# ThumbGate v1.17.0 Launch — Copy-Paste Ready (2026-05-11)

**Status:** Draft. NOT auto-posted. CEO copy-paste only (per 2026-04-21 voice directive).

**What shipped in v1.17.0 (since v1.16.22):**

- **Free tier is now actually useful.** Unlimited feedback captures + 5 active prevention rules. (Was: 3 captures total, 1 rule — a 90-second demo, not a free tier.)
- **Funnel-derived order reconciliation** repairs GitHub Marketplace revenue rows from the funnel ledger when amounts are missing.
- **Landing-page conversion path** is cleaner: live npm install badge, Free + Pro $19/mo hero pair (no more $499 service scaring off self-serve buyers), KDP footer cleanup, broken hero CTAs fixed, visible-text leaks hidden, link-claims audited.
- **TikTok publisher** throws a clear error instead of a TypeError when video upload is missing.
- **VS Code / Open VSX / Antigravity / JetBrains** plugin distribution assets land alongside the existing Claude/Cursor/Codex paths.
- **Always-on Bluesky reply monitoring** with persistent prospect state (draft-only — never auto-posts).

**Install:**

```bash
npx thumbgate init
```

**Verify weekly install momentum:** https://www.npmjs.com/package/thumbgate

---

## 1. Reddit — Variant A — r/ClaudeAI

**Title:** ThumbGate 1.17 — free tier is now unlimited captures + 5 rules (was 3/1, which was a demo, not a tier)

**Body:**

When I shipped ThumbGate's first paid tier last month, the free tier was 3 captures total and 1 active prevention rule. A few of you told me directly that wasn't a free tier — it was a 90-second demo. You were right.

v1.17.0 bumps free to **unlimited captures** and **5 active prevention rules**. Daily-driver territory. The dashboard, recall, lesson export, and DPO training data stay in Pro.

If you haven't seen it before:

1. AI agent does something dumb (force-push, wrong import for the eighth time, regenerates the same broken config).
2. You hit 👎 in Claude Code / Cursor / Codex / Gemini / Amp / Cline / OpenCode.
3. ThumbGate captures the exact tool call + context, generates a prevention rule.
4. Next time the agent tries that pattern, it's **blocked at the PreToolUse hook level** before the tool fires. Not "reminded to be careful" — physically blocked.

Local-first. SQLite. MIT.

```bash
npx thumbgate init
```

Repo: https://github.com/IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate

Pro checkout (if you want the dashboard, unlimited rules, DPO export):
https://thumbgate-production.up.railway.app/go/pro?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=v1_17_launch&utm_content=claudeai_v117

Curious what people end up thumbs-downing most. For me it's force-push, wrong-tsconfig regeneration, and the model hallucinating env vars that don't exist.

---

## 2. Reddit — Variant B — r/cursor

**Title:** v1.17 of the tool that blocks repeat Cursor mistakes — free tier is now unlimited captures + 5 rules

**Body:**

If you've seen ThumbGate before: the free tier just stopped being a demo. v1.17.0 ships unlimited captures and 5 active prevention rules on the free plan, so it's actually usable as your daily driver against Cursor's "regenerates the same broken tsconfig every session" failure mode.

If you haven't seen it: 👎 a Cursor action you don't like, ThumbGate captures the context, generates a PreToolUse-level block. Next session, Cursor literally can't run that pattern — it's stopped before the tool call fires.

```bash
npx thumbgate init --agent cursor
```

MIT, local-first, SQLite. Pro is $19/mo for the dashboard + DPO export.

Repo: https://github.com/IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate
Pro: https://thumbgate-production.up.railway.app/go/pro?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=v1_17_launch&utm_content=cursor_v117

---

## 3. LinkedIn — single post

**Body:**

ThumbGate v1.17.0 is on npm.

The biggest change isn't a new feature — it's that the free tier is now actually a free tier.

Old: 3 feedback captures total, 1 active rule. People told me that wasn't a free tier, it was a 90-second demo.
New: unlimited captures, 5 active prevention rules. Daily-driver territory.

ThumbGate sits between your AI coding agent and its tool layer. When the agent does something you don't want (force-push, wrong import for the eighth time, the same broken config it regenerated last session), you hit 👎 — and ThumbGate generates a prevention rule that *physically blocks* that pattern next time. Not "reminds the LLM to be careful." Stopped at the PreToolUse hook before the tool call fires.

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Amp, Cline, OpenCode, and any MCP-compatible agent.

`npx thumbgate init`

Repo: https://github.com/IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate
Live install momentum: https://www.npmjs.com/package/thumbgate

If you're shipping AI-agent workflows in production, the dashboard, unlimited rules, DPO export, and team enforcement lane are in Pro ($19/mo).

---

## 4. Bluesky — short post (thread-ready)

ThumbGate v1.17.0 is out. Free tier is now unlimited captures + 5 active prevention rules — was 3/1, which was honestly a demo and not a tier.

`npx thumbgate init`

The pitch is the same: 👎 once on a repeat AI-agent mistake, and the next attempt is blocked at the PreToolUse hook level. Not "reminded to be careful" — physically stopped.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/thumbgate

---

## 5. Hacker News — Show HN draft

**Title:** Show HN: ThumbGate 1.17 — block repeat AI-agent mistakes at the tool layer (free tier expanded)

**Body:**

ThumbGate is a local-first tool that sits between a coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini, etc.) and its tool layer. When the agent does something you don't want, you thumbs-down it once and ThumbGate generates a prevention rule that physically blocks that pattern at the PreToolUse hook level on every future session.

Not memory. Not "remind the LLM to be careful." Enforcement at the tool surface, before the tool call fires.

v1.17.0 expanded the free tier from 3 captures + 1 rule (a demo) to unlimited captures + 5 rules (a daily driver). MIT, SQLite-backed, runs entirely on your machine. No cloud account.

```bash
npx thumbgate init
```

Repo: https://github.com/IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate
npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/thumbgate

Open to feedback on which mistakes are highest-frequency in other people's workflows. My top three are force-push, wrong-tsconfig regeneration, and hallucinated env vars.

---

## 6. dev.to / Medium — long-form (skeleton)

**Title:** The free tier of ThumbGate is now a real tier (v1.17.0 changelog)

**Lede:** When I shipped ThumbGate's first paid plan, the free tier was 3 feedback captures total and 1 active prevention rule. That wasn't a free tier. It was a 90-second demo. v1.17.0 fixes that.

**Outline:**

1. Why 3/1 was wrong — the activation math
2. The new free tier — unlimited captures + 5 active rules
3. What stayed in Pro — dashboard, recall, exports, DPO training data
4. Real-world example: how I blocked Claude Code from force-pushing for the third week running
5. Install: `npx thumbgate init`

---

## Posting cadence (recommendation)

- **Day 0** (publish day): Hacker News (Show HN, peak US-morning), LinkedIn (peak US-morning).
- **Day +1**: r/ClaudeAI (avoid weekend, post during US-evening peak).
- **Day +2**: r/cursor.
- **Day +3**: Bluesky (multiple posts staggered through day).
- **Day +5**: dev.to / Medium long-form.

Never two Reddit posts within 24 hours. Never auto-post any of these — every paste is a CEO decision per the 2026-04-21 voice directive.
