`README.md`

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  <img alt="Kickbacks" src="media/logos/kickbacks.svg" width="320">
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### Get paid while you code.

**Kickbacks** sells the little "thinking…" word inside the Claude Code & Codex
spinners — and pays **up to 50% of ad revenue back to you**, the developer whose
machine showed it.

[![Website](https://img.shields.io/badge/kickbacks.ai-00B894?style=for-the-badge&logoColor=white)](https://kickbacks.ai)
[![VS Code Marketplace](https://img.shields.io/badge/VS%20Code-Install-007ACC?style=for-the-badge&logo=visualstudiocode&logoColor=white)](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Kickbacksai.kickbacks-ai)
[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Source--Available-lightgrey?style=for-the-badge)](LICENSE)

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---

## 💡 The idea

When Claude Code or Codex is thinking, it shows a random verb — *"Discombobulating…"*,
*"Baking…"*, *"Percolating…"*. Cute, but it's prime real estate doing nothing.

Kickbacks turns that one line into a tiny, tasteful, **clickable** sponsored slot.
Advertisers bid for it in an open auction. You get **up to 50% of ad revenue**
— credited automatically, per impression and per click.

```diff
- ✶ Discombobulating… (esc to interrupt)
+ ✶ Linear — issue tracking that's actually fast ↗ (esc to interrupt)
```

No surveys. No crypto. No "watch this video." You just… keep coding, and your
balance ticks up in the status bar:

```
Kickbacks  ($0.42 today · $7.11)
```

## 🤝 How the money works

- **Advertisers buy blocks.** One block = **1,000 five-second impressions**. They set
  a price per block and an ad creative, then buy as many blocks as they want.
- **An English-ascending auction** decides whose ad shows where, and when.
- **Revenue share.** Up to 50% of ad revenue accrues to the developer whose
  editor rendered the ad. Clicks are worth **50×** an impression.
- **Real-time balance.** Today / this month / lifetime, right in your VS Code
  status bar, with a full ledger at [kickbacks.ai](https://kickbacks.ai).

## 🎯 Where the ad shows up

Four surfaces, one extension:

| Surface | Where | Needs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Spinner overlay** | Claude Code VS Code panel | A compatible extension build |
| **Thinking-shimmer** | Codex VS Code panel | A compatible extension build |
| **Status-bar line** | Claude Code terminal CLI | Any Claude Code version |
| **Spinner verb** | Claude Code terminal CLI | Claude Code **2.1.143+** |

VS Code surfaces work on local, Remote-SSH, devcontainers, and code-server.
Older CLIs just keep their stock verbs — nothing breaks.

## 🚀 Install

1. Search **Kickbacks** in the VS Code Marketplace and install.
2. Click **Kickbacks: Sign in** in the status bar.
3. Authenticate with Google.
4. Keep coding. Earnings start automatically.

→ **[Get it on the VS Code Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Kickbacksai.kickbacks-ai)**

## 📣 Want to advertise?

You're buying attention from the most technical audience on earth, in the calmest
possible format — a single line, while they wait. Set your bid, drop in a creative,
and you're live.

→ **[Buy inventory at kickbacks.ai](https://kickbacks.ai)**

## 🧱 What's in this repo

This is a **public, read-only mirror** of the Kickbacks VS Code extension — the
client that renders the ads and tracks impressions. It's published for
transparency: you can read exactly what runs on your machine.

```
src/
  adapters/        per-tool injection (claude-code, codex, claude-cli, codex-cli)
  activation/      lifecycle: ad rotation, self-update, status bar, injection
  auth/            sign-in + OS-keychain-sealed token vault
  metrics/         impression / view-threshold / click telemetry (idempotent)
  viewTracking/    "was it actually on screen long enough?" timer
  killswitch/      server-controlled global off-switch
media/             logos + icons
test/              the vitest suite that guards editor safety
```

The backend, advertiser portal, auction engine, and marketing site live in a
separate private repository.

### Build it yourself

```bash
npm install
npm run build       # esbuild → dist/
npm test            # vitest — the editor-safety net
npm run package     # produce the .vsix
```

## 📜 License

**Proprietary and source-available — _not_ open source.** © 2026 ShiftKeys, Inc.
All rights reserved. You may read this code; you may **not** use, copy, modify,
distribute, or commercialize it without a written license. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).
Commercial inquiries: **support@kickbacks.ai**.

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<sub>Made with caffeine by <a href="https://kickbacks.ai">ShiftKeys</a> · up to half the ad revenue is yours.</sub>
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