# ThumbGate Community + Course Platform Launch Kit

Generated: 2026-05-04

This pack turns the "start a free Skool group + course platform expansion" idea into operator-ready copy and launch steps. The operating choice is simple: use Skool as the free member community funnel first, use YouTube and Zernio-backed socials for discovery, and keep paid course platforms as republishing surfaces after the free group has proof.

## Primary Offer

**Community name:** ThumbGate Operator Lab

**Short description:** Stop AI coding agents from repeating the same mistake twice.

**Long description:**

ThumbGate Operator Lab is a free community for developers, founders, and AI-agent operators who want safer Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, Amp, and MCP workflows.

Inside, members share repeated-agent-failure stories, get help turning failures into prevention rules, and learn how to wire thumbs-down feedback into pre-action gates that block known-bad tool calls before they execute.

Start free with:

```bash
npx thumbgate init
```

**Primary CTA:** Join the free ThumbGate Operator Lab.

**Secondary CTA:** Book a Workflow Hardening Sprint when one workflow is painful enough to fix.

**Skool URL:** https://www.skool.com/thumbgate-operator-lab-6000

**Fallback landing URL:** https://thumbgate-production.up.railway.app/?utm_source={{platform}}&utm_medium=community_course&utm_campaign=operator_lab_launch&utm_content={{surface}}

## Current Research Snapshot

- Skool member-facing group pricing can be free. It also supports subscription, freemium, tiers, and one-time payment. Source: https://help.skool.com/article/215-how-to-setup-pricing-for-the-group
- Skool owner plans are recurring subscriptions after the trial. Source: https://help.skool.com/article/227-payment-terms-and-policy
- Skool categories are configured from Settings > Community > Categories, with up to 10 categories. Source: https://help.skool.com/article/67-how-to-setup-categories
- Skool logo and cover photo are configured from Settings > General. Source: https://help.skool.com/article/120-how-to-set-up-my-group-logo-and-cover-photo
- Skool Discovery requires the group description, About page description/images, cover image, and enough real posts/activity before the group becomes visible. Sources: https://help.skool.com/article/123-how-to-set-up-my-group-s-about-page and https://help.skool.com/article/153-discovery-faqs
- The current Skool setup flow asked for audience size. Recommended conservative answer: `Under 10k`, unless a primary social profile is verified above 10,000 followers.

## 2026-05-05 Deep Research Update

Validated against official pricing/help pages on 2026-05-05. Pricing and eligibility are volatile, so re-check the linked source before entering a card, buying ads, or publishing a paid listing.

**Best autonomous revenue sequence:**

1. Keep Skool as the free community funnel and use it to collect repeated-failure posts.
2. Use public YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit, and Zernio preview/schedule workflows for discovery.
3. Send serious operators to the owned ThumbGate Pro checkout or Workflow Hardening Sprint intake.
4. Republish the same mini-course outline to one paid course platform only after proof: 10 useful Skool failure posts or 3 qualified sprint conversations.
5. Treat Udemy, Skillshare, and YouTube memberships as discovery/authority channels, not owned-audience revenue infrastructure.

