Show HN: ID8 – A scratchpad that tells you what not to build

Most of us have a pile of half-baked ideas sitting in notes, whiteboards, or Notion docs. The problem isn’t coming up with them — it’s knowing which ones are worth chasing (and which ones will just eat your time).

I built ID8 as a scratchpad that doesn’t just store ideas — it helps you kill the bad ones early.

Here’s how it works:

• Bring your own idea (or let it generate some for you)

• Ideas go through a simple lifecycle: Suggested → Deep Dive → Iterating → Considering → Building/Launching

• Along the way you get AI-assisted validation (market signals, customer insights, defensibility checks)

• You keep a record of your thinking and the “why” behind each decision

• If something actually is worth building, you end up with pitch-ready docs and traction notes instead of scattered scraps

The goal: make research and validation as addictive as idea-generation, so you spend less time building stuff nobody wants.

Would love feedback from other hackers: • Would you use this to pressure-test your own ideas?

• Do you see it more as a solo tool, or something to use with a team?

• What would make this scratchpad the default place you put your next idea?

No GitHub signup (it’s broken) — just a simple email login and chrome

This isn’t another “AI builds your startup for you” tool. It’s more of a scratchpad + validation layer. The goal is to kill bad ideas early and capture the reasoning behind your decisions, so you don’t waste time building something nobody wants.

A few notes up front: You can bring your own idea or have it generate ideas, but the point is validating, not spamming. The AI helps with research (market, customers, defensibility), but it doesn’t replace thinking — it’s more like a co-pilot. No GitHub login (broken right now) — just email/google signup. It’s early — so I’m looking for feedback on whether this is useful to you as indie hackers/founders.

Curious if you’d actually use this as your first stop for new ideas, or if it feels like overkill.