Aromba — Roadmap
Six phases, each a public release. No dates: a phase ships when its definition of done is met.
Where the build is (2026-09-23, v0.1.48): phases 1, 2 and 3 are built. What is left of 3 is the second relay and the external security review, both of which need something outside the code. The per-phase launches below did not happen one at a time; there is one launch and it is the phase-3 wave (PLAN D145).
Phase 1 — Hook
Ships: install script, daemon skeleton (Worker and Warden), relay with pairing and duplicate-server detection, first scan, /status, /scan, /panic, /help, health collector, morning mini-report, signed updates with rollback. Touches nothing on the server.
Definition of done: a stranger on a fresh Ubuntu VPS goes from the install command to the “Here’s what I found” message in under 60 seconds, without reading docs.
Launch: see 12-growth.md, phase 1 playbook.
Success signal: 50 installs, 10 people posting their report.
Phase 2 — Chores
Ships: engine with colors, triggers and params; the 15 starred chores; quarantine with restore; real morning receipt; /chores, /run, /receipt, /quarantine; run chores for user scripts; the skill mechanism with the phase-2 official skills from 13-skills.md (git, docker, postgres, mysql, node, python, rust, nginx, caddy); the founder seat page on aro.mba (Telegram login, $1 in USDC).
Definition of done: a server with 40 GB of junk is cleaned overnight, the receipt is accurate to the GB, and everything yellow can be restored with one tap.
Launch: changelog post “Aromba now cleans”, the wow number from real users (“freed X TB across Y servers”).
Success signal: 200 installs, first community chore PR.
Phase 3 — Assistant
Ships: AI key setup, providers (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama), tool loop with policy enforcement, alert → “Take a look” flow, chore writing, notebook, the phase-3 skills from 13-skills.md (voice, docs, backup-s3, deploy, claude-code, security-audit, calendar, nextjs, bundles), suggested replies, PIN for red actions, Aromba’s own calendar with the user’s merged in (/today, /add, reminders; PLAN D107), /key, /model, /settings, /notebook.
Definition of done: a user says “my site is down” and gets a correct diagnosis and a one-tap fix on the top five common causes (service stopped, port taken, disk full, cert expired, container restart loop). Typical question under one cent on a cheap open model.
Before launch: external security review of 05-security.md and the policy code by someone who breaks things for a living. Fix what they find.
Launch: the main launch — Show HN, creators, newsletters; see 12-growth.md, phase 3 playbook.
Success signal: 1,000 installs, 30% of them set an AI key within a week.
Phase 4 — Dashboard
Ships: aro.mba dashboard with Telegram login: jobs, health over time, receipt history, quarantine, activity log. Read-only. Relay stores receipts and health numbers.
Definition of done: a user with a week of history opens the dashboard on a phone and understands their server’s week in 30 seconds.
Success signal: 40% of active users open it weekly.
Phase 5 — Skills for other audiences
Ships: community skill submissions to the catalog, review and promotion flow, skills for audiences beyond dev / vibe coders on their own schedule and channels.
Success signal: 3 community skills promoted.
Phase 6 — Mac
Ships: same engine on macOS, menu bar app, Mac-only chores, idle-and-charging scheduling. Telegram stays the control surface; the menu bar is a window.
Parallel tracks
- Sharing and multi-server — after phase 3, once the model is clear from real use.
- Web control (buttons in the dashboard) — after phase 4, same approval rules as Telegram.
- Windows — not planned.
Cut rule
If a phase drags, cut features until it ships. Each phase’s “definition of done” is the only thing that can’t be cut.