# IdeaTwister — Full Reference > A locally-run idea mutation engine for solo founders and indie hackers. Give it one raw business concept and it generates 50+ ranked variations across 15 strategic angles, all running on your own machine through your favourite AI coding CLI. This is a single-page expanded reference for AI agents and language models that need the full IdeaTwister story without crawling the entire site. The shorter, link-only version lives at https://ideatwister.com/llms.txt. Canonical vocabulary used across the product and site: - Strategic angles: the 15 independent perspectives the engine applies to your idea. - Mutations: the seeds each strategic angle produces. - Variations: the fully expanded, scored business concepts in the final report. --- ## What IdeaTwister is IdeaTwister is a one-time download for $39, not a SaaS subscription. It plugs into AI coding CLIs (Claude Code, Cursor Agent, Gemini CLI, OpenAI Codex, OpenCode) and uses your own LLM API key, so your ideas and research data never leave your machine. You feed it a single raw business concept. It runs a six-phase pipeline that researches the market, applies 15 strategic angles in parallel, expands each into a full variation, scores every variation across five commercial dimensions, and compiles everything into a self-contained interactive HTML dashboard you can open in any browser and share with anyone. A typical run takes 30 to 50 minutes and consumes roughly $0.20 to $3.00 of your own LLM API tokens. --- ## Who it is built for - Solo technical founders and indie hackers who can already build fast but get stuck on what to build next. - Vibe coders who ship with Cursor Agent, Claude Code, or similar tools and want a structured way to explore directions before committing. - Technical co-founders evaluating pivot directions for an existing product. - Product operators validating new bets inside or outside their company. - First-time founders who want a systematic way to test whether their idea is worth four months of their life. - Corporate innovators exploring adjacent markets for an existing business. It is not built for non-technical wantrepreneurs who bounce off CLI installs, career-content creators, students with no buying power, or agencies looking for a reseller tool. --- ## The problem it solves Founders typically lose two to eight weeks on unstructured ideation before they commit to one direction. Manual brainstorming on ChatGPT, Reddit, and spreadsheets has no end state, no scoring, and no way to compare options. The result is the "one-idea trap": picking the first concept that feels exciting, building it for months, and finding out nobody wants it. IdeaTwister replaces that with a 30 to 50 minute automated pass that explores 50+ versions of the same core idea systematically, scores every one against the same rubric, and surfaces the handful worth your time. --- ## How it works (four steps) 1. **Buy once and download.** Pay $39 through LemonSqueezy. You get an instant email with a download link to the engine zip. 2. **Install on your platform.** Unzip and run `./install.sh`. The script auto-detects your AI CLI (Claude Code, Cursor Agent, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode) and installs the right files in the right place. Setup takes two to five minutes depending on platform. 3. **Run your idea.** Type `/ideatwister ` in your AI CLI. The engine runs six phases over roughly 40 minutes. Phases checkpoint, so you can interrupt with Ctrl+C and resume by re-running the same command. 4. **Open the dashboard.** When the run finishes you get a path to a self-contained HTML file at `~/.ideatwister/runs//dashboard.html`. Open it in any browser to filter, search, and share variations. OpenAI Codex uses `$ideatwister` instead of `/ideatwister`, but otherwise the command grammar is identical across all platforms. --- ## The six-phase pipeline 1. **Idea enrichment.** Your raw idea is expanded into a structured brief that downstream agents can work with. Roughly two minutes. 2. **Research.** Live web search builds a market signal map covering competitors, gaps, and demand evidence. Emits a health signal indicating whether the market looks rich enough to mutate from. Roughly five minutes. 3. **Strategic angle generation.** 15 specialist agents run in parallel. Each agent looks at the enriched idea through one strategic angle and produces seed mutations. Together they cover roughly 25 minutes of work. 4. **Variation development.** Each seed is expanded into a fully named, fully described variation with market context. 5. **Validation and scoring.** Every variation is scored across five commercial dimensions on a 0-10 scale. Variations that miss quality thresholds get retried automatically so the dashboard ends up with 50+ usable entries. 6. **Dashboard compilation.