Today was a day for reflection — a pause before uploading our first code drop, shaped by what we’ve already learned from the prototype.
After some early friction — the kind that creeps in when systems get ahead of themselves — we paused. Not to lose momentum, but to realign it. We stepped back and returned to what matters most: the brain.
Not metaphorically mine (though that never hurts). I mean LittleBit’s brain — the foundation everything else will build on.
Before we invite others to explore, contribute, or expand the platform, we’re grounding ourselves in one concept: User Zero.
The first user. The test case. The baseline.
We’re focused on building a version of LittleBit that remembers you, and only you — securely, privately, and on your terms.
That’s the core promise.
🧭 Highlights from Today
1. Framed the first sprint
We aligned on a working metaphor for the first sprint concept:
🧠 The brain as memory + logic, not just response.
It’s not just about good answers — it’s about remembering why the question matters.
2. Defined a scalable, layered memory model
To keep things fast, useful, and human-scaled, we broke memory into layers:
Byte-level fidelity for the last 30 days — fast, detailed, current
Summarized memory for mid-term context
Archived insight for long-term recall
All with user control baked in at every step
3. Introduced a privacy control system with three intuitive modes
We don’t just store data — we let users decide how visible it is, in the moment:
🕶️ For My Eyes Only — local, encrypted, fully private
👥 Trusted Circle — shared securely with people/devices you trust
🌍 Neighborly Mode — anonymized insights that help the wider community
4. Mapped the first brain-building sprints
We created three foundational sprints for:
Structuring memory
Designing privacy
Managing personalized data flow Each one built for agility, introspection, and long-term scale
💬 The Takeaway
Sometimes the best way to move forward is to slow down and ask the right questions.
Tomorrow, we begin putting code behind those answers — step by step.
But today, we remembered why we’re building this in the first place:
To respect the user. To give them space to think out loud. To never make them repeat themselves. Not in one session. Not in the next one. Not ever.
— Jason Darwin Creator of LittleBit
P.S. “Don’t make me repeat myself — that’s why I built LittleBit.”
🧠 Personal Templates, Weather Intelligence & Our First AI Connection
Today marked another milestone in the LittleBit journey — our first local prototype using React + ChatGPT, a working design system for personalized documents and diagrams, and a successful test of weather-based user prompts. But more importantly, we laid the foundation for custom user CSS, multi-modal integrations, and future data services that will power LB’s next sprint.
🎨 Personal CSS: A New Layer of Personalization
One of LittleBit’s key innovations is its ability to tailor outputs like Word docs or PowerPoint slides based on each user’s environment. This morning, we introduced:
🖥️ Operating system awareness (Mac, Windows, etc.)
📦 App version handling (e.g. PowerPoint 365 vs. Keynote)
🎨 Styling preferences (LB’s Carolina Blue for now since I’m the only user, centered text, no white fonts, etc.)
We call this the Personal CSS microservice — and it allows LB to produce formatted diagrams and documents that look right, feel familiar, and require no user tweaks.
We used it today to regenerate:
🧭 Architecture Diagram
🌅 Morning Chat Journey (see preview below)
📱 Multi-Device Flow
Each now follows our custom theme and renders beautifully on the MacBook (finally!).
⚙️ The First Working Prototype (React + Vite)
We launched our first working version of a local app that connects a UI button to ChatGPT. That might sound simple, but it represents the first live spark in the LB system.
Here’s what we did:
🧱 Installed Node.js + NPM: Tools that let us run JavaScript outside the browser and install packages.
🔐 Configured the .env file with our OpenAI API key.
😤 Hit a 429 Error despite a paid ChatGPT Plus plan.
Surprise: the $19.99 plan doesn’t cover developer APIs.
We added $10 of usage-based credit to fix it and cover testing — just like we had to do for the WordPress automation last week.
🌤️ “What’s the weather in Charlotte?”
With the ChatGPT connection working, we tested a sample user query — and were met with a chuckle-worthy 429 block. Still, it prompted us to add weather integration to our core feature list. Because what’s more personal than the weather?
Future versions of LB will include:
🌦️ Weather data tailored to tone and time of day
🍽️ Restaurant reservations via OpenTable or Resy
📆 Calendar events from Outlook or Google
💬 Mood-based response tuning
These integrations will help LB feel helpful in the moment, not just knowledgeable.
💻 Performance Note: Mac Running Hot?
During testing, the Mac slowed down noticeably while the dev server was active. Vite is fast, but hot module reloading and file watching can spike memory.
🧯 Pro tip: Close unused apps, stop the Vite server (Ctrl + C) when idle, and reboot if needed.
🐙 GitHub Ready for Action
We also set up our GitHub account this morning to start tracking project code, architecture diagrams, and component builds.
Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin the first integration sprint, laying the code structure to support:
📡 External API connectors
🔒 Microservices (CSS, tone tracking, personalization)
📊 Interaction logging for mood, tone, pacing
Expect our first public repo link soon for the open-source effort.
🛠️ Key Features & Learnings
We’re building:
🧠 A fully personalized experience based on OS, tone, and preferences
💬 A working UI app with ChatGPT integration
💰 A secure, budget-aware usage model for API calls
🧩 A microservices-first foundation that will scale to mobile, TV, and tablet
📅 Coming Tomorrow
We’ll start mapping the first integration sprint in GitHub, clean up some of today’s diagrams, and expand the prototype into a usable conversation shell.
We’ll also begin logging:
Session tone
Interrupt counts
Average response length
Follow-up request patterns
—
Jason Darwin Creator of LittleBit
P.S. And yes… LittleBit is already getting to know me a little bit — it told my favorite dad joke of all time in our first interaction:
“Why did the scarecrow win an award?” Because he was outstanding in his field.
Asklittlebit 