# Banatie Project Roadmap

## 📅 Date Management Approach

**Philosophy:** Dates for completed work (track velocity), estimates for future work (reduce stress).

- ✅ **Completed tasks:** Record actual completion date
- 🔄 **In progress:** Show start date + estimated duration
- 📅 **Future tasks:** Show estimated duration only
- 🎯 **Milestones:** Relative timeframes from key decision points

**Why:** With 15-20 hrs/week availability, fixed deadlines create false pressure.

---

## 🎯 Current Status

**Phase:** Pre-launch / Full Stack Deployed
**Sprint:** Placeholder SEO Sprint ⭐ ACTIVE
**Focus:** Capture 31K+ monthly placeholder image searches
**Next Milestone:** Landing page `/placeholder-images` + Docs section live
**Last Updated:** January 2, 2026

**See:** [19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md](execution/19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md)

---

## ✅ Completed: Production Infrastructure (Dec 15-23, 2025)

### Landing Page (Dec 15, 2025)
- [x] Landing page deployed to banatie.app
- [x] Cloudflare CDN + Cache Rules configured
- [x] Google Search Console verified
- [x] Umami Analytics connected
- [x] SEO meta tags + OG image configured
- [x] PageSpeed 95+ mobile achieved

### Full Stack Deployment (Dec 23, 2025)
- [x] **API service deployed** → api.banatie.app
- [x] **PostgreSQL running** (isolated instance)
- [x] **MinIO storage configured** → cdn.banatie.app
- [x] **MinIO Console** → storage.banatie.app
- [x] **Master API key generated**
- [x] **Caddy reverse proxy configured** for all endpoints
- [x] **DNS records added** (api, cdn, storage subdomains)
- [ ] **Full API testing** (generation, upload, CDN URLs) — planned by Dec 27

**See:** [18-production-infrastructure.md](execution/18-production-infrastructure.md)

### DataForSEO Integration (Dec 26, 2025) ⭐ NEW
- [x] **DataForSEO MCP Server connected** to Claude Code
- [x] **First keyword research completed** — "placeholder images" cluster
- [x] **Research methodology validated** — $0.14 per full research cycle
- [x] **Content opportunities identified** — 5 articles with clear targets

**See:** [research/seo-keyword-research-placeholder-images.md](research/seo-keyword-research-placeholder-images.md)

### Project Knowledge Integration (Dec 29-30, 2025) ⭐ NEW
- [x] **BANATIE-CONTENT-INTEGRATION.md** created in Project Knowledge
  - Navigation map for banatie-content repository
  - Multi-agent system (9 agents), content pipeline, research structure
  - Strategic input channels defined (inbox, Perplexity threads)
- [x] **BANATIE-SERVICE-INTEGRATION.md** created in Project Knowledge
  - Navigation map for banatie-service technical repository
  - Monorepo structure, API docs paths, landing components
  - Production URLs, deployment commands, key differentiators

**Purpose:** Enable @men to find authoritative information across repositories during strategy sessions.

### Placeholder Niche Discovery (Jan 2, 2026) ⭐ NEW
- [x] **Deep dive research completed** — 31K+ monthly searches discovered
- [x] **Zero-KD keywords identified** — 10+ keywords with KD 0-5
- [x] **Direct user validation found** — r/ClaudeAI quote about MCP for placeholders
- [x] **Execution plan created** — 19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md

**See:** [19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md](execution/19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md)

### Known Issues (Minor)
- [ ] Healthcheck: containers show "unhealthy" (no curl in images)
- [ ] Cache permission: landing warns about `.next/cache`

---

## 🔄 Active Sprint: Placeholder SEO Sprint

### Track A: Landing Page `/placeholder-images` (Priority 1)
- [ ] Verify Live URLs support `?width=X&height=Y` parameters
- [ ] Create MVP landing page (text-only, Hero + How It Works + Code + CTA)
- [ ] Deploy and submit to GSC
- [ ] Enhance with visuals and interactive size grid

**Target:** 14,800+ monthly searches (KD 17-18)

### Track B: Docs Section `/docs/placeholders/` (Priority 2)
- [ ] Create `/docs/placeholders/` overview page
- [ ] Create `/docs/placeholders/dark-mode/` (4,400 vol, KD 2) ← HIGHEST PRIORITY
- [ ] Create `/docs/placeholders/profiles/` (720 vol, KD 0)
- [ ] Create `/docs/placeholders/sizes/` (1,000+ vol combined)

**Target:** Zero-KD keywords for quick wins

### Track C: Homepage Quick Wins (Immediate)
- [ ] Add placeholder keywords to homepage metadata
- [ ] Update PromptUrlsSection subtitle to mention placeholders
- [ ] Add internal link to `/placeholder-images`

