Inspiration
I started selling options to generate steady monthly income from my portfolio and cash reserves (primarily cash-secured puts). When I looked for a clean way to track positions, I hit a wall: most tools were bloated platforms charging hefty subscriptions, while personal spreadsheets were too clunky to log trades on a phone on the go. And none of them answered the one question I actually cared about: how much income did my options generate this month?
What it does
YieldLog is a trading journal built specifically for options income traders running covered calls, cash-secured puts, and multi-leg campaigns like the wheel. You execute the trade in your broker, then log the strike, premium, and expiration in the app in seconds — no brokerage connection, your data stays yours.
Before expiration, it flags positions that are ready to roll, with plain-English reasoning so you know when to act and why. Wheel sellers get full campaigns: every put, assignment, and covered call in one place, with cumulative income, true cost basis, maximum capital used, and campaign return on capital. All analytics are descriptive, never advisory — the numbers are the product, and every metric is backed by hand-verified math.
How we built it
I prototyped the app in an AI app builder (DreamFlow, from the team behind FlutterFlow), which got v1 onto the App Store in August 2026. Then I exported the code and rebuilt it code-first with an AI pair programmer: Flutter for iOS and Android, Firebase backend, RevenueCat for subscriptions. The rebuild has 700+ automated tests, because for an analytics app, wrong numbers would destroy its credibility — I refused to ship AI-generated math I didn't understand. iOS ships through a GitHub Actions + fastlane pipeline to TestFlight.
Challenges we ran into
Balancing "vibecoding" speed with software discipline: generating code with AI is fast, but every formula needed hand-verified tests before it earned a place in the app. The other hard problem was monetization design — I built a signup paywall, then tore it out, because gating the app at registration contradicted the promise I wanted to make: try the full product first, pay only if it earns its place.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Taking an idea from a blank canvas to an approved, fully functional, monetized app in a few months — and then rebuilding it properly without losing a single user-facing behavior. I use it every trading day to track my real book.
What we learned
Building the core app with AI tools is fun and rewarding; app store compliance, privacy manifests, and review bureaucracy are the exact opposite. And I learned that for a tool people must trust with their numbers, the trial is the pitch: leading with the full product beats gating at signup. Positioning and onboarding retail traders is the real bottleneck — the product is only a fraction of the challenge.
What's next
Version 1.2.0 (the code-first rebuild) is now live on both the App Store and Google Play. Next up: CSV import, expiration notifications, and campaign comparison.
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