| Platform | Role now | Monetization posture | Current source-backed note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skool | Primary free community | Free group first; paid/freemium later only after proof | Skool supports free, subscription, freemium, tiered, and one-time payment groups. Source: https://help.skool.com/article/215-how-to-setup-pricing-for-the-group |
| Kajabi | Later all-in-one course stack | Do not start paid until the free funnel proves demand | Official pricing page shows Starter at $89/mo monthly or $71/mo annually, 1 product, 250 contacts, 1 website, 1 community; Kajabi Payments rates and third-party provider fees vary by plan. Source: https://www.kajabi.com/pricing |
| Thinkific | Course-first storefront | Candidate for a free mini-course when owned course UX matters | Official pricing page positions Thinkific around Basic, Start, Grow, and Plus plans; verify the current Start price and payment-processing economics immediately before purchase. Source: https://www.thinkific.com/pricing/ |
| Teachable | Course storefront and student apps | Lead magnet only until conversion proof exists | Official pricing page lists Starter at $39/mo monthly with a 7.5% transaction fee and 5 products. Source: https://www.teachable.com/pricing |
| Podia | Simple digital product storefront | Good for checklist/download if we need a lightweight owned offer | Official pricing lists Mover at $39/mo monthly or $33/mo annually with a 5% transaction fee; Shaker at $89/mo monthly or $75/mo annually with no Podia transaction fee. Source: https://www.podia.com/pricing |
| Mighty Networks | Skool alternative | Keep as backup for cohort/community format | Treat as a migration candidate, not a second community to operate in parallel. Source: https://www.mightynetworks.com/pricing |
| Circle | Polished community/events/courses | Upgrade path after Skool proof | Official pricing page lists Professional at $89/mo with a 14-day trial and 2% transaction fee on Professional. Source: https://circle.so/pricing |
| LearnWorlds | Interactive LMS | Use only if the course becomes the product | Official plan comparison notes a $5 per-course-enrollment fee on Starter and no transaction fee on Pro/Learning Center/Corporate. Source: https://www.learnworlds.com/plans/ |
| Udemy | Marketplace discovery | Useful without owning the customer relationship | Official instructor revenue share is 97% for instructor-promotion sales and 37% for non-instructor-promotion marketplace sales, after applicable deductions. Source: https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us/articles/229605008-Instructor-Revenue-Share |
| Skillshare | Watch-time/referral discovery | Authority channel, not a predictable sales channel | Skillshare allocates approximately 20% of monthly subscription revenue to teacher payments, primarily by minutes watched; 2026 rules also add a 50-follower royalty eligibility requirement. Sources: https://help.skillshare.com/hc/en-us/articles/4415798406285-Earn-From-Your-Teaching and https://help.skillshare.com/hc/en-us/articles/41694886825229-Skillshare-Teacher-Earnings-Update-Effective-January-1-2026 |
| YouTube paid/subscribe | Public content first, memberships later | Memberships only after eligibility and policy review | Channel memberships require eligibility, location availability, and policy compliance. Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7636690 |

**What to build before buying another platform:**

- Skool: final About save, cover/icon upload, pinned welcome post, 7 seed prompts, and first 10 invited operators.
- Content: 5 public Shorts scripts from the course outline, each pointing to Skool first and Pro/Sprint second.
- Funnel: UTM-coded links for every platform with `utm_medium=community_course` and `utm_campaign=operator_lab_launch`.
- Proof: a weekly export of member questions, repeated-failure categories, and sprint-qualified conversations.
- Paid expansion gate: one paid course platform at a time, selected by actual funnel evidence, not by feature comparison.

## Skool

**Decision:** Launched first.

Skool is the community home because it supports free groups and can later add paid/freemium/tiered pricing inside the same community. Source: https://help.skool.com/article/215-how-to-setup-pricing-for-the-group

**Group name:** ThumbGate Operator Lab

**Group type:** Free for members

**Cover asset:** `docs/marketing/assets/thumbgate-skool-cover.png`

**Icon asset:** `docs/marketing/assets/thumbgate-skool-icon.png`

**Discovery-ready asset variants:**

- Cover: `docs/marketing/assets/thumbgate-skool-cover-1084x576.png`
- Icon: `docs/marketing/assets/thumbgate-skool-icon-128x128.png`

**Current live setup status:**

- Public group selected.
- Discovery keywords filled.
- Sidebar description filled.
- About page description drafted in the Skool editor and waiting for final public-save confirmation.
- Cover/icon upload is still blocked by the in-app browser file-picker surface; assets are ready locally.
- First public post and invites are queued, but require action-time confirmation before posting/sending.

**About copy:**

Stop your AI coding agent from repeating the same mistake twice.

This free group is for operators using Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, Amp, OpenCode, and MCP tools in real repos. Bring one repeated failure. We will turn it into a prevention rule, a pre-action check, or a better workflow gate.

