DESIGN.md@docs ยท diff
git:20261011.c8b8cf2 to git:20261011.023ac29
6 added, 11 removed. Audit A to A.
# Design
Why The Last Mile is shaped the way it is, and what comes next.
## What it is
A methodology plugin for Claude Code (and other agents that read skills): stages
from idea to launch to growth, each with skills that do the work and leave
documents behind. Built on how a real Expo app was built and shipped: 1,220
commits from February to October 2026, about 100 dated gotchas, and launches on
both stores.
- **Audience:** people who already use Claude Code or another agent that reads
skills.
- **Stack:** Expo and React Native. Expo's official skills cover general Expo
knowledge; this repo links to them and adds the process, the business layer and
the traps.
- **Tools first, not a journal.** Skills, scripts, templates and code to drop into
an app.
## Roadmap
- **Version 0.1 (this):** setup, session-end, ship, the traps reference and facts file.
+ **Version 0.1 (this):** setup, session-end, see-it-work, reference-hunt, research,
+ set-goals, port-feature, ship and fact-check, with the store traps reference, the
+ facts file, and see-it-work's templates (including the test after edit hook).
**Next skills:**
| Skill | What it does | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
- | set-goals | Writes or renews the 6 week goal and closes the last cycle | Replaces separate weekly planning, quarter sync and progress review skills |
- | research | Answers a question and files it in the right existing doc first | The author's research skill |
- | reference-hunt | Finds how real apps solve a screen; short answer with links, full write up saved | The author's competitor design card skill, reworked |
- | port-feature | Brings a feature over from another of your own repos | The author's port skill |
- | prove-it | Shows a change working: component tests, seeded simulator screenshots, a smoke test of every screen, release build runs, browser preview for cloud sessions, end to end journeys, and content capture as an experimental recipe | The author's testing setup |
- | fact-check | Re-checks facts against current official docs and updates dates | New |
| analytics | Sets up key events and a funnel, audits for orphaned or miscounted events | The author's analytics skills |
| store-listing | Name, subtitle, keywords, screenshots | The author's store listing work |
| creator-codes | Free premium codes for a creator's audience, with attribution | The author's referral code skill |
| ugc-brief | Finding small creators, outreach, and a short brief | The author's outreach playbooks |
| release-notes | Rewrites changes as notes users want to read | The author's release notes skill |
- **Also planned:** the test after edit hook, the release checklist check script, the
- "treat me as free" development switch, the test link that jumps to any seeded
- screen, the plugin that strips unwanted Android media permissions, Discord alerts,
- Railway notes, and a scheduled job that re-checks facts and opens a pull request.
+ **Also planned:** the release checklist check script, the version bump script, the
+ plugin that strips unwanted Android media permissions, Discord alerts, Railway
+ notes, and a scheduled job that runs fact-check monthly and opens a pull request.
## How growth tactics went for the author
The growth skills will carry these labels. This part is less proven than building
and shipping: a handful of paying users, not a growth machine.
| Tactic | Verdict |
| --- | --- |
| Paid UGC creators | Best move so far; affordable through a UGC platform |
| Creator codes with free premium | Keep using; costs nothing |
| Automated demo video pipeline | Mixed; never reuse other creators' clips without permission |
| Own content, including 3D videos | Did not work; the tooling was somewhat useful |
| App Store search work | Too early until people arrive from outside the store |
| Commenting under other posts | Not sustainable |
| Outreach contractor | Not worth the money |
| Coaches, roundup pitches | Unclear or not worth it |