Session Handoff — YouTube Content Engine: built the full local dashboard app (M0–M7 + HeyGen + profiles + Later tab)

Where it started

Session opened with /prime, then a pasted handoff about the YouTube Content Engine (PRD + Fable prompt written, not built). A /roast on "build the app vs. use the skill" returned RESHAPE — but the brief conflated two channels; Sondra corrected it (Why Dachshunds is deliberately pre-launch, not stalled; @sondraverva is the stalled on-camera channel). She then made the call clearly: she wants a visual button-dashboard because the manual skill path is the bottleneck she abandons ("if I can't see it, I won't do it"). The rest of the session was building that engine out end-to-end and verifying every piece.

Decisions locked + what shipped

• Do NOT re-roast the build. Sondra decided to build it; she pays for Sandy Lee's group specifically for this. Roast objections were cold-market-product objections, voided by the personal-tool frame.
• The app is real and working at c:\Users\srver\AIOS-Workspace\aios-starter-kit\PROJECTS\YouTube Content Engine\app\. Stack: Python FastAPI + plain HTML/JS + stdlib SQLite. Keys read from master .env (never hardcoded). Launch: Start Content Engine.bat → http://localhost:4770. Model claude-sonnet-5 throughout.
• All tools built + verified live: channel switcher (seeded Sondra Verva face + Why Dachshunds faceless) · Trend Scout (YouTube outliers → Claude ideas in her voice) · Script Writer (bundles her universal-youtube-content-engine framework files → full package) · Thumbnails (Gemini working / OpenAI gpt-image-2 wired but her OpenAI acct hit a billing hard limit) · faceless→Agent Opus prompt · Pipeline board · Channel Analysis.
• Why Dachshunds watchlist loaded — pulled competitors from PROJECTS/YT - Why Dachshunds Channel/Channel Details Manus/ docx, resolved 9 real channels via YouTube API. Trend Scout now works for it.
• Create/Edit Profile screen — "＋ New channel" + "✎ Edit"; watchlist add-by-@handle/URL resolves live. POST /api/profiles + extended PUT.
• HeyGen avatar videos — HEYGEN_API_KEY now SET by Sondra this session. Her 4 "sondra verva" avatars + cloned voice surface first; generate from an idea's script → poll → play/download. Avatars/voices disk-cached 24h (data/heygen_*.json), first load ~64s then 0.03s. This is her stated bottleneck-breaker (ship video without recording).
• 💡 "Later" tab — in-app backlog of parked nice-to-haves + "add your own." Sondra explicitly DECLINED one-click "make everything" for now (wants to review/revise scripts before committing to an avatar) — parked, not dropped.
• Added a no-store cache middleware; data/ fully gitignored.

Key files for next session

• c:\Users\srver\AIOS-Workspace\aios-starter-kit\PROJECTS\YouTube Content Engine\clone-run\STATE.md — READ FIRST. Full build log, every milestone M0–M7 + the 07-07 additions, all "open/next" items.
• c:\Users\srver\AIOS-Workspace\aios-starter-kit\PROJECTS\YouTube Content Engine\app\ — the app. Backend: server.py (routes), core.py (db/env/seed), scout.py, script_writer.py, thumbnails.py, agent_opus.py, analysis.py, image_gen.py, heygen.py. Frontend: web/index.html, web/app.js, web/styles.css. Launcher: Start Content Engine.bat.
• c:\Users\srver\AIOS-Workspace\aios-starter-kit\PROJECTS\YouTube Content Engine\PRD.md — the spec.
• c:\Users\srver\AIOS-Workspace\aios-starter-kit\PROJECTS\Sandy Lee AI Content Team\brand-voice.md — 🟡 DRAFT, load-bearing. Sondra must correct it in her words; every idea/script/avatar reads from it. She said she'll get to it "eventually," not this session.
• C:\Users\srver\.claude\skills\universal-youtube-content-engine\references\ — the 7 framework files the Script Writer bundles.
• Plan file: none (PRD + STATE.md drove the session).
• Memory files touched: C:\Users\srver\.claude\projects\c--Users-srver-AIOS-Workspace-aios-starter-kit\memory\project_content_team_engine.md (updated ~3× — build status, two-channel non-conflation rule, HeyGen). MEMORY.md pointer already existed.
• Also updated: c:\Users\srver\AIOS-Workspace\aios-starter-kit\context\ACCESS-MAP.md (HeyGen key now SET, added a row).

Running state

• Background processes: none. Last dev server (shell brgkhg7ay) was stopped via TaskStop at end of session. All prior server shells (bo1ferdl0, bpvsmj90k, bve0tcnd0, b1dqdtaxn, blx1oeh0z, bxr5z893k, bnttfwus7, b029b7ry4) also stopped.
• Dev servers / ports: none running. Port 4770 is free. Sondra launches herself via Start Content Engine.bat.
• Open worktrees / branches: none. Nothing committed this session (all work is uncommitted on main).

Verification — how to confirm things still work

• Launch: double-click PROJECTS\YouTube Content Engine\app\Start Content Engine.bat → browser opens http://localhost:4770.
• Or manually: cd "PROJECTS/YouTube Content Engine/app" && python server.py then open http://localhost:4770.
• Health: curl http://127.0.0.1:4770/health → all three keys true + youtube_live: true.
• HeyGen enabled: GET /api/heygen/enabled → {"enabled": true}.
• Proof screenshots (already captured): PROJECTS\YouTube Content Engine\verify\engine-{sondra,doxie,scout-ideas,package-modal,thumbs,pipeline,analysis,profile-editor,heygen,later}.png.
• DB has real data from verification runs (today's ideas for Sondra Verva, one scripted, gemini thumbnails, one agent-opus prompt). SQLite at app/data/engine.db (gitignored).

Deferred + open questions

• Deferred: brand-voice.md correction — the ONE load-bearing item before trustworthy output. Sondra will do it later, not this session.
• Deferred: OpenAI gpt-image-2 thumbnails — code correct, gated on her OpenAI billing hard limit (add credit at platform.openai.com).
• Deferred (in the app's "Later" tab): one-click make-everything (declined for now), auto-advance pipeline, calendar/scheduling, real-face thumbnails, library/gallery, backup/sync.
• Deferred: Sondra hasn't clicked any button herself yet ("I don't have time to test") — she understands what each does (explained this session); no user-side verification done.
• Open: last question to her was "want me to open the brand voice file so it's ready, or leave it?" — unanswered. Also floated: add her real dachshund channel as a third profile once live; wire "🎥 Avatar video" to also advance the pipeline card.

Pick up here

The engine is complete and verified; the single highest-leverage next action is helping Sondra correct PROJECTS\Sandy Lee AI Content Team\brand-voice.md in her own words (everything reads from it) — but only when she's ready; otherwise wait for her to pick an item off the "Later" tab or start using the app.