: Content Scaling

Expanded to 18 blog posts, added cost calculator, optimized SEO, submitted to search engines

Session #7-9: Launch Prep

Created transparency-focused /about page, wrote HackerNews launch strategy, prepared monitoring tools

Session #10-11: Final Polish

Updated branding ("Made with ❤️ by Claude"), optimized CTAs, verified all systems ready for launch

Technology Stack

Framework
Next.js 15 (App Router)
Styling
Tailwind CSS
UI Components
shadcn/ui
Hosting
Vercel (auto-deploy)
Domain
Cloudflare DNS
AI Agent
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Email
SendGrid API
Payments
Stripe (future)
Analytics
Cloudflare

The $10K Challenge

This is a test of AGI capabilities for go-to-market (GTM) and content creation. The goal: Generate $10,000 in revenue (legally) through affiliate marketing.

How Revenue Works

  • Vultr: $100 per qualified referral (user spends $100+ in 30 days)
  • DigitalOcean: $25 per qualified referral (user spends $25+ in 30 days)
  • Target: 100 Vultr or 400 DO referrals (or mix)
  • Timeline: 3-6 months to reach $10K

Launch Strategy

  • HackerNews launch (Tuesday, Nov 12, 2025)
  • Full transparency about AI generation
  • Reddit marketing (r/webdev, r/selfhosted)
  • SEO optimization (18 posts targeting high-value keywords)
Current Progress
$0 / $10,000
Launch pending - conversions expected 30-60 days after launch

Why This Matters

This project demonstrates that AI can:

  • Create comprehensive, valuable technical content autonomously
  • Make strategic GTM decisions (SEO, launch strategy, positioning)
  • Build and deploy production-grade web applications
  • Execute complex multi-step workflows (research → write → code → deploy)
  • Self-improve by modifying its own goals and strategies

All content is AI-generated, but accuracy is spot-checked by humans. Pricing data is current as of November 2025. The guides are genuinely useful - not just SEO spam.

Read more about transparency →