OpenAI 2026 hackathon

Recover Design Record

Recover decisions lost after whiteboard sessions.

Solo project by Jared Pattison · 0 likes · 0 comments

Archive position — measured, not model output

0 likes on Devpost

2,264 of the 7,856 archived projects have more likes, and 5,592 share exactly 0 — so this project's #6,294 place in the like-ranked listing is a tie-break inside that group, not a ranking.

Projects (log scale)

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Likes on Devpost. ▲ marks this project's group.

Show the figures
LikesProjectsShare of archive
05,59271.2%
11,75822.4%
22853.6%
3–41321.7%
5–9751.0%
10+140.2%
Devpost like counts for all 7,856 archived projects, captured when this archive was built.

Executive Summary

What the company appears to be

Recover Design Record is a self-reported tool that claims to help software teams capture, reconstruct, and document architectural decisions made during physical whiteboard sessions. It uses AI tools (Codex, GPT-5.6, whisper.cpp) and local media processing (FFmpeg, Git) to turn session videos and board photos into structured documentation.

What changed

The author states they built this tool in response to a common problem: architectural decisions made during physical sessions are often lost or unclear when later checked against code. The solution is described as an installable Codex plugin that processes session media, reconstructs design decisions using multimodal AI, and generates Mermaid diagrams and ADRs (Architectural Decision Records) from verified repository snapshots.

The single most important open question

Is there any evidence of real-world usage or adoption beyond the author's own development and testing? The description makes no claims about customers, revenue, or product-market fit — only that it is a working prototype built for a hackathon.

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What The Product Actually Is

The description states:

  • Recover Design Record is an installable Codex plugin.
  • It takes session videos and board photos as input.
  • It uses FFmpeg, whisper.cpp, and GPT-5.6 Terra to process media and reconstruct decisions.
  • It checks reconstructed claims against a pinned Git commit in the repository.
  • It outputs Mermaid diagrams and ADR files after user approval.
  • The tool is designed to prevent automatic merging, requiring manual review before publication.

This is an AI-powered documentation assistant for physical architecture sessions, built as a plugin for macOS, with a focus on verifying decisions against code.

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Positioning & Claim Evolution

The description states:

  • The product addresses the problem of “decisions lost after whiteboard sessions”.
  • It aims to turn “messy handoffs” into evidence-backed design records.
  • It claims to reconstruct architecture, decisions, proposals, rejected alternatives, assumptions, and unresolved questions from session media.
  • It is described as a plugin for physical architecture sessions, not digital collaboration tools or remote meetings.

The positioning is self-reported and focused on solving a specific workflow gap — the lack of traceability between in-person design discussions and code implementation.

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Target Customer & ICP

The description states:

  • The tool is aimed at software teams who conduct physical architecture sessions.
  • It targets users who work with Git repositories, code review processes, and ADR documentation.
  • It is built for macOS, suggesting a developer or engineering audience.

No explicit customer segments, personas, or use cases beyond the author’s own workflow are provided. The ICP appears to be technical teams working in code-centric environments, but no evidence of actual customers or user feedback is present.

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Business Model & Pricing Evidence

The description states:

  • The tool is an installable Codex plugin.
  • It uses local processing (no cloud API calls).
  • It includes deterministic replay and docs-only publication guard.

There is no mention of pricing, monetization, or business model. The product is described as a hackathon submission, not a commercial offering.

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Technical & Delivery Signals

The description states:

  • Built with Codex, GPT-5.6 Terra, FFmpeg, whisper.cpp, Node.js, Git, GitHub CLI.
  • It is an installable plugin for macOS.
  • It includes 70 passing automated tests.
  • It supports deterministic replay, hash-checked outputs, and no API keys required.
  • It uses a pinned commit to verify against repository state.

These are technical claims, but no evidence of performance, scalability, or production use is provided.

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Traction & Maturity Signals

The description states:

  • The project was submitted to the OpenAI 2026 hackathon.
  • It includes a demo scenario with synthetic media and real repository evidence.
  • It has 70 automated tests, and supports deterministic replay.

There is no evidence of customer adoption, revenue, or product-market fit beyond the author’s own testing and submission.

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Competitive Context

The description states:

  • The tool is built for physical architecture sessions, not remote collaboration tools.
  • It uses multimodal AI (speech + visuals) to reconstruct decisions.
  • It integrates with Git repositories and generates ADR documentation.

No mention of competitors, market size, or competitive positioning is provided.

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Key Risks & Red Flags

The description states:

  • The tool is a hackathon submission, not a commercial product.
  • It is self-reported and unverified.
  • No evidence of real-world usage, customers, or traction.
  • It uses GPT-5.6 Terra, which is not a publicly known model.

Key risks include:

  • Lack of independent validation or user feedback.
  • Unclear scalability or production readiness.
  • No commercial viability or monetization strategy described.

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Diligence Questions To Ask The Founders

  1. What was the actual problem you were solving, and how did you validate it?
  2. Are there any users beyond yourself who are using this tool in practice?
  3. How does this tool integrate into existing workflows (e.g., GitOps, CI/CD)?
  4. What is the long-term vision for monetization or product development?
  5. Can you demonstrate how the tool handles edge cases or ambiguous inputs?
  6. Is there any plan to support platforms beyond macOS or Codex?

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Investment/Partnership Verdict

The description states:

  • This is a self-reported hackathon project.
  • It has no revenue, customers, or traction data.
  • It is built as a plugin for developers, but lacks evidence of adoption or market demand.

Verdict Not evidenced. The product is described as a prototype with no commercial or user validation. It is not ready for investment or partnership consideration without further evidence of traction, customer feedback, or business model development.

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Source

Submitted to the OpenAI 2026 hackathon on Devpost. Project home on DevPost.

The analysis above was generated by a language model from the project's own one-line description. It is not independent research and contains no verified traction, revenue or customer data.