vibn-frontend/BETA_LAUNCH_PLAN.md

Beta Launch Execution Plan

The path from "shipping to ourselves" to "5–10 friendly testers can use Vibn end-to-end without us hand-holding."

Companion to: AI_PATH_B_EXECUTION_PLAN.md (architecture) and AI_CAPABILITIES.md (current state).

Drafted: 2026-04-30. Owner: Mark + AI.

Scope: Everything we agreed in the 2026-04-30 review that's NOT already shipped. Pulls in the unfinished items from Path B (DNS, cert, previews, eval) AND the "before strangers see this" gaps that Path B doesn't cover (runtime errors, error surfaces, onboarding smoke test, landing page, safety rails).

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North star for the beta

A non-technical founder receives a Vibn invite link, signs up, describes what they want to build, sees a working preview within a few minutes, can iterate on it through chat without seeing a stack trace, and can ship it to a real domain — all without us reaching into Coolify on their behalf.

If any of those steps requires us in the loop, beta isn't ready.

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Phase ordering

Sequenced by leverage × blocking risk. Earlier phases unblock later ones.

P1 Previews unlock      ── enables fast-iteration UX & demos ──┐
P2 Stability & visibility ── stops silent rot ─────────────────┤
P3 UX surfaces          ── what the user actually touches ─────┼─── INVITE
P4 Onboarding & safety  ── what a stranger needs day 1 ────────┤
P5 Path B closeout      ── ship the architectural commitments ─┘

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Phase 1 — Previews unlock — SHIPPED 2026-05-01

Goal: dev_server.start returns a clickable https://*.preview.vibnai.com URL that loads in <30s, with HMR working over the proxy.

Why first: the single biggest UX cliff today is "user iterates → 3-7 min Coolify build". Previews collapse it to seconds. Everything else is polish on a slow loop until this lands.

#	Task	Owner	Effort	Status
1.1	Sign up for Cloudflare; add vibnai.com; verify imported records (MX, SPF, wildcard A, apex A)	Mark	15 min	✓ done
1.2	Switch Namecheap nameservers to Cloudflare-assigned NS pair	Mark	2 min	✓ done
1.3	Wait for propagation; verify dig @1.1.1.1 from multiple resolvers	AI	30–120 min	✓ done — 34.19.250.135 from CF + Google resolvers
1.4	Generate Cloudflare API token (DNS edit, vibnai.com only)	Mark	2 min	✓ done — stored in .coolify.env
1.5	Configure Traefik Let's Encrypt DNS-01 with the Cloudflare token	AI	20 min	✓ done — letsencrypt-dns resolver wired in coolify-proxy
1.6	Test wildcard cert issues for *.preview.vibnai.com (curl, browser)	AI	10 min	✓ done — both *.vibnai.com and *.preview.vibnai.com certs issued; curl https://test.preview.vibnai.com returns valid LE cert
1.7	Wire dev_server.start to mint Traefik labels with the wildcard host	AI	1 hr	✓ done — pre-baked labels for ports 3000–3009 in vibn-dev compose; YAML escape bug fixed; cert resolver fixed to letsencrypt-dns
1.8	Spike: WebSocket / Vite HMR through Traefik against vibn-dev container	AI	30 min	✓ done — 101 Switching Protocols, vite-hmr subprotocol negotiated, js-update messages fire within ~1s of file edit. See verified config below.

Definition of done: ✅ AI says "open a Vite dev server", user clicks the URL, sees Vite's welcome page, edits a file via fs.edit, change appears in browser within 5s without manual reload.

Verified Vite config for HMR through Traefik (the system prompt should advertise this exact shape when scaffolding Vite projects):

server: {
  host: '0.0.0.0',
  port: 3001,            // any 3000–3009
  strictPort: true,
  hmr: {
    clientPort: 443,
    protocol: 'wss',
    host: 'preview-{slot}-{slug}-{token}.preview.vibnai.com',
  },
}

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Phase 2 — Stability & visibility

Goal: when something breaks in production, we hear about it before users do.

