Tim

Building - an AI powered, no code, headless CMS/SaaS builder.

[Tim @timkly]

It's 5.30 am. 10 hrs U til I demo @cmsly for the first time.

I've not been to sleep yet. I've got no slides. The app has never been deployed to prod. It's still not deployed. Nothing exists to support it.

14 months of development come to this! LFG

[Tim @timkly]

38 days and counting. The momentum continues to build as I finally start completing the wiring up of all the workflows and begin the optimisation of the various agents.

It's good times and exciting to still be finding plenty of extra wins along the way.

[Tim @timkly]

41 days until I demo this bad boy and today I decided to optimise the file system.

In the mean time, real world testing continues as I hope to ensure that @CMSly apps will always last longer than the first package or system update.

[Tim @timkly]

42 days to go and I need to change my routine. I _need_ to be building in public.

So todays goal was to begin wiring in the DNS management features for @CMSly and for the most part, its 80% done. I just need to tidy up some models and test the UI and its done.

[Tim @timkly]

I've just accepted an offer to present @cmsly in a breakout room at an event on AI. This will be the first time it's been shown to the public.

It's also the clock I needed to push me over the line. I now have 43 days to get the beta build online!

[Tim @timkly]

That's not supposed to happen!

[Tim @timkly]

Its been 1 year and 2 days since I left my role as Head of Development at Rapid Global to build my own startup @cmsly .

Today, that startup is still unreleased, still unknown and still a work in progress.

My goal to #buildinpublic? Still unrealised.

I also know I am breaking every rule when it comes to startups and I'm burning my runway, but like every other failed founder, I truly believe in what I am building 🙃

I'm also lucky to not be burning other peoples money, so the only pressure I feel is internal and I’ll admit, I’ve taken plenty of time off along the way.

With that said, CMSly has been an idea of mine for the last 20 years and the vision I have had for it has evolved significantly since I first imagined it, more so in the past 8 months inline with the exploration and development in the tech I wanted to use personally, that I've not been exposed too in my 25 year tech career, namely, *nix, docker, ssh, nginx, AI and typescript.

As such, for each new component I built for CMSly, aside from delivering me a set of new skills, the new functionality has allowed for the evolution of the platform... and whilst I haven't strayed from my "overall" original end-user "deliverable" beyond the jump from CMS Builder to SaaS Builder, the hardest question I’ve faced is:

How do you present and structure a software product in a world where AI is reshaping everything?

It’s a question I’ve wrestled with for the past year and only just answered last week.

So I’m sharing this update because I finally feel like I’m on the final stretch. I have all the pieces of the puzzle. I just need to lay them down in the right order.

I might even just post about it as well!

[Tim @timkly]

@johnrushx @tomhaerter In Google Workspace you can assign an individual user with up to 30 alternate aliases.

Additionally, you can also set up domain aliases also which act as another layer on top, in effect, allowing a completely different domain to be used with the same email aliases.

[Tim @timkly]

I started out with the goal to move fast, to be launched in weeks, then it was in months, now, it's within the year.

That's life as a solo dev, you get to gamble your future with every decision you make, and every warning you ignore.

What decisions are you gambling on?

[Tim @timkly]

Wow, I just went and checked and I've not posted any real content updates on @CMSly since April.

However, my silence doesn't represent failure, instead, I've been focusing on building out the platform and over these past several months, I've accomplished many milestones.

Sadly though, this is far behind where I intended to be, but hey, life happens... and as I come up to my 12 month anniversary since quitting my job to go all in on AI, I'm now in a position where #SAAS builds from the application are no longer hypothetical, they are now running in production, being tested, verified and validated, in preparation for being able to open the app to a private beta launch.

Anyways, with the major hurdles almost out of the way, I feel I am almost ready to start sharing what features will be available day one and what is on the road map.

One such example is this screen, which allows the creation of HTTP templates to be applied to web applications to improve application security.

[Tim @timkly]

So its been a minute since I've been on X as essentially for the last 5 weeks, I decided to have some time off.

It's a weird feeling, but I am operating on the assumption that once I launch, my personal time is going to be cut down to very little as I focus on my launch.

[Tim @timkly]

@SeifBassam The way I see it, LLM's already contain most if not all of the worlds public (and some not so public) written and oral history. Real time updates would be great.

[Tim @timkly]

@SeifBassam Cheers, my current experience is that LLM's are suitable for tooling, not free reign control.

Function Calls, MCP, its all the same, tooling to control the box.

[Tim @timkly]

It's a no-code type of weekend for me!

[Tim @timkly]

“Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river​—maintaining course yet adjusting flow. They have form but are formless, skilled in both planning and adapting, and need not fear the result of a thousand battles, for they win in advance.”
— Sun Tzu

If any quote captures my @CMSly journey, it’s this one.

Six months ago I set off with a clear vision, then reality did what reality does: shifted, expanded, and demanded new routes. Every pivot felt risky, but each one built the foundation CMSly stands on today.

⚙️ Strategic planning kept the core direction steady.

🌊 Rapid adaptation let me redirect resources when obstacles appeared.

🚀 Relentless execution means we’re approaching private-beta launch with an engine that lets anyone design, build, deploy, and scale, no code required.

Soon the power I’ve obsessed over will be in the hands of others, and I can’t wait to see what you’ll create with CMSly.

Here’s to winning in advance by planning, adapting, and moving forward, one decisive change at a time.

#StartupLife #BuildInPublic #Entrepreneurship #CMSly

[Tim @timkly]

Many developers have spent the last 20 years decoupling front end from back end systems.

Those who have worked with ASP/PHP know why this combined approach fails.

Thus, my unpopular Easter opinion is that Next.js is just the latest approach to creating the same problem.

🤯

[Tim @timkly]

@theo I use it for context management primarily, as its an app builder.

[Tim @timkly]

🔥 Double milestone alert!

🚀 Last night @CMSly fired off its first end‑to‑end build straight from the MVP—zero manual steps, pure click‑&‑deploy magic.

🎉 This morning I crossed 200 subs (for the 3rd time in 7 months).

Now back to #TCOB on the admin side to get beta ready.