### Paused (Resume After Sprint)
- [ ] ICP interview preparation
- [ ] Content marketing articles for dev.to

---

## 📊 Production URLs Status

| URL | Purpose | Status |
|-----|---------|--------|
| https://banatie.app/ | Landing page | ✅ Live |
| https://api.banatie.app/ | API service | 🔄 Deployed (testing pending) |
| https://cdn.banatie.app/ | Image CDN | 🔄 Deployed (testing pending) |
| https://storage.banatie.app/ | MinIO Console | 🔄 Deployed (testing pending) |

---

## 📅 Upcoming: Content Marketing Sprint (January 2025)

**Duration:** 2 weeks intensive
**Goal:** Establish thought leadership, drive organic traffic

### SEO-Driven Content (from keyword research) ⭐ NEW

| Priority | Content Type | Target Keyword | Volume | KD | Platform |
|----------|--------------|----------------|--------|-----|----------|
| 🥇 | Landing page | placeholder images | 14,800 | 32 | banatie.app |
| 🥇 | Dev tutorial | placeholder images api | 90 | 12 | dev.to + blog |
| 🥈 | Listicle | placeholder image generator | 480 | 32 | dev.to + blog |
| 🥈 | Tutorial | image placeholder html | 320 | 34 | blog |
| 🥉 | Blog post | random image api | 110 | 17 | blog |

**See:** [research/seo-keyword-research-placeholder-images.md](research/seo-keyword-research-placeholder-images.md)

### Additional Planned Content
- Personal articles (dev.to, LinkedIn): 2-3 pieces
- Henry persona articles (dev.to, Hashnode): 4-6 pieces
- Nina persona (Instagram, creative): ongoing

### Platforms
- dev.to
- Hashnode
- daily.dev
- LinkedIn
- Product Hunt (later)

---

## 🚦 Decision Gates

### GATE 1: ICP Validation (Target: January 2025)

**Success criteria:**
- 60%+ interviews say "I would use this"
- 40%+ willing to pay $20+
- 30%+ want early access
- KILLER USE CASE identified

**Possible outcomes:**
- ✅ **GO** → Full market launch
- 🔄 **PIVOT** → Adjust positioning
- 🛑 **STOP** → Fundamental rethink

---

### GATE 2: First Revenue (Target: Q1 2025)

**Success criteria:**
- 5-10 beta users onboarded
- 50+ generations completed
- 2+ users purchase credits

---

### GATE 3: PMF Validation (Target: Q2-Q3 2025)

**Success criteria:**
- $1-2K MRR achieved
- <5% monthly churn
- Organic word-of-mouth

---

## 📋 Backlog

### Technical
- [ ] Docs page with API examples
- [ ] Signup flow automation
- [ ] MCP Server implementation
- [ ] SDK TypeScript/Python
- [ ] CLI tool
- [ ] Image transformations

### Marketing
- [ ] Reddit r/cursor launch post
- [ ] Discord Cursor community engagement
- [ ] Product Hunt launch
- [ ] Case studies

### SEO & Content ⭐ NEW
- [ ] Research additional keyword clusters
- [ ] Expand content-system to cover website pages
- [ ] Competitor keyword gap analysis (fal.ai, runware.ai)

### Infrastructure
- [ ] Healthcheck fix in Dockerfiles
- [ ] Self-hosted Umami migration
- [ ] Email service integration

---

## 🎯 Success Definitions

### Current Phase Success
- ✅ Full stack deployed and working
- ✅ Landing page live with good SEO
- ✅ Keyword research methodology validated ⭐ NEW
- ⏳ ICP validated externally
- ⏳ First paying customers

### Q1 2025 Success
- $500-1K MRR
- 10-20 active users
- Clear PMF signals
- Top-10 rankings for target keywords ⭐ NEW

### Q2 2025 Success
- $2-3K MRR
- Sustainable growth
- Content marketing working

---

**Roadmap Owner:** @men + Oleg
**Last Updated:** January 2, 2026
**Next Review:** End of Placeholder SEO Sprint (mid-January)
**Version:** 4.3 (Placeholder SEO Sprint added Jan 2, 2026)

**Key Documents:**
- [19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md](execution/19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md) - Current sprint plan ⭐ ACTIVE
- [research/seo-keyword-research-placeholder-images.md](research/seo-keyword-research-placeholder-images.md) - Keyword research
- [18-production-infrastructure.md](execution/18-production-infrastructure.md) - Deployment details
- [13-competitive-analysis.md](strategy/13-competitive-analysis.md) - Competitive landscape
- [14-icp-segmentation-unified.md](strategy/14-icp-segmentation-unified.md) - Unified ICP segments