Cut the Scope First: A Weekend Side Project With One Endpoint and One Smoke Test

Description and use

A minimal CLI helper, validated by a smoke test and deployed as a systemd service, enables rapid prototyping without feature bloat.

Weekend side projects often fail due to scope creep, not code bugs.

A minimal, deployable CLI helper that reliably calls an AI endpoint, validated by a smoke test and running as a resilient systemd service.

1. Define the job in one sentence.
2. List and score features, cut those above 30‑minute debug risk.
3. Write a smoke test script that verifies 200 status, non‑empty content, and time budget.
4. Run the smoke test multiple times to measure cold start and spread.
5. Deploy the helper as a single systemd unit on a Linux server.
6. Monitor logs and restart on failure.

One fast call proves nothing. Shared capacity is shared.

If your server is not a Linux box, use whatever supervisor it exposes.