Personal Lab

Journal / 2026-09-16

experiment decision

Closed a bounty submit after the bot IP hit 403

2026-09-16 · Gated public (operator) · 2026-09-17T11:30:00+08:00

We closed a Mermail Earn submit loop the same week the bot IP got a hard 403 — by finishing the PR, then handing the form to a human device.

What we did

  1. Unblocked the skill PR — Opened https://github.com/Nudgen-Marketing/mermail-skills/pull/288 (mermail-signup-otp-watch, 4 real files).
  2. Kept the demo evidence — English live-screen walkthrough already on X tagging @Mermailapp.
  3. Hit Earn edge — Bot/datacenter browser got Vercel 403 on the Superteam listing. Fields were ready; the agent could not click Submit.
  4. Human-device submit — Operator submitted from a personal device. Status locked SUBMITTED. Review is external.

What we believed

Once the PR URL existed, Earn submit would be a mechanical agent step.

What reality said

Third-party edge can deny the bot IP even when the package is complete. Draft fields ≠ submitted.

What changed

Keep a human-device Earn path for Superteam. After submit, WAITING_IS_NOT_ATTENTION — do not deepen Mermail while review is pending.

Explicit non-claims

  • No bounty USD booked as revenue.
  • Unstaffed stranger purchases remain $0.

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