** Everything compiles into a single self-contained HTML file. No backend, no login, no internet needed to view it. Roughly five minutes. --- ## The five-dimension scoring rubric Every variation is scored 0-10 on each of five commercial dimensions. The final confidence score is the arithmetic mean. Variations scoring 7.0 or higher are promoted to your "Top Picks" list. Variations between 5.0 and 6.9 are flagged as risky but potentially viable. Anything below 5.0 is rejected. A red-flag rule applies on top of the average: even if the average is high, any single dimension below 4.0 is treated as a fundamental flaw to address before pursuing the variation. ### 1. Buyer Urgency How badly does the buyer need this right now? - 9-10: Critical pain. Compliance, large revenue loss, or core operations blocked. - 7-8: High pain. Significant inefficiency or competitive disadvantage. - 5-6: Moderate pain with existing workarounds. - 3-4: Low pain. Improvement would be nice but not prioritised. - 0-2: Aspirational. No immediate pressure to solve. ### 2. Market Proof Is there existing evidence that customers spend money on this? - 9-10: Direct competitors with high pricing, funding, or growth. - 7-8: Indirect proof. Customers pay for workarounds or related tools. - 5-6: Evidence of intent. Active search volume, communities, complaints. - 3-4: Theoretical proof. Similar models work in different industries. - 0-2: Speculative. No evidence of existing spend or urgent search. ### 3. Solo Executable Can one person build and operate this in under 60 days? - 9-10: Fully buildable solo in under 30 days. - 7-8: Buildable solo in 30 to 60 days, low overhead. - 5-6: A stretch for a solo founder, may need occasional help. - 3-4: High friction, high maintenance or complex infra. - 0-2: Team required. Cannot be run by one person. ### 4. Revenue Speed How fast can the founder generate the first dollar? - 9-10: First dollar in under 14 days. - 7-8: First dollar in 14 to 30 days. - 5-6: First dollar in 30 to 60 days. - 3-4: First dollar in 60 to 90 days. - 0-2: 90+ days, heavy R&D needed. ### 5. Defensibility How hard is this to replicate? - 9-10: High moat. Proprietary data or deep workflow lock-in. - 7-8: Moderate moat. Brand or specific niche focus. - 5-6: Low moat. Easily copied but requires domain knowledge. - 3-4: Very low moat. Feature-level idea. - 0-2: No moat. Pure wrapper play. Scores are relative to your specific profile. A 10 for a solo founder is not the same as a 10 for a venture-backed team. --- ## What you get in the dashboard The dashboard is a single HTML file you open in any browser. It includes: - All 50+ variations with title, one-liner, full description, and per-dimension scores. - Confidence score breakdown across the five dimensions on a 0-10 scale. - Market research snapshot per variation: rough TAM estimate, closest competitor, market context. - Revenue model outline per variation: pricing model, target ARPU, rough MRR at 100 customers. - Top picks (score 7+) with go-to-market sketches, $100K revenue math, and a 30-day validation plan. - Filter controls by score, strategic angle, and keyword. - A self-contained file that works offline and can be sent to anyone with no login required. Input data never leaves your machine. The HTML file lives in `~/.ideatwister/runs//` alongside the raw markdown variations. --- ## Supported platforms | Platform | Setup time | Notes | |----------|------------|-------| | Claude Code | ~2 min | Recommended. Strongest reasoning quality. | | Cursor Agent | ~2 min | Runs inside the Cursor Agent chat. | | OpenAI Codex | ~5 min | Uses `$ideatwister` mention syntax instead of slash commands. | | Google Gemini CLI | ~5 min | Native Google search integration. | | OpenCode | ~5 min | Open-source friendly alternative. | Each platform has its own page with detailed install steps and troubleshooting: - https://ideatwister.com/platforms/claude-code.md - https://ideatwister.com/platforms/cursor.md - https://ideatwister.com/platforms/codex.md - https://ideatwister.com/platforms/gemini-cli.md - https://ideatwister.com/platforms/opencode.md --- ## LLM provider configuration Three providers are first-class and auto-detected. Export the corresponding key and the installer picks a sensible default model. | Provider | Default model | Env var | |----------|---------------|---------| | Gemini | `gemini/gemini-3-flash-preview` | `GEMINI_API_KEY` | | Anthropic | `anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5` | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` | | OpenAI | `openai/gpt-4o` | `OPENAI_API_KEY` | If you export more than one, the installer prefers Gemini, then Anthropic, then OpenAI. For anything else LiteLLM supports (OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Together, Groq, Mistral, Cohere, Fireworks, Perplexity, xAI, local Ollama), export the