For Windsurf users

What to build on Windsurf. Decide in 20 minutes.

Windsurf is an agentic IDE whose Cascade flow chains steps together, carrying context from one edit to the next across a codebase. What it can't tell you is whether the thing is worth building. Nine forced decisions against live G2 and Reddit data, then a Windsurf-optimised spec carrying your buyer, scope, price and launch plan straight into Windsurf Cascade.

$5 Quick Take · No credit card · 9 decisions in 20 minutes

Stage 9 · The export

What you paste into Windsurf Cascade

A Windsurf rules file that Cascade carries as context through every step of a flow. It carries the buyer, the release boundary and the pricing tier, so the constraint travels with the momentum instead of being restated at the start and forgotten by step nine. The example below uses a freelance-accountant idea; yours will be specific to your own.

windsurf.com

Pasted into Windsurf Cascade · ShipFit Quick Take · $5

## Buyer

Sarah, 38, freelance accountant in the UK. Earns £80k/yr. Willing to pay £29/mo for tools that save admin time. Decision timeline 7 days. Channels: r/accounting, AccountingWEB.

## Problem (severity 9/10 from G2 + Reddit)

Client onboarding takes 4-6 hours per new client. Manual data entry, duplicated forms, chasing missing documents.

## V1 scope — Lean package (2-week build)

✓ Smart intake form with VAT-number prefill ✓ Document upload with auto-categorisation ✓ Welcome email sequence with checklist ✓ Single-page dashboard showing new-client pipeline ✗ Multi-user access (Balanced package only) ✗ Stripe integration (post-MVP)

## Stack

Next.js 14, Supabase auth + Postgres, Tailwind. Deploy via the host platform.

## Pricing (Van Westendorp: £19-£39, optimal £29)

Free: 1 active client · Pro: £29/mo, 10 clients · Agency: £79/mo, unlimited

## Launch (channel-matched to buyer)

Week 1: r/accounting AMA + AccountingWEB guest post. Week 2: AccountingWEB ad burst + cold email to 50 firms. Success metric: First paying customer in week 4.

## Tone of voice

Crisp, professional, no fluff. UK English. Sarah is time-poor.

Generated from 9 forced decisions · Sourced from live G2 + Reddit

▶ Build with Windsurf

The failure mode

On Windsurf, a vague instruction goes a long way

Cascade's whole design is momentum. It keeps context between steps, so one instruction leads to the next edit, which leads to the next, and the work continues without you re-explaining anything. On a clear task it is the most pleasant way to build on this list.

On an unclear one it is the most expensive. The same momentum that carries a good instruction through fifteen files carries a bad one just as efficiently, and it is finished before you have caught up with what it decided. Reviewing a completed cascade is harder than reviewing a diff, because you are reconstructing a chain of reasonable-looking decisions.

The tool is very good at going. It has no opinion on where.

637

ideas put through the sequence since October 2025. 2,888 problems surfaced and ranked.

named frameworks applied at the right stage. Christensen, Fitzpatrick, Vohra, Helmer.

Live

signal from G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, App Store. Real complaints, not generated text.

Quick Take. No credit card. Full 9-stage playbook from $10.

How it works

From idea to Windsurf spec in 20 minutes

9 stages, in order, each one building on the last. Skip one and the next breaks. At the end, the Windsurf-optimised export pastes into Windsurf Cascade.

Q1Worth Building?

Ship / Pivot / Kill verdict

Q2Who Pays?

Named buyer + willingness-to-pay

Q3What Hurts?

Pain ranked from G2 + Reddit

Q4How to Win?

Positioning vs real competitors

Q5What's V1?

Lean / Balanced / Full scope

Q6How to Charge?

Van Westendorp pricing tier

Q7Will They Pay?

Landing copy + traffic plan

Q8How to Launch?

Channel-matched playbook

Q9What to Export?

Tool-optimised prompt

Paste into Windsurf. Build.

Same tool, different brief

What changes in Windsurf Cascade

Windsurf is the same tool either way. The difference is entirely in what it has been told.

Without the spec

Carries a vague instruction through fifteen files before you catch up.

With it

Carries the release boundary through the same fifteen files.

Without the spec

Produces a cascade that is coherent, complete, and aimed somewhere nobody checked.

With it

Produces one aimed at the buyer and the job from stages 2 and 3.

Without the spec

Needs the context restated at the start of every flow.

With it

Loads it from the rules file, so step nine knows what step one knew.

Honest questions

The stuff Windsurf builders actually ask before paying $5.

Frequently asked questions

Can't I just describe my idea to Windsurf directly?

You can, and Windsurf will build it. The problem is Windsurf will build anything. It doesn't tell you the idea has no buyer, the pricing is wrong, the scope is bloated or the launch channel for this audience is paid not organic. ShipFit decides those nine things first so Windsurf builds the right thing, not just the next thing.

Do I still need my Windsurf subscription?

Yes. ShipFit isn't a builder. It's the step before. ShipFit decides what to build. Windsurf builds it. The two are complementary, not competing. ShipFit's stage-9 export drops straight into Windsurf Cascade.

Cascade already keeps context between steps. Isn't that enough?

It keeps context about the code. It has no context about the market, because nothing in your repository contains it. Cascade will faithfully carry a wrong assumption about your buyer through an entire flow, which is worse than forgetting it.

Where does the export actually go?

Into Windsurf's rules mechanism, so it loads automatically rather than being pasted at the start of a session. Pasted context lasts until you forget, which is usually the second day.

Can I run this on a project Cascade has already built?

Yes, and the output is often a list of things to remove. A flow that ran without a release boundary tends to leave features nothing asked for, and they are easier to find with a Must list in hand.

What happens if the verdict goes against my idea?

You saved a Windsurf build cycle, which is the feature rather than the bug. The Quick Take verdict arrives with a Why: which of the nine decisions broke down, whether that was the buyer, the pricing room or the differentiation. You either iterate on the idea or pick a stronger one. Either way, $5 buys a forced conversation with the data before you spend three months building.

Get my Windsurf spec

$5 Quick Take. 2 minutes. Live data. Real verdict. Or $10 for the full 9-stage playbook with the Windsurf-optimised export.