Weekly rhythm:

- Monday: repeated-agent-failure thread
- Wednesday: live rule teardown
- Friday: Workflow Hardening Sprint office hours

Start locally with `npx thumbgate init`.

**Categories:**

- Start Here
- Repeated Mistakes
- Pre-Action Gates
- Workflow Teardowns
- Claude Code
- Codex
- Cursor
- MCP Servers
- Sprint Intakes
- Wins

**Pinned welcome post:**

Welcome to ThumbGate Operator Lab.

Post one repeated AI-agent mistake using this format:

1. Agent/tool:
2. Repo/workflow:
3. What it keeps doing:
4. What should happen instead:
5. Current prevention attempt, if any:

The best first win is narrow: one mistake, one rule, one blocked repeat.

**Public post confirmation note:** Do not publish this post automatically. Ask for final confirmation because it represents the operator publicly in Skool.

**First 7 posts:**

1. What is the one AI-agent mistake you are tired of correcting?
2. Show your current `CLAUDE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, or Cursor rules. What still slips through?
3. Claude Code operators: what tool call should have been blocked before it ran?
4. Codex operators: what should the agent always check before editing?
5. Cursor users: what project rule reads well but does not enforce anything?
6. MCP builders: where should a pre-action gate sit in your stack?
7. Post a thumbs-down lesson. We will turn the clearest one into a ThumbGate rule.

## Core Mini-Course

Use this same outline everywhere courses are supported.

**Course title:** Stop AI Coding Agents From Repeating Mistakes

**Subtitle:** Turn thumbs-down feedback into prevention rules and pre-action checks.

**One-sentence promise:** In under one hour, wire a local feedback loop that converts repeated AI-agent failures into enforceable checks.

**Audience:** Developers, technical founders, AI-agent operators, MCP builders, and teams using Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, Amp, or OpenCode.

**Modules:**

1. The repeated-mistake problem
2. Memory versus enforcement
3. Install ThumbGate locally
4. Capture a high-quality thumbs-down signal
5. Promote feedback into a prevention rule
6. Add a pre-action gate before risky tool calls
7. Review blocked actions and improve the rule
8. Decide when a Workflow Hardening Sprint is worth it

**Free lesson:** Memory is not enforcement.

**Paid/lead magnet asset:** 10 default gates every AI coding workflow should start with.

**Price test:** Free mini-course first. Do not launch a paid course until the Skool group produces at least 10 useful repeated-failure posts or 3 qualified sprint conversations.

## Platform Copy

### Kajabi

Use only after proof because Kajabi is a heavier owned-course stack. Current official pricing lists Starter at $89/mo monthly or $71/mo annual, with 1 product, 250 contacts, 1 website, and 1 community. Kajabi Payments and third-party payment provider fees vary by plan, so verify checkout economics before selling there. Source: https://www.kajabi.com/pricing

**Product name:** ThumbGate Workflow Hardening

**Offer:** Free mini-course + paid sprint application.

**Sales page headline:** Stop your AI coding agent from repeating the same mistake twice.

**CTA:** Start the free mini-course.

### Thinkific

Use if you want a cleaner course-first storefront without making community the product. Current official pricing is plan-based across Basic, Start, Grow, and Plus; verify the exact Start price and payment-processing economics immediately before purchase. Source: https://www.thinkific.com/pricing/

**Course name:** Stop AI Coding Agents From Repeating Mistakes

**Course card copy:** A practical mini-course for turning thumbs-down feedback into prevention rules that block known-bad agent actions before they run.

