banatie-strategy/ROADMAP.md

# 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 (Track A remaining)  
**Focus:** Capture 31K+ monthly placeholder image searches  
**Next Task:** Create landing page `/placeholder-images`  
**Last Updated:** January 7, 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

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

### DataForSEO Integration (Dec 26, 2025)
- [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

### Project Knowledge Integration (Dec 29-30, 2025)
- [x] **BANATIE-CONTENT-INTEGRATION.md** created in Project Knowledge
- [x] **BANATIE-SERVICE-INTEGRATION.md** created in Project Knowledge

### First Content Published & Pipeline Validated (Jan 7, 2026)
- [x] **Henry Bonson's first article published** on dev.to
- [x] **Article:** "Inside Claude's Sandbox: What Happens When Claude.ai Creates a File"
- [x] **URL:** https://dev.to/h1gbosn/inside-claudes-sandbox-what-happens-when-claudeai-creates-a-file-4gna
- [x] **Full agent pipeline tested** — @architect → @writer → @editor → @seo → @image-gen
- [x] **Pipeline improvements documented** in `banatie-content/shared/`:
  - `assets-folder-standard.md` — asset structure (outline.md, text.md, seo-metadata.md, log-chat.md)
  - `log-chat-format.md` — agent activity logging for iterations
  - `inline-edits-syntax.md` — human inline edits `[text]` + `/apply` command
  - `patch-seo-agent.md` — text optimization responsibilities
  - `patch-image-gen-agent.md` — proactive visual analysis

---

## ✅ Completed: Placeholder SEO Sprint — Tracks B+C (Jan 2-5, 2026)

### Research Findings (Jan 2, 2026)
- [x] **Deep dive 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

### Track C: Homepage Quick Wins ✅ COMPLETE
- [x] **Keywords in metadata** — added placeholder-related keywords
- [x] **PromptUrlsSection** — updated to mention placeholders first

### Track B: Docs Section ✅ COMPLETE
- [x] **Live URLs docs enhanced** — added placeholder section with examples
- [x] **Guides section created** — `/docs/guides/`
- [x] **Placeholder Images guide** — `/docs/guides/placeholder-images/`
  - Templates (general, photorealistic, illustration, etc.)
  - Dark mode and color control
  - Common use cases (avatars, heroes, products)
  - File-based workflow

---

## 🔄 Active: Placeholder SEO Sprint — Track A

### Track A: Landing Page `/placeholder-images` ⏳ TODO

**Goal:** Capture 14,800+ monthly searches for core "placeholder image" keyword

**Target Keywords:**
| Keyword | Volume | KD |
|---------|--------|-----|
| placeholder image | 14,800 | 18 |
| image placeholder | 14,800 | 17 |
| ai placeholder images | — | — |
| placeholder image generator | 480 | 32 |

**Page Structure:**
- Hero with instant demo
- How It Works (3 steps)
- Interactive size grid
- Comparison table (vs placehold.co, picsum)
- Production bridge CTA

**File:** `apps/landing/src/app/(landings)/placeholder-images/page.tsx`

---

## 📊 Production URLs Status

| URL | Purpose | Status |
|-----|---------|--------|
| https://banatie.app/ | Landing page | ✅ Live |
| https://banatie.app/docs/guides/placeholder-images | Placeholder guide | ✅ Live |
| https://api.banatie.app/ | API service | 🔄 Deployed |
| https://cdn.banatie.app/ | Image CDN | 🔄 Deployed |

---

## 📅 Next Up: Content Marketing Sprint (After Placeholder Landing)

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

| Priority | Content Type | Target Keyword | Volume | KD |
|----------|--------------|----------------|--------|-----|
| 🥇 | Landing page | placeholder images | 14,800 | 18 |
| 🥈 | Dev tutorial | placeholder images api | 90 | 12 |
| 🥈 | Tutorial | image placeholder html | 320 | 34 |

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

---

## 🚦 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

---

## 📋 Backlog

### Technical
- [ ] Docs page with API examples
- [ ] MCP Server implementation
- [ ] SDK TypeScript/Python
- [ ] CLI tool
- [ ] Banatie MCP for article images (cdn.banatie.app hosting)

### Marketing
- [ ] Reddit r/cursor launch post
- [ ] Product Hunt launch
- [ ] Case studies

### SEO & Content
- [ ] Research additional keyword clusters
- [ ] Competitor keyword gap analysis (fal.ai, runware.ai)

---

## 🎯 Success Definitions

### Current Phase Success
- ✅ Full stack deployed and working
- ✅ Landing page live with good SEO
- ✅ Keyword research methodology validated
- ✅ Placeholder docs/guide created
- ✅ Content pipeline validated (first article published)
- ⏳ Placeholder landing page
- ⏳ ICP validated externally
- ⏳ First paying customers

### Q1 2025 Success
- $500-1K MRR
- 10-20 active users
- Top-10 rankings for target keywords

---

**Roadmap Owner:** @men + Oleg  
**Last Updated:** January 7, 2026  
**Next Review:** After placeholder landing page deployment  
**Version:** 4.5 (Content pipeline milestone added Jan 7, 2026)

**Key Documents:**
- [19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md](execution/19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md) — Current sprint ⭐
- [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