smelter · plain answers

Everything makers actually ask.

The keys, the windows, and the questions, answered plainly. Back to Smelter.

Straight talk about the keys

The firing runs on ours. The product runs on yours.

The firing: our key

The forge burns the Crucible's own hosted key. You don't bring one, you don't paste one, and nothing you type here is an API credential.

The product: your key

The AI features in the build you download expect an Anthropic (Claude) key in the environment where you deploy it. Yours, on your invoice, under your control. The ZIP itself ships with no key inside.

Yours to keep

The build is a real download you own: the source, the docs, the deploy. What you do with it next is your call.

No dark patterns, no fake countdown, no fine print doing the arguing. The Wolf and the Machine do the job, say so plainly, and get out of your way.

smelter is invitation-only, for now

Ask for a place at the fire.

Firings run in small batches. Leave your email and the Smelter invitation lands there when your place opens. Joining here also adds you to the Crucible waitlist; a place in Smelter is its own, separate from a place in the Crucible.

Already invited, or already a member? Sign in at the forge

Plain answers

A few real questions.

Do I need an account?
Yes, a small one. The forge is invitation-only for now: you join the waitlist, and when your place opens you sign in and fire it. The sign-in is what puts your name on the firing and the build.
What do I actually download?
The source, a README, a DEPLOY file, and the config it needs to run. Everything required to stand the tool up on your own.
Will I need a developer?
To run it as written, usually not; the DEPLOY file walks through it. To change it heavily, a developer helps, and now they can, because they have the code.
Does this touch my hosted Pickaxe?
No. The hosted copy stays exactly as it is. Smelter reads a description of it and builds a separate thing.
Do I bring an API key?
No. The firing runs on the Crucible's own hosted key. The download ships with no key inside; when you deploy the build, you add your own key to its environment and it answers to you.
Do I need a specific key to run it?
Only for what you take home. The build's AI features expect an Anthropic (Claude) key in the environment where you deploy it. The firing itself needs nothing from you but the Pickaxe.
How long do I have to buy and download?
Two windows. In the first hour after your firing finishes, the download is $20 flat, before any live test. After that we push the build live for you: you get the first 24 hours to use it, and the download is $100 for the first week after go-live. Both get you the same full product. Miss both windows and you can still buy it out later at a proven-value price.
What if both windows close?
Your build does not vanish. It keeps running on the Smelter SaaS at $10 a month plus 15 percent of the revenue it earns, net of the API costs we carry to run it. And ownership stays reachable: buy the build out later at a price proven by what it actually earns. The windows are just the cheapest way in.
Can I do both, own it and host it?
Yes. Buying the download during a window and running on the SaaS are not exclusive. Own the code for control, keep the hosted copy for convenience, or both.
How is this different from the full Crucible?
Same forge, different starting point. The full Crucible starts from an idea: five checks, a plan you sign, and an assay that measures the build against it. Smelter starts from the Pickaxe you already made and have running. The exit gates are identical either way, and the papers in your ZIP say exactly which road your build took. Want the interrogation and the signed plan? Start at the front door.
What if the forge can't prove my build?
Then it says so, to you, in plain words. If a gate goes red or the proving run cannot finish, delivery pauses and the screen names what it found. You choose what happens next: adjust and fire again, or sign to take the build as it stands, risk named and carried under your name. Nothing arrives pretending it passed, and nothing is kept from you.