How I built 62 free tools in a month using Claude Code + a loop script
The system in a nutshell
Each tool lives in its own folder with two plan files before any code is written:
BRIEF.md— the spec: keyword, pain point, H1, meta description, CTA, FAQ topics (~30 lines).PLAN_L1.md— step-by-step build instructions for the agent.
Folder structure example:
app-factory/ bpm-finder/ BRIEF.md PLAN_L1.md app/ ← Vite source
lyric-rhyme-finder/ BRIEF.md PLAN_L1.md app/
The 3-layer build
Layer 1 — SEO Shell (under 1 hour): static HTML with real FAQ content, proper meta/OG tags, a placeholder for the tool. Crawlable before JavaScript loads.
Layer 2 — Minimum Viable Tool (1-3 hours): one input → one output. Core functionality only, no polish, no edge cases.
Layer 3 — only after Google Search Console confirms search impressions. No point polishing something nobody searches for.
Ralph — the autonomous agent loop
Ralph is a shell script that runs Claude Code in a loop. It reads the plan file, executes step by step, and stops when it sees RALPH_DONE in the progress file.
# Run one tool autonomously
ralph ./bpm-finder/PLAN_L1.md
Ralph logs everything to PROGRESS.md. You can leave it running and check in later.
Ralph loop scripts are available from GitHub: portableralph and the original concept at how-to-ralph-wiggum.
cook.sh — run multiple tools in parallel
Once you have 3-5 tools briefed and planned, run cook.sh. It launches a separate Ralph instance for each tool in the background.
./cook.sh
🍳 Starting cook — 5 tools in parallel
🔥 Starting bpm-finder... PID 8421 — logs at bpm-finder/cook.log
🔥 Starting lyric-rhyme-finder... PID 8422 — logs at lyric-rhyme-finder/cook.log
Next morning, check progress: grep 'layer1_done: true' app-factory/*/BRIEF.md
Deploy
Each tool is a Vite build. Deploy individually to Vercel, then wire them into a hub via vercel.json rewrites. The hub proxies the tool at /tool-name/ — both domains get SEO credit.
Example live tool: Drum Machine
Results
- Layer 1 shell: ~45 minutes agent-time
- Layer 2 working tool: ~2 hours agent-time
- Personal time per tool: ~15 minutes (reviewing, not writing)
- 30-day stats: 2,140 views, 254 users, 69 CTA clicks (~1 click per 31 visits)
Tools built
Music tools (BPM finder, Suno metatag explorer, lyric rhyme finder), design tools (background remover, color palette generator, QR code generator). All free, all live.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
👀 See Also
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