I built a commitment log that locks the first sentence — looking for feedback on the name and the lock
I shipped a small private log at https://nixon.app
The problem I wanted: notes apps let me silently rewrite a promise. I wanted the first sentence to stay.
What it does:
- Open a notebook with an email and a passphrase (same pair, same log; no magic link, no reset)
- Write a commitment or decision
- After save, that original text is locked — no edit, no delete
- You can only append dated notes
It is free to try. I am not claiming user counts. The name is a short product word, as in “nix on going back.” It is not a watch shop.
What I want feedback on:
- Is “Nixon” confusing, or is the lock idea clear enough that the name can stay?
- Is no-password-reset the right tradeoff for a lock-the-past product, or does it make the tool unusable?
Happy to take punches.
The lock is an interesting constraint, but I’d be more curious whether people actually want this enough to change their existing note-taking habit. Have early users described a specific situation where being unable to rewrite the original commitment matters?
Fair question. I built this after catching myself rewriting a commitment in a normal notes app until it matched what I already did — the original sentence disappeared with no record. The lock is for that failure mode, not for replacing a full notes stack.
I am not claiming early-user evidence yet; still too early for that. If you’ve had a moment where you wished the first wording had stayed put, I’d like to hear what it was.
That’s a useful distinction. I’d be curious whether that rewriting behavior shows up repeatedly for other people too, or whether it’s mostly a personal failure mode you’re solving for yourself.
Honest answer: I don’t have multi-user evidence yet. What I know for sure is my own pattern — catching myself softening a commitment in a notes app after the fact, until the original wording was gone.
I’m treating that as a hypothesis, not a proven market: some people keep evolving a journal on purpose; some want one line to stay put. Nixon is only for the second case.
If you’ve seen the rewrite loop in yourself or others, I’d like to hear how often it shows up, and what the situation was. If it’s rare, that’s useful too.
That’s a clean hypothesis to test. I’d be most interested in whether the people who recognize that rewrite loop also feel enough pain to change their existing habit.
Agreed — recognizing the rewrite loop isn’t the same as switching tools. The real test is whether someone who already softens commitments in a notes app will open a separate lock-first log for those lines. I don’t have switching evidence yet. The next useful signal is a concrete situation where the silent rewrite hurt enough to try a different tool — or hearing that the pain stayed too low to bother. If you’ve seen either, I’m listening.