#	Task	Owner	Effort	Notes
2.1	Reproduce + diagnose ERR_HTTP_HEADERS_SENT from prod logs	AI	1–2 hrs	Likely a server action / API route returning twice
2.2	Reproduce + diagnose TypeError: reading 'z'/'j'/'aa' in prod bundle	AI	1–2 hrs	Minified prod error; suspect react-markdown server/client boundary
2.3	Wire Sentry (or alternative) for both client + server runtime errors	AI	2 hrs	Free tier, scoped DSN per environment
2.4	Wire deployment-failed Coolify webhook → Slack/email	AI	30 min	So we don't find out by users complaining
2.5	Tighten Coolify docker prune to every 6 hrs (vs daily)	AI	5 min	Already discussed; one PATCH call
2.6	Bake HEALTHCHECK 127.0.0.1 into vibn-frontend/Dockerfile so future apps inherit	AI	✓ done 2026-05-01	Already in vibn-frontend/Dockerfile:67-68; comment explains the IPv6 trap
2.7	Audit other Dockerfile-based apps for the same localhost/IPv6 trap	AI	✓ done 2026-05-01	Audited vibn-dev/Dockerfile and vibn-agent-runner/Dockerfile — neither defines a HEALTHCHECK, so neither can hit the localhost/IPv6 trap. No action needed today; revisit when either gets a healthcheck added.
2.8	Tool-error recovery middleware (AI_HARNESS_GAPS.md §1) — pattern-match known-recoverable tool errors and inject synthetic instructions before the model's next round	AI	✓ done 2026-05-01	vibn-frontend/lib/ai/error-recovery.ts. Initial rules: orphan container conflict, image pull denied, port allocated. Wired into app/api/chat/route.ts tool-result loop.

Definition of done: force-fail a route in staging → Sentry alert lands in < 1 min. Force-fail a Coolify deploy → notification fires. Reproduce an orphan-container conflict in prod → model calls apps_unstick instead of delete-and-recreate.

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Phase 3 — UX surfaces (what users actually touch)

Goal: every screen a beta tester lands on either does something useful or gets out of the way. No screens that exist "to teach the data model".

#	Task	Owner	Effort	Notes
3.1	Hosting tab rewrite — focus on the domain (live URL, redeploy, env, logs) instead of master-detail of "live + previews"	AI	4 hrs	Mark flagged earlier
3.2	Replace the chat's "⚠️ Failed to get response. Please try again." with structured errors that show what tool failed and why	AI	2 hrs	Critical — currently zero feedback
3.3	Empty states across Plan/Product/Infrastructure/Hosting that suggest the next AI prompt to try (not just "nothing here")	AI	2 hrs	Vibe coders need a nudge
3.4	Project header URL chips: collapse to a "+N" pill when there are >3 endpoints	AI	30 min	Polish
3.5	Status pill: tooltip should link directly to Coolify build logs	AI	30 min	When user sees "Build failed" they want to know why
3.6	Product tab: confirm it's actually useful day-to-day. Revise scope if not	Mark + AI	1 hr	Open question

Definition of done: a stranger lands on every tab in turn. None of them make us cringe. Each one either shows useful info or gives the user a concrete next action.

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Phase 4 — Onboarding & safety

Goal: a stranger with the invite link can get from "what is this" to "I shipped a thing" without us in the chat.

#	Task	Owner	Effort	Notes
4.1	End-to-end smoke test on a fresh account: signup → workspace → project → first chat → first preview → first deploy	Mark + AI	2 hrs	Walk through with an empty cookie jar; fix everything broken
4.2	Landing page at vibnai.com that explains the product in 30s	Mark + AI	4 hrs	Currently a login screen
4.3	"Delete project" UI in project settings (and underlying Coolify cleanup)	AI	2 hrs	Today only AI can clean up via MCP
4.4	"Delete workspace" UI — same	AI	1 hr
4.5	Auth hardening pass: NextAuth session expiry, CSRF on mutating routes, GitHub OAuth scope review	AI	2 hrs
4.6	Per-workspace compute quota: max N Coolify projects, max N dev containers, soft cap with friendly error	AI	3 hrs	One bad actor today = unbounded GCE bill
4.7	Per-workspace audit log of mutating MCP calls (apps/databases/services create/delete)	AI	2 hrs	We need this when something goes wrong
4.8	Invite link / waitlist page (manual approval) so we control who joins	Mark + AI	1 hr

Definition of done: Mark hands the invite link to one non-developer friend, they get to "shipped a thing" without messaging Mark for help.

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Phase 5 — Path B closeout

Goal: finish the architectural commitments in AI_PATH_B_EXECUTION_PLAN.md that aren't covered above.

