I'm currently building SheepCat: Track My Work, a Python-based, open-source work tracker designed specifically for neurodivergent developers.
The core philosophy is "Cognitive Ergonomics." Instead of loud dashboards and ticking stopwatches, it gently nudges you to log messy, raw thoughts throughout the day, and then uses Local AI (Ollama) to clean up those dyslexic brain-dumps into a neat stand-up report.
I’m currently mapping out the next update, and I asked my Bluesky followers a question that I want to bring to the dev.to community.
When you are using a daily developer tool, what adds more value to your day-to-day workflow: Deeper AI integration, or more personalized/fun UI themes?
I have two features sitting on my whiteboard right now, and I’m torn on which to build first:
Option A: The "Morning Context" AI Feature 🧠
Right now, SheepCat's local AI summarizes your current day.
The idea here is to have the AI review your previous days' logs when you boot up your machine in the morning, and generate a quick "Context & Insights" summary for today.
The goal: Reduce the cognitive load of trying to remember where you left off yesterday.
Option B: The "Old School Limewire" Theme 🎨
Since SheepCat is all about visual comfort and reducing executive dysfunction, having a UI that you actually enjoy looking at is a huge factor.
The idea here is to build a highly nostalgic, unapologetically retro "Pink and Black Limewire" theme.
The goal: Make developer tools fun again and let people customize their workspace to fit their exact vibe.
So, what do you think?
If you were using a local-first tracker to get through your workday:
Would you rather have the AI give you a smart morning brief to kickstart your brain?
Or would you rather have a sick retro theme that makes you smile when the nudge pops up?
Let me know in the comments! 👇 (And if you have any other off-the-wall theme ideas, drop them below).
Top comments (3)
Honestly I'd go with the AI morning brief first. The Limewire theme sounds fun but it's more of a nice-to-have that you could ship as a theme toggle later.
The morning brief thing though, that's the kind of feature that makes people actually open the app every day. If you can nail a useful "here's what matters today" summary from local data, that's a real retention hook. Themes don't do that.
Also curious, are you doing the AI stuff fully local? Like with something like Ollama or are you calling out to an API?
Thanks yer everyone that's feedback so far has gone for features over pretty 😊
Yer using Ollama or if you already have a docker version configured you can call that from the settings.
Planning to add other local options in the future but this was the one I started with 😊
Original discussion on BlueSky bsky.app/profile/sheep-cat.bsky.so...