What it is
BookLens is where everything started: a simple book scanning app that sparked the realization of what's possible when building with AI assistants.
The Origin
July 24, 2024. First commit. A weekend project to scan book covers and get metadata via Google Books API, with OpenAI providing cover analysis and recommendations. Credit to Sarah.
The Simple Stack
- Node.js backend
- MongoDB for storage
- OpenAI for image understanding
- Google Books API for metadata
The Revelation
Building BookLens revealed something unexpected: AI wasn't just a feature to add to apps: it could be a collaborator in building them. The process of creating BookLens with AI assistance was more interesting than the app itself.
What It Enabled
BookLens planted seeds that grew into the entire ecosystem:
- Axon: The RAG and context management patterns
- Continuum: The idea of persistent AI context
- Navari: The vision of AI that delivers solutions, not answers
Why It's Archived
BookLens served its purpose. The app itself isn't particularly notable: it's a solved problem with many alternatives. But its role in starting the journey makes it significant.
The 18-Month Arc
From a simple book scanner to enterprise platforms, research labs, trading agents, and robots. BookLens is the first node in this network graph: the origin point from which everything else grew.
The Lesson
Start small. Build something real. The insights come from doing, not planning. BookLens wasn't meant to become a portfolio: it was meant to scan books. But it opened a door to everything that followed.
Timeline
How it went
- 2024-07-24The First Commit. BookLens: a simple book scanning app with OpenAI. The spark that lit the fire.
Connected work