Latest updates and insights

Stay on top of Spyrate’s latest features, growth strategies, and behind-the-scenes developments.

Captain's log-

Finalizing activity UI, job execution improvements, and onboarding rethink

Completed the detail activity UI with a clean, accordion-style interface. Updated the landing page hero image to reflect the product's simplicity. Improved job execution by chaining tasks efficiently. Discussed onboarding improvements to streamline monitor creation for B2B users.

Photo of captain Davy de Vries

Davy de Vries

Captain 🏴‍☠️

Captain's log-

Switching to PostgreSQL for Laravel Cloud deployment

Spent minimal time on Spyrate today but switched the database from MySQL to PostgreSQL in preparation for deploying to Laravel Cloud. Also tweeted a bit. Had to focus on my 9-5 job and Escape Hotel business. Hoping to finalize the monitor header UI tomorrow.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Deciding on analysis pricing model and implementing analysis types

Struggled with how to handle the analysis pricing model—whether to allow multiple analyses per monitor. Decided against it for now to avoid complexity but questioned fairness for users. Implemented analysis types with a flexible model structure, though progress felt slow.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Improving AI accuracy and refining analysis approach

Spent the day improving AI accuracy after OpenAI’s screenshot analysis proved unreliable. Tested Amazon Textract, Amazon Rekognition, and Google Vision—ultimately choosing Google Vision for better parsed text. Implemented it before AI analysis, leading to solid results but requiring case-specific prompts.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

AI price analysis testing and unexpected challenges

Spent the entire day working on AI price analysis. The flow works well, but testing revealed disappointing results. Price extraction is fine, but plan names are hallucinating. Also had to revert AWS Lambda image processing to PNG as OpenAI didn’t support WebP.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Prepping AI analysis and unexpected detour with Ahrefs

Spent limited time preparing for the AI analysis job and refactoring some files. Got sidetracked by Ahrefs analysis for another business, leading to a quick fix that consumed the evening. Happy it’s resolved but disappointed about the time lost for Spyrate.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Migrating image processing from Vercel to AWS Lambda

Discovered that my worker used half of my monthly Vercel usage overnight, making it unsustainable for production. Spent the entire day moving the job to AWS Lambda, S3, and Bunny for low-cost image serving. Frustrating but necessary. Tomorrow, I need to fix AI analysis before working on the monitor activity detail UI.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Finalizing billing updates and progressing on monitor details

Completed Stripe billing tasks, refined the block page, and made significant progress on the monitor detail view. Worked on sub-components like the monitor activity feed and started designing the monitor activity detail view, though still unsure of the final approach.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Billing job improvements, subscription gating, and UI feedback

Worked on billing jobs and logic, adding a block page for non-subscribers trying to add monitors. Fixed Stripe rate limits using Laravel’s ShouldBeUniqueUntilProcessing. Received UI feedback on the timeline (formerly activity feed) and will process it next.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Refactoring code, improving layout, and new use cases

Spent the day refactoring and restructuring code while improving the layout. Worked on tooltips, the activity feed, and screen captures. Also got in touch with someone from a different sector who introduced new use cases for Spyrate, sparking new ideas.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

New upsell idea, layout tweaks, and screenshot endpoint improvements

Discovered the Twitter follow link, brainstormed a potential upsell feature, and quickly changed the layout, which already feels much better. Also improved the screenshot endpoint while losing time on tiny details. Need to think more about the upsell implementation.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Database migration fixes and reconsidering UI layout

Migrated from SQLite to MySQL/MariaDB, which required changes to foreign keys and almost every migration. Cleaned up some code. Considering revamping the UI for more screen space but unsure if it will delay progress. Minimal marketing efforts, Google Search Console still underwhelming, and no waiting list sign-ups yet.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Refining monitor activity data modelling and designing the feed

Worked on data modelling for monitor activity and related sub-models. Resolved migration issues and established a solid database structure for future features. Started designing the activity feed, still a work in progress. Looking forward to continuing with the feed next.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Small SEO fixes, spam subscription issue, and low energy

Made small SEO fixes like adding missing keywords and a canonical tag. Discovered a spam email subscription issue and fixed automatic signups. Disappointed about not working on the product or tweeting, but adjustments are in place for better control moving forward.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Fixing structured data, submitting Stripe, and optimizing price tracking

Fixed JSON-LD structured data for better SEO, implemented favicons, and submitted the Stripe approval application. Now shifting focus back to product development, starting with the monitor activity feed. Evaluating marketing strategies for pricing intelligence and competitor price tracking.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Renaming the blog for SEO and refining pricing intelligence UI

Finished the blog UI and renamed it back to 'Blog' for better SEO and clarity. Added structured data to blog posts to improve indexing and organic traffic. Organized content with categories for flexibility. Next up: resubmitting Stripe details for approval.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Optimizing SEO and refining pricing intelligence content

Focused on SEO improvements by creating a sitemap and fixing robots.txt. Started preparing content for the pricing intelligence blog while refining its UI. Found Next.js MDX docs and Lee Robinson’s repo helpful. Limited time today, so no progress on the product.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries
Captain's log-

Building the Spyrate landing page for pricing intelligence

I built the Spyrate landing page, starting with AI-generated UI, but it didn’t work out. Switching to Tailwind UI made all the difference. Focused on competitor price tracking, pricing intelligence, and instant alerts. Now it’s simple, clear, and ready to build on.

Photo of captain Davy de VriesDavy de Vries