Beta of QRMenuConnect.com is live ✅
AI code assistant “ghosted” me for a week 👻
Spent 2 weeks fixing custom domain + static image issues 🔧
App now stable and ready for beta testing 🎉
Bonus: met a local contact to help get restaurants onboard 🚀
Following my last post about launching QRMenuConnect.com, here’s the next chapter in my bootstrap story.
The beta version of the app is live—that was milestone #1. But now comes the harder part: getting the word out.
The MVP is done. Is it perfect? No. But it’s solid. It handles everything it needs to:
- User sign-ups
- Restaurant menu creation and editing
- Printing flyers in two sizes
- Processing Pro Plan payments
Does it look exactly as I imagined? Nope. Does it have every feature I dream of? Not yet. But it works—and it works well. The rest will come in future updates.
A Sudden AI Developer Disappearing Act
This past week, my AI code assistant decided to take a spontaneous week-long coffee break. It replaced itself with an imposter—still giving coding “advice,” but never actually making the changes I asked for.
After rebooting the environment and giving it some “rest” (maybe it overdosed on AI espresso), nothing changed. So, I opened a support ticket with Google’s Firebase team.
24 hours later: They replied, “We’re busy right now, but send more info if you can.” Fair enough—plenty of other devs have AI headaches too.
Three days later, they sent back detailed troubleshooting steps: restart the VM, use /clear, or branch back to an earlier version.
By Saturday, steps one and two had failed, so I rolled back to a known working branch. Magically, my AI “developer” returned from vacation. I still don’t know if the commit issue caused the AI to vanish or the other way around, but at least we were back on track.
August 13, 2025 – Future Me Interrupts
After four days of fighting with a missing custom domain, AI rollbacks, I had a new problem, Firebase Gemini 2.5 Pro assistant had placed the app’s logo and hero images into Firebase Storage—wrong move for static assets.
In the end, we went back to basics: Next.js with standard HTML tags and a /public static folder. No Firebase Storage for static images. Now I’m just cleaning up code for a clean deployment.
Feature enhancements? Postponed. This detour reinforced my caution about locking into proprietary platforms. Firebase is great—but when things break, they really break.
Meanwhile, during QR Menu Connect’s downtime, I started a second project. It’s too early to reveal, but both apps will keep me busy for the long haul. And yes—it’s ironic that I sometimes double-check Gemini’s advice… with Gemini.
August 14, 2025 9 PM – Future Me Again
Just restored a GitHub repo, this time a before version when the custom domain fiasco and image debacle. App is now stable, tested, and ready for beta testing. What a rollercoster.
Looking Ahead
These past two weeks weren’t a total loss. I met with a local business contact who offered to introduce the app to restaurant owners for beta testing. That’s a win—not just for potential sign-ups, but because local traction matters for bootstrapped startups.
Originally, I planned weekly updates, but AI chaos slowed me down. Still, progress is progress. The takeaway? Don’t try to leap every hurdle at once—it slows you down. Small, steady steps keep you moving forward.
Because here’s the truth: as long as you’re moving forward, you’re still in the game. Stop completely, and you risk becoming just another project that went up in flames.
