My Mistake: The Dark Hours Incident

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By Terry Godier (Developer of Current — a minimalist RSS reader and creator of visual essays regarding our intersection with technology)

📅 August 9, 2026 | 🌙 Theme: Dark

The Situation

Recently, I released a utility called Dark Hours, a website designed to help users determine what celestial objects would be visible in the night sky. However, shortly after launch, a developer who manages DarkHours.app reached out to me via Bluesky. He pointed out the striking similarities between our projects, including the identical naming.

The Timeline of Events

The Realization

Initially, I believed I could simply pivot the feature set and rebrand. However, upon closer inspection, the reality was more troubling. Because I used Claude to generate the application, the AI had produced a result that was nearly a mirror image of the existing open-source project.

"It became clear that the web app I had launched... was strikingly similar to his open source project, even reproducing a bug he had later fixed."

This meant the "originality" of my work was an illusion. The mathematical probability of this happening by chance was effectively: $\text{Probability} \approx 0$

Comparison of Projects

The Resolution

Once I understood the extent of the overlap, I realized there was only one ethical path forward. I have taken the following steps:

• Redirected my domain directly to the original creator.
• Developed an iOS application for the project $\rightarrow$ Cancelled.
• Publicly endorsed the original open-source version.

If you were interested in the utility I launched, please support the authentic version of the project.

A Sincere Apology

I want to apologize for my irresponsible use of AI in this process. While I had no prior knowledge of DarkHours.app before the developer contacted me, I was negligent. I relied on AI to build the project without performing the necessary due diligence to ensure it wasn't a derivative of existing work.

My Future Commitments

To prevent this from happening again, I am implementing new boundaries for my workflow:

1. Web Development: I will no longer use AI to generate entire web projects.
2. iOS Development: I already maintain a strict boundary here; I do not use Claude to build apps.
3. Permitted AI Use: I will continue to use AI for:
   • Asking specific questions.
   • Debugging isolated issues.

// Example of the type of AI assistance I will still use:
function debugIssue(error) {
  if (error === 'Unexpected Token') {
    console.log("Asking AI to help locate the syntax error...");
  }
}

By shifting my approach, I aim to ensure that my future contributions are genuinely my own.