provider's key and set the `IDEATWISTER_MODEL` environment variable to a `/` string. Example: ``` export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-..." export IDEATWISTER_MODEL="openrouter/meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct" ``` After switching providers, run `python scripts/precheck.py` to confirm the live key works before you spend tokens on a full run. Caveat: provider-native web search is wired up only for Gemini, Anthropic, and OpenAI. On other providers the run still completes but variations are less grounded in fresh sources. --- ## Command reference All commands work identically across platforms. OpenAI Codex uses `$ideatwister`; everything else uses `/ideatwister`. - `/ideatwister ` — Run the full six-phase pipeline on a raw business idea. - `/ideatwister list` — List past runs with slug, date, idea title, variation count, top score, and status. - `/ideatwister open [slug]` — Open the interactive HTML dashboard for a run. If only one run exists, the slug is optional. - `/ideatwister variations [filters]` — Browse variations with filters: `--min-score N`, `--strategy XX`, `--top` for score 7+ only. - `/ideatwister help` — Print the full command syntax. Runs checkpoint between phases. Press Ctrl+C to stop a run; re-run the same command to resume from the last checkpoint. --- ## Pricing - $39 one-time. Lifetime license. No subscription. - 7-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. - Single-user license. Personal and commercial use of the generated outputs is allowed. The software itself cannot be resold, redistributed, or turned into a paid service for others. - Same license works on every machine you personally own across all five supported platforms. - Minor and patch updates are free for the version you bought. Major version releases (v2.0, v3.0) may be priced separately, but your purchased version keeps working forever. - API costs are billed separately by your LLM provider. A typical run consumes $0.20 to $3.00 of tokens. Volume pricing for organisations and agency / client-work licenses are handled case by case. Contact `hello@ideatwister.com`. --- ## Common questions **Is there a free trial?** No, but there is a 7-day full refund window. **Do I need a Claude Code subscription?** Not necessarily. Five platforms are supported and most need either an API key or an active subscription for that platform. See the platform-specific guides. **Can I use the same license on multiple machines?** Yes, on machines you personally own. The license is per person, not per device. It cannot be shared with teammates. **Can I use the outputs commercially?** Yes. The variations, mutations, and reports the engine generates for you belong to you. Use them in your own products, pitches, fundraising decks, or businesses. **What if a run gets interrupted?** Just re-run the same command. The pipeline checkpoints between phases and resumes from the last completed step. **How long does a full run take?** Typically 30 to 50 minutes depending on machine and network. **What if I switch laptops?** Your runs live in `~/.ideatwister/`. Copy that folder to the new machine and everything is preserved. **Where is the engine source code stored after install?** - Claude Code: `~/.claude/skills/ideatwister/` - Cursor Agent: `~/.cursor/skills/ideatwister/` - Other CLI platforms: `~/.agents/skills/ideatwister/` Full FAQ: https://ideatwister.com/faq.md --- ## Privacy and data handling - The engine runs entirely on your local machine. - Your raw idea and the generated variations are written to your local disk only. - The only outbound traffic is to the LLM provider whose key you exported and to the search engines used during the research phase. - The marketing site has no backend that stores your inputs. Purchases go through LemonSqueezy. --- ## Key URLs All URLs below point to plain-markdown sources synced at build time from the upstream IdeaTwister docs repo. - Home: https://ideatwister.com/home.md - Docs hub: https://ideatwister.com/docs.md - Getting started: https://ideatwister.com/getting-started.md - FAQ: https://ideatwister.com/faq.md - Commands reference: https://ideatwister.com/docs/commands.md - Scoring rubric: https://ideatwister.com/docs/scoring.md - Troubleshooting: https://ideatwister.com/docs/troubleshooting.md - Platforms overview: https://ideatwister.com/platforms.md - Claude Code: https://ideatwister.com/platforms/claude-code.md - Cursor Agent: https://ideatwister.com/platforms/cursor.md - OpenAI Codex: https://ideatwister.com/platforms/codex.md - Gemini CLI: https://ideatwister.com/platforms/gemini-cli.md - OpenCode: https://ideatwister.com/platforms/opencode.md - Changelog: https://ideatwister.com/CHANGELOG.md - Security: https://ideatwister.com/SECURITY.md - Short llms.txt: https://ideatwister.com/llms.txt Contact: hello@ideatwister.com