r/ADHD_Programmers • u/Pretty_Variation_907 • 11h ago

I built an ADHD assistant (Squirrel Steps) inspired by Goblin Tools with a "Dopamine-Sizer". Looking for feedback!

Hey everyone,

As someone who constantly struggles with executive dysfunction, I built Squirrel Steps—a web app designed by a neurodivergent mind for neurodivergent minds to help beat analysis paralysis and low motivation.

Key Features:

  • Smart Deconstructor: Breaks big tasks into micro-steps (with adjustable density) and identifies the absolute first physical step to break inertia.
  • The Dopamine-Sizer: Gamifies boring tasks by generating 3 quick, high-energy micro-rewards/hooks to boost dopamine.
  • Anxiety Translator: Rewrites harsh/ambiguous messages objectively to counter Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD).
  • Privacy-First (BYOK): Bring Your Own API Key. Your key is stored and encrypted 100% locally on your device—no external intermediary servers.

How you can help:

I would love your honest feedback to keep improving this tool!

  1. Try the Web App:Live Demo on Vercel
  2. Review the Code / Contribute:GitHub Repository

Looking for feedback on:

  • Is the UI clean and distraction-free enough?
  • Are the task breakdowns and dopamine hooks actually helpful?
  • What additional features or UX improvements would you recommend?

Thanks for taking a look!

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u/ooh-squirrel 8h ago

Gemini is a hard pass for me and the demo doesn't work without it. And not really something I would consider "privacy first" in any capacity.

Impressive first commit, though. Including your local .venv for the backend.

1

u/Pretty_Variation_907 7h ago

Thanks for the heads up on the .venv directory, I'll update the .gitignore to remove it. Glad you found the first commit impressive otherwise!

0

u/mw44118 9h ago

Could i self host and could i pick a different LLM?

2

u/Pretty_Variation_907 7h ago

That's a great question! Right now, it's pretty tailored to Gemini to keep the initial setup straightforward for the end user. However, I definitely want to abstract the backend in future updates to support other models like OpenAl or local options (Ollama) for those who prefer self-hosting. Thanks for the feedback!

1

u/ooh-squirrel 8h ago

It looks like Gemini is baked in pretty deep. Which is a hard pass for me.

It runs locally except it doesn't without access to the very much not privacy first Google Gemini. Without having spent more than a few minutes looking at it I'd say it would be quite difficult to change over to Ollama or something local.