### Teachable

Teachable is useful for a course storefront and student apps. Current official pricing lists Starter at $39/mo monthly or $29/mo annual, with a 7.5% transaction fee and 5 products. Source: https://www.teachable.com/pricing

**Free product positioning:** Use as a lead magnet and redirect students into the Skool group.

**Pricing plan name:** Free Operator Mini-Course

### Podia

Use if you want the simplest owned digital product storefront. Current official pricing lists Mover at $39/mo monthly or $33/mo annual with a 5% transaction fee, and Shaker at $89/mo monthly or $75/mo annual with no Podia transaction fee. Source: https://www.podia.com/pricing

**Product type:** Free course or downloadable checklist.

**Download title:** 10 Pre-Action Gates for AI Coding Agents

### Mighty Networks

Mighty is a community-plus-course alternative, with current plans starting around Launch at $79/mo and a 14-day trial. Source: https://www.mightynetworks.com/pricing

**Use case:** Cohort-based community if Skool is not a fit.

**Network name:** ThumbGate Operator Lab

### Circle

Circle is strong for polished community, events, courses, analytics, and paid memberships. Current official pricing page lists Professional at $89/mo with a 14-day trial. Source: https://circle.so/pricing

**Use case:** Upgrade path after Skool validates demand.

**Space list:** Start Here, Failure Library, Gate Teardowns, Office Hours, Sprint Leads.

### LearnWorlds

Use only if the course becomes the product and needs interactive learning features. Current official plan comparison says Starter has a $5 per-course-enrollment fee and Pro, Learning Center, and Corporate do not. Verify current plan subscription pricing immediately before purchase. Source: https://www.learnworlds.com/plans/

**School name:** ThumbGate Academy

**Course positioning:** A hands-on implementation course for safer AI-agent workflows.

### Udemy

Udemy is reach, not owned audience. Official instructor revenue share currently says instructor-promotion sales receive 97% of revenue and non-instructor-promotion Udemy sales receive 37%, after applicable deductions. Source: https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us/articles/229605008-Instructor-Revenue-Share

**Marketplace title:** Stop AI Coding Agents From Repeating Mistakes

**Marketplace subtitle:** Build local prevention rules for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, and MCP workflows.

**Important:** Keep the course useful without requiring paid ThumbGate. Use it to drive search discovery and trust, not as the main revenue channel.

### Skillshare

Skillshare is discovery and watch-time revenue. Official teacher help says about 20% of monthly subscription revenue is allocated to teacher payments. Source: https://help.skillshare.com/hc/en-us/articles/4415798406285-Earn-From-Your-Teaching

**Class title:** Stop AI Coding Agents From Repeating Mistakes

**Class project:** Capture one repeated AI-agent mistake and turn it into a prevention rule.

### YouTube Paid/Subscribe

Use public YouTube first. Channel memberships require eligibility and policy compliance. Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7636690

**Public series:** AI Agent Mistake Clinic

**First 5 videos:**

1. Memory is not enforcement: why AI agents repeat mistakes
2. How to block a bad tool call before it runs
3. Claude Code pre-action gates in practice
4. Codex workflow hardening with ThumbGate
5. Cursor rules versus enforced gates

**Membership tier ideas after eligibility:**

- $4.99: monthly mistake clinic replay and private posts
- $9.99: submit one workflow for teardown
- $24.99: office-hours access and gate review queue

## Zernio Campaign

Use GitHub Actions for publishing because the Zernio secrets are stored in GitHub and are not readable locally.

Safe preview:

```bash
gh workflow run thumbgate-creator-platform-promo.yml \
  --repo IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate \
  -f mode=preview \
  -f platforms=linkedin,instagram,reddit,tiktok,youtube,twitter
```

Schedule after operator approval:

```bash
gh workflow run thumbgate-creator-platform-promo.yml \
  --repo IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate \
  -f mode=schedule \
  -f platforms=linkedin,instagram,tiktok,youtube \
  -f timezone=America/New_York \
  -f schedule='2026-05-05T10:15:00-04:00'
```

Publish after operator approval:

```bash
gh workflow run thumbgate-creator-platform-promo.yml \
  --repo IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate \
  -f mode=publish \
  -f platforms=linkedin,instagram,tiktok,youtube
```

## Stop Conditions

- Do not publish or schedule public posts without explicit operator confirmation at action time.
- Do not create paid platform accounts from the browser without operator handoff for payment/login.
- Do not represent Udemy, Skillshare, or YouTube memberships as owned audience channels.
- Do not claim revenue, users, installs, or customer outcomes unless the current evidence files prove them.
