24 things.
What Sunrise must get right to become a daily ritual. Grounded in data on what kills habit loops. Updated as we ship.
7 of 23 shipped
Habit Formation
The core loop must stick.
of users churn before Day 30. The habit forms in the first session or not at all.
One miss is forgiven, streak stays alive
Duolingo saw 40%+ more 7-day streaks after adding streak repair. Removes the "I broke it, I quit" drop-off point.
Deliver value on Day 1, not Day 7
Make the streak visible and emotionally real
Win against doing nothing, morning check-in in under 60s
Streak + milestone mechanics, not just one
The Gap
Merge vs. intention, the thing no to-do app can do.
Commit ≠ shipped. Sunrise is the first tool that can tell the difference.
GitHub cross-reference, see what you actually shipped
"You said you'd fix the auth bug, by wrap-up it can see you merged it." No to-do app can do this.
Calendar context works without GitHub, layered onboarding
Calendar shows meeting-vs-goal gap out of the box. GitHub deepens it. No one is blocked on setup.
Shareable wrap-up card that surfaces the gap
Retention
Survive the leaky bucket.
faster cancellation for AI apps vs non-AI. Source: RevenueCat 2026.
Nail the first 7 days, the only window that matters
Zero friction between "check-in available" and "started"
No billing surprises at trial end
A reason to open it on a slow day, not just a good one
Voice
Human, not robotic.
Response latency target. Anything above that breaks the illusion of a real exchange.
Voice latency low enough to feel like a real exchange
High latency turns a conversation into a slow form. These are different products.
Voice optional, but the obviously better path
Force no one. Nudge everyone. Voice users retain better because the interaction is richer.
Graceful recovery when voice input is messy
Distribution
50 real daily users, the target.
daily active users. Not installs. People who open it every morning.
Public launch early, not at the end
Into communities where the solo operator lives
Wrap-up card as the growth loop
Find 5 daily users and study them obsessively
Non-Negotiables
Things that sink it if wrong.
Tolerance for missed check-in triggers. Scheduling reliability is the heartbeat.
Check-ins arrive on time, every time
One missed morning check-in breaks the habit loop. Scheduling reliability is the product's heartbeat.
Privacy in one sentence, in the product, not the FAQ
"Voice runs on secure infra, goals stay yours, GitHub token lives on your machine."
Faster than opening a notes app
Ritual, not an AI feature, ritual is the moat
7 of 23 shipped.
Updated as each one lands. Every item is backed by data on why habit loops fail.