RunemAds

Ad network that monetizes the dead time developers spend waiting on AI CLI tools. A small sponsored line appears in Claude Code's idle surfaces; revenue splits 50/50 with the developer.

This is an MVP that proves the full loop end to end: an advertiser pays, an ad renders in a real Claude Code terminal, impressions and clicks are billed, and the developer is credited.

Full design and the decisions behind it: docs/PLAN.md.

How it works

• Interception uses two official Claude Code settings.json keys (no binary patching):
  • statusLine → a script that prints the ad as an OSC 8 hyperlink and chain-runs any status line you already had.
  • spinnerVerbs → replaces the spinner verb with the ad copy. rads enable writes both keys after backing up your prior values; rads disable restores them.
• Billing is prepaid. Money is stored as int64 micros (1e-6 USD) everywhere — per-impression prices are fractional cents, so cents can't represent them. A bid is priced per 1,000-impression block; a click costs 50× the per-impression price; the developer keeps 50% of every deduction.
• Fraud floor: per-developer hourly ($20) and daily ($200) earning caps, request-hash dedup, one credit per AI request, a $10 payout threshold, and manual review of every payout.

Layout

Path	What
server/	Go + Fiber + Postgres API. internal/ledger is the only writer of money.
cli/	npm package runemads, binary rads. Writes settings, renders the ad, flushes events.
web/	React + Vite. Advertiser portal + admin moderation/payout panel.
scripts/	e2e-loop.sh (API loop), e2e-cli.sh (client loop in an isolated HOME).

Run it locally

docker compose up -d                                    # postgres on :5544

cd server
DATABASE_URL=postgres://runemads:runemads@localhost:5544/runemads PORT=8090 go run ./cmd/api

cd ../web && npm install && npm run dev                 # advertiser + admin UI on :5180

cd ../cli && npm install && npm run build
RUNEMADS_API=http://localhost:8090 node dist/rads.js login --dev myname
RUNEMADS_API=http://localhost:8090 node dist/rads.js enable

Prove the whole loop without a terminal:

RUNEMADS_API=http://localhost:8090 bash scripts/e2e-loop.sh   # advertiser → ad → impression + click → balances
RUNEMADS_API=http://localhost:8090 bash scripts/e2e-cli.sh    # rads enable → ticks → refresh → render → disable

Tests

cd server && go test ./...     # ledger (needs DB up) + click-token signing

Status: MVP

Built: ledger, ad serving (bid-weighted), event ingestion with dedup + caps, signed click redirects, campaign CRUD + manual moderation, payouts with manual review, GitHub-device and magic-link auth, Stripe Checkout prepay + webhook, the rads CLI, and the web portal.

Deferred to later phases: VS Code webview ad surface, Codex/Cursor adapters, automated payout rails (Stripe Connect), targeting, pacing, and abuse ML.