Overlay
A generative learning product that teaches a concept through a lens the reader picks. Built and operated solo, first commit to public launch in nine days.
- 2026-07
- live
- private, walkthrough on request
What I decided
- Rather than ship on a date, I gated the launch on a judge-scored eval bar, 4.0 on five quality dimensions, cleared on 38 scored courses that included adversarial prompts.
- Abuse and spend controls went live before the first model call. A fail-closed quota gate, a global daily kill switch, and burn-rate alerting at 70 percent of the cap.
- Structured cost telemetry prices every generated course. At launch a course cost 72 cents, and that figure is a readout, not an estimate.
- The retheme to the Truth Layer system came from a Claude Design handoff with thirteen numbered surface changes. The warm palette stayed inside the scene frames under neutral chrome.
What shipped
- Live on 2026-07-19 at overlay.thetruthlayer.dev, nine days after the first commit.
- Eight build phases, from the abuse-prevention rails through the topic compiler, the five-frame progressive walk, custom lenses, comprehension assist, persistence, accessibility and launch readiness.
- A 42-course eval battery, and a register-fit fix that lifted the weakest dimension from 3.63 to 4.25.
Proof
Captures
Overlay landing page, October 2026. One real station from the example course runs live below the fold. 
The full Overlay example course. Four stations on how vaccines train the immune system, taught through an airport, at three depths.