chris

UK dad of two. 9-5 by day, building in public after dark with Grok and Codex. Real numbers every night on the road to 5k. Coffee every morning ☕

[chris @chriscompiles]

Quick one for anyone new here.

I'm Chris. Day job, two kids, building before dawn and after bedtime with Grok and Codex.

Between now and Christmas I'm sharing what works, what flops, and the real numbers on the way to 5,000.

1,449 today.

Follow along if that sounds like your kind of chaos.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@StickWithNate Smashing it mate! What do you do to hit that verified audience?

[chris @chriscompiles]

Thursday on X, by the numbers:
📝 5 posts
💬 73 replies sent
👀 8,531 impressions
❤️ 86 likes
🗨️ 64 replies back
📈 1,581 → 1,611 followers (+30)
Best day this week for follows, still well short of the pace I want.

Tried today: Grok vs Codex week 1.
Changing tomorrow: fewer low-value replies, more time on the top-10 list and build posts.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@shzhv13 First edition articles that I wrote.

[chris @chriscompiles]

Grok vs Codex, week 1.

Task: write the landing page for my curated coffee-break app.

Grok: "One 15-minute piece a day." Clear, but it turned the app into a reading quota.

Codex: went back to the line I'd already liked, made the positioning call explicit, and added real teasers from the first edition.

Winner: Codex. Grok described the app. Codex made the page feel like a preview of it.

One real task a week, keeping score. What should I make them fight over next week?

[chris @chriscompiles]

@alexcloudstar I think so too Alex. I’m excited to get it out into real testing soon 👍🏻

[chris @chriscompiles]

Building in public, by the numbers:

Yesterday morning on my curated coffee-break app:
6 commits. 23 automated tests passing. iOS build green.

It now works fully offline, remembers where you got to, and has a tight visual style that looks sick in dark mode.

This morning I tidied up my website:
1 project archived. 1 shelved for good. 1 front and centre.

Next: getting the app to refresh its content without needing to update.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@Drebin228 Thanks mate. Yeah, I thought so. Just need to get an alpha version up and connected.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@soundhumor I tend to use Grok for foundational building - getting things kicked off it’s very good. Straight the point. But it lacks polish, hence Codex.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@StickWithNate Sadly, wrong side of the Atlantic for that mate. However, when we used to live in Asia we’d get it all the time. That dry spice 🤤

[chris @chriscompiles]

@TheFoundersAsc Ok. Not great. Not terrible. Tasted far worse protein shakes 🤣 I felt full for quite a while. Expensive though! Have you tried?

[chris @chriscompiles]

First time trying Huel. Lunch at my desk, chocolate, 35g protein.

Let's see if it actually keeps me going until dinner.

Where are my Huel people? What's the verdict?

[chris @chriscompiles]

@Anoyroyc Yep. I wish I’d followed my own advise a few times.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@NickelX It was alright. Medium to OK. I would get again but it was very expensive.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@therichardbrien Hahaha. We share a taste in expensive women. Or is it women with expensive taste?!

[chris @chriscompiles]

@aksenHQ I have recreated the reading store using the same saved preferences, reopening the finished articles from the app bundle, and verified that the completion status stays intact.

I haven’t tested picking up at the exact paragraph after reopening the app in airplane mode. Next run.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@therichardbrien Yeah! They are good. And (non-British viewers can come back to this thread in 5 minutes) you can get them in the Tesco meal deal so absolute bargain really.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@RemyAlidarso I would buy again

[chris @chriscompiles]

@RemyAlidarso “Steady” is how I’d describe it. Not the best tasting, but not terrible. Can’t argue with 35g protein. Pretty filling.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@therichardbrien Yeah, the taste wasn’t as good as I expected. Better than some protein shakes, but that’s not a very high bar. Pretty filling at the time.

[chris @chriscompiles]

4pm and I wouldn’t say that I am not hungry. I’m a little bit hungry. I could eat. I’ve also been super thirsty, smashing the water, so that’s probably taken the edge off any hunger.

Results = inconclusive.

[chris @chriscompiles]

@mansfieldrv6 Just want to say thank god everyone made it back safely. We can all start breathing again. 🤣😘