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| 1 | +# OpenBoot — Product Marketing Context |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +## Product |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +**Name**: OpenBoot |
| 6 | +**Tagline**: One-line macOS Development Environment Setup |
| 7 | +**URL**: https://openboot.dev |
| 8 | +**GitHub**: https://github.com/openbootdotdev/openboot |
| 9 | +**License**: MIT (free, open source) |
| 10 | +**Stage**: Pre-launch (Feb 2026) |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +**What it does**: Bootstraps a complete macOS dev environment in ~5 minutes via a single curl command. Interactive TUI for package selection, dotfiles deployment via GNU Stow, Oh-My-Zsh setup, and macOS preference tuning. Web dashboard at openboot.dev for creating/sharing custom configs. |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +**Install command**: `curl -fsSL https://openboot.dev/install.sh | bash` |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +## Tech Stack |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +- **CLI**: Go 1.24, Charmbracelet (bubbletea, bubbles, huh, lipgloss), Cobra |
| 19 | +- **Web**: SvelteKit, Cloudflare Workers/Pages, D1 database |
| 20 | +- **Auth**: GitHub OAuth |
| 21 | +- **Distribution**: GitHub Releases (darwin-amd64, darwin-arm64 only) |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +## Core Features |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +- 3 curated presets: minimal (23 pkgs), developer (35 pkgs), full (50+ pkgs) |
| 26 | +- 50+ tools across 13 categories (Essential, Git, Dev, DevOps, DB, AI/ML, Editors, Browsers, Terminals, Productivity, Utilities, Design, API/Debug) |
| 27 | +- Smart install: skip already-installed, parallel CLI tools, sequential GUI apps |
| 28 | +- Interactive TUI with searchable package selector |
| 29 | +- Dotfiles via GNU Stow |
| 30 | +- Oh-My-Zsh + aliases |
| 31 | +- macOS developer-friendly preferences |
| 32 | +- Snapshot: capture existing setup |
| 33 | +- Web dashboard: create custom configs, import Brewfile, duplicate configs, share via short URL |
| 34 | +- Dry-run, doctor, update, resume commands |
| 35 | +- Silent mode for CI/automation |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +## Target Audience |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +**Primary**: Individual developers setting up a new Mac |
| 40 | +**Secondary**: Team leads onboarding new engineers |
| 41 | +**Tertiary**: DevOps/platform engineers standardizing environments |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +## Positioning |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +**Primary**: "Set up your Mac in one command — not one afternoon" |
| 46 | +**vs Strap**: OpenBoot adds web dashboard + team sharing + dotfiles + custom scripts |
| 47 | +**vs Chezmoi**: OpenBoot handles packages + dotfiles + scripts (chezmoi is dotfiles-only) |
| 48 | +**vs nix-darwin**: OpenBoot is simple (no Nix language learning curve) |
| 49 | +**vs Brewfile**: OpenBoot adds dotfiles + scripts + TUI + web dashboard + team sharing |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +**Unique differentiator**: Only tool combining one-curl setup + web dashboard + team config sharing + Homebrew + dotfiles + custom scripts with a low learning curve. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +## Competitive Landscape |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +| Tool | Status | Packages | Dotfiles | Scripts | Team Sharing | Web UI | Learning Curve | |
| 56 | +|------|--------|----------|----------|---------|--------------|--------|----------------| |
| 57 | +| OpenBoot | Active | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Low | |
| 58 | +| Strap | Maintained | Yes | No | No | No | No | Low | |
| 59 | +| Chezmoi | Active | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | High | |
| 60 | +| nix-darwin | Active | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Very High | |
| 61 | +| Dotbot | Active | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Low | |
| 62 | +| Brewfile | Official | Yes | No | No | No | No | Low | |
| 63 | +| Boxen | Dead (2018) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | High | |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +## Business Model |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +Free / open source. No monetization planned currently. Potential future: freemium with paid team tier. |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +## Current Channels |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +**Owned**: openboot.dev (landing page, docs, dashboard) |
| 72 | +**Rented**: Twitter/X account, Product Hunt account |
| 73 | +**Borrowed**: None yet |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +## Marketing Assets Inventory |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +| Asset | Status | |
| 78 | +|-------|--------| |
| 79 | +| Landing page | Done (strong messaging, 8 value props, terminal mockup) | |
| 80 | +| Documentation | Done (6 sections: getting started, presets, custom configs, snapshot, CLI ref, FAQ) | |
| 81 | +| GitHub README | Needs polish (add demo GIF, better structure) | |
| 82 | +| OG tags / social preview | Missing | |
| 83 | +| Twitter Cards | Missing | |
| 84 | +| Sitemap | Missing | |
| 85 | +| Demo video/GIF | Missing | |
| 86 | +| Blog | Missing | |
| 87 | +| Changelog | Missing | |
| 88 | +| Email capture | Missing | |
| 89 | +| Analytics | Intentionally none (privacy-first positioning) | |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | +## Key Messaging |
| 92 | + |
| 93 | +**For HN/Reddit**: "I got tired of spending 3 hours setting up every new Mac. So I built OpenBoot." |
| 94 | +**For Product Hunt**: "Set up your macOS dev environment in 5 minutes" |
| 95 | +**Privacy angle**: "No analytics. No telemetry. Your data stays on your machine." |
| 96 | +**Open source angle**: "100% open source, MIT licensed" |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +**Anticipated objections**: |
| 99 | +- "Why not just use a Brewfile?" — OpenBoot adds dotfiles + scripts + TUI + web dashboard + skip-already-installed + team sharing |
| 100 | +- "Is curl | bash safe?" — Script is open source, inspectable, MIT licensed |
| 101 | +- "Why macOS only?" — Focused on doing one platform really well |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | +## Launch Channels (Priority Order) |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +1. Hacker News (Show HN) — technical credibility |
| 106 | +2. Product Hunt — reach + validation |
| 107 | +3. Reddit (r/macapps, r/commandline, r/programming) — community |
| 108 | +4. Twitter/X — ongoing engagement |
| 109 | +5. DEV.to — developer audience |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | +## Pre-Launch Gaps (Critical) |
| 112 | + |
| 113 | +1. OG meta tags + social preview image (every share looks broken without this) |
| 114 | +2. Demo GIF in GitHub README (top driver of GitHub stars) |
| 115 | +3. Polished README structure for launch traffic |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +## Requirements / Constraints |
| 118 | + |
| 119 | +- macOS 12+ (Monterey or later) |
| 120 | +- Apple Silicon + Intel supported |
| 121 | +- Don't use Go's default HTTP client for Cloudflare Workers (causes EOF) |
| 122 | +- Don't install casks in parallel (password prompts) |
| 123 | +- Privacy-first: no analytics, no telemetry |
| 124 | +- Comments in code are discouraged |
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