#	Task	Owner	Effort	Notes
5.1	Build ghcr.io/vibnai/vibn-dev:latest on the live Coolify host (ssh + setup-on-coolify.sh)	AI	30 min	Pre-req for any new project's dev container
5.2	Hard-remove gitea_file_* from the AI tool list; keep REST routes alive 30 days with deprecation header	AI	1 hr	Path B week 3 task
5.3	Update AI_CAPABILITIES.md to reflect everything that shipped	AI	1 hr
5.4	Eval harness: 10 reference prompts, measure time-to-first-preview, time-to-shipped, tool-call count, success rate	AI	1–2 days	The actual proof Path B works
5.5	Theia / openvscode-server toggle: "Open IDE" button in chat → https://ide-{ws}-{project}.vibnai.com	AI	4 hrs	Week 4 nice-to-have; gates the "user becomes developer" graduation
5.6	Idle-suspend cron — wire POST /api/admin/path-b/idle-sweep to a 5-min schedule once we trust it	AI	30 min	Keeps cost bounded

Definition of done: eval harness reports ≥3× speedup on time-to-first-preview vs. Path A baseline, ≥80% success rate across the 10 reference prompts.

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Sequencing & dependencies

P1.1 → P1.2 → P1.3 → P1.4 → P1.5 → P1.6 → P1.7 → P1.8 ──┐
                                                          │
P2.1, P2.2, P2.3 (parallel)                              │
P2.4, P2.5, P2.6, P2.7 (parallel, low priority)          │
                                                          ├─ P3 (parallel internally)
                                                          │
                                                          ├─ P4.1 (depends on P3 being not-cringe)
                                                          ├─ P4.2 (parallel)
                                                          ├─ P4.3..4.8 (parallel)
                                                          │
                                                          └─ P5 (parallel; some pieces gated by P1)

P1 is the long pole. Everything else can mostly proceed in parallel once P1 unblocks the iteration loop.

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Suggested cadence

• Today (in flight): P1.1 — Cloudflare signup + record verification.
• Tonight / tomorrow: P1.2–P1.8 once nameservers propagate. AI does the cert + Traefik wiring; Mark does the clicks at Cloudflare/Namecheap.
• Day 2: P2.1–P2.3 (runtime error chase + Sentry) + P3.1 (Hosting rewrite) in parallel.
• Day 3: P3.2–P3.6 + P4.1 smoke test.
• Day 4: P4.2 landing page + P4.3–P4.5 deletion/auth.
• Day 5: P4.6–P4.8 quotas/audit/invite + P5.1 vibn-dev image.
• Days 6–10: P5.2–P5.6 closeout, eval harness, polish, then invite first testers.

10 working days from today to "first 5 testers". Tight but doable if no nasty discoveries in P2.

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What we are not doing for beta

Logged so we don't accidentally pull them in:

• Stripe / billing (post-beta — we want to know what to charge for first)
• Mobile-responsive polish (desktop-first beta)
• Multi-region Coolify (single-host is fine for <50 users)
• Replacing Coolify (out of scope; Path B is the abstraction over it)
• Replacing Gitea (Path B's shell.exec already abstracts most of it)
• Plugin marketplace, template marketplace, monetization paths
• Anything requiring us to redo NextAuth / migrate to a different auth
• Theme system / dark mode

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Risks specific to this plan

Risk	Mitigation
Cloudflare DNS propagation breaks email forwarding	We pre-verified MX records in the audit; double-check at Cloudflare review screen before switching nameservers
Traefik wildcard cert acquisition fails on first try	DNS-01 against Cloudflare is well-trodden; if it fails it's fixable, not catastrophic. Old certs keep serving until replaced.
Runtime errors in P2 turn out to be a deeper architectural issue	Time-box investigation to 4 hrs each; if not solved, document workaround and ship anyway, debug after invite
Eval harness reveals Path B is slower than promised	Acceptable to invite testers without 100% Path B coverage as long as the prod-deploy-only path works. Path B is an upgrade, not a gate.
New users hit 100 unforeseen edge cases	This is the point of beta. Triage daily, fix the top-3 each morning.

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How to use this doc

• Treat phase boundaries as soft. If a P2 task unblocks a P3 task and you're there, do it.
• When a task ships, check it off and move it under "Shipped" in AI_CAPABILITIES.md.
• When the plan changes (it will), edit this doc directly, don't fork it.
• Beta success criteria: 5 testers, all reach "shipped a thing", weekly active rate >60% in week 2. If we miss those, the next plan is "what did we get wrong."