What's Changed

After gaining a LOT more experience with smart contracts and getting some encouragement from Horsefacts, I revisited everything and figured it out. I sincerely apologize for incorrectly stating that Manifold couldn't be used for this purpose!!!

Important Notes

• The solution I'm sharing has been tested only with ERC-1155 tokens

• I haven't tested with ERC-721 tokens - this may require modifications to the Manifold contract or other significant changes

• I've prepared examples for both ETH-only mints and combined USDC+ETH fee mints

Ready to see how it works? I've created a demo Replit that demonstrates the mint in action.
Click the button below to get access to the Repl and let me show you how to do it!

1: Locate Your config.ts File

Open the config.ts file in your Replit editor. This is where you'll make all your changes!

2: Edit mintMetadata

This section defines how your NFT is displayed.

// Inside config.ts
export const mintMetadata = {
  name: "YOUR NFT NAME", // <-- EDIT THIS
  description: "YOUR NFT DESCRIPTION", // <-- EDIT THIS
  imageUrl: "/your_nft_image.png", // <-- EDIT THIS (path to your image in the public folder, or a full URL)
  creator: {
    name: "YOUR CREATOR NAME", // <-- EDIT THIS
    fid: 12345, // Your Farcaster FID (optional) // <-- EDIT THIS
    profileImageUrl: "YOUR_PROFILE_IMAGE_URL", // (optional) // <-- EDIT THIS
  },
  chain: "Base", // Or "Ethereum", "Polygon", etc. Ensure it matches `base` import below if using Base.
  priceUsdc: "1.0", // <-- **CRITICAL: Set the USDC price of your mint (e.g., "1.0" for 1 USDC)**
  manifoldFeeEth: "0.0005", // <-- **CRITICAL: Set the ETH fee (e.g., Manifold's platform fee)**
  startsAt: null, // Optional: ISO date string for start time, or null
  endsAt: null,   // Optional: ISO date string for end time, or null
  isMinting: true,
} as const;

• Update name, description, imageUrl, and creator details.

• IMPORTANT: set priceUsdc to the exact USDC amount for one mint. If this doesn't match what the smart contract expects, it won't mint!

• IMPORTANT: set manifoldFeeEth to the exact ETH fee required per mint. If this doesn't match what the smart contract expects, it won't mint!

3: Edit contractConfig (Your Manifold Claim Contract)

This is the most critical part for interacting with your specific Manifold claim.

// Inside config.ts
export const contractConfig = {
  // Address of the MANIFOLD LAZYPAYABLECLAIM contract
  address: "0x26BBEA7803DcAc346D5F5f135b57Cf2c752A02bE" as Address, 
  chain: base, // This should match the chain in mintMetadata and your wagmi/viem setup.
               // e.g., import { mainnet } from "viem/chains"; and use `mainnet` if on Ethereum.

  // Address of the Creator Contract (the NFT contract Manifold will mint on)
  creatorContractAddress: "0xYOUR_CREATOR_NFT_CONTRACT_ADDRESS" as Address, // <-- **CRITICAL: REPLACE THIS**

  // The instanceId for your specific claim on the Manifold contract
  instanceId: 1, // <-- **CRITICAL: REPLACE with your actual claim instanceId**

  // Your mint's token ID. 
  mintIndex: 1,  // <-- **CRITICAL: REPLACE if different**

  abi: [ /* ... ABI for Manifold mint and getClaim ... */ ] as const, // Usually no change needed if using the standard Manifold ABI
} as const;

• chain: Ensure this (e.g., base) matches the chain your claim is on.

• creatorContractAddress: Replace 0xYOUR_CREATOR_NFT_CONTRACT_ADDRESS with the address of the underlying NFT contract that Manifold will mint tokens on for this claim.

• instanceId: Replace 1 with the correct instanceId of your claim. You find this on your Manifold dashboard for the specific claim.

• mintIndex: Replace 1 if your desired token ID within the claim is not the first one.

4: Update the embedConfig to the values you want for your fc:meta, so your frame looks great in-feed.

// Inside config.ts
export const embedConfig = {
  version: "next",
  imageUrl: "https://YOUR_REPLIT_URL/nft_image_for_frame.png", // <-- EDIT THIS (URL to image for frame preview)
  button: {
    title: "Mint",
    action: {
      type: "launch_frame",
      name: "NFT Mint",
      url: "https://YOUR_REPLIT_URL/", // <-- EDIT THIS (URL that serves the minting frame/app)
    },
  },
} as const;

• Update imageUrl to a publicly accessible URL for the image shown in the Farcaster frame cast.

• Update url in action to the URL of your Replit app that serves the minting interface.

5: Save and Test!

1. Ensure your Replit is running by pressing the Run button.

2. Open your app using the dev URL in the Farcaster Developer tools.

3. Attempt the mint. It should first ask for USDC approval and then, after approval, the button should change to "Mint NFT". Clicking it again should initiate the mint transaction.

Troubleshooting:

• "User Rejected" Errors: Double-check every address and ID in contractConfig. Ensure your wallet is on the correct network and has enough USDC (for the price) and ETH (for the Manifold fee + gas for two transactions).

• Console Logs: Open your browser's developer console. The CollectButton.tsx has console.log statements that can help you trace the process.

• Block Explorer: Use Basescan or another block explorer to check the status of your approval and mint transactions if they are submitted. Verify the cost and erc-20 token for your claim by trying a test transaction from your wallet.

Updating the Mint to be ETH-Only vs. USDC + ETH Fee Mints

When adapting the frontend for a Manifold claim priced only in ETH versus one priced in USDC with an additional ETH fee, the main changes revolve around how payments and approvals are handled.

I've included ethonly_mintconfig.ts and ethonly_connectbutton.ts in the Repl.
Copy these files into config.ts and connectButton.tsx. Update the values in config.ts accordingly.

1. Configuration (config.ts):

• USDC + ETH Fee Version:

  • mintMetadata includes priceUsdc and manifoldFeeEth separately.

  • Requires a usdcContractConfig section with the USDC token's address, ABI (for approve and allowance), and decimals.

  • The main config export includes usdcContract.

• ETH-Only Version:

  • mintMetadata includes a single priceEth which represents the total cost of the mint (including any platform fees if the claim is configured that way on Manifold). THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.

  • No usdcContractConfig is needed.

  • The main config export does not include usdcContract.

  • The contractConfig.abi for the Manifold claim contract can often remain the same. The Manifold contract itself determines how to interpret the payment based on its on-chain setup (i.e., if it's configured for ETH payment, it expects msg.value; if for ERC20, it expects an approval and then uses transferFrom). When getClaim() is called for an ETH-only claim, the erc20 field in the returned claim data should be address(0) (the zero address), and the cost field should represent the ETH price in wei.

2. Minting Logic (CollectButton.tsx):

• USDC + ETH Fee Version:

  • Two-Step Process:

    1. Approve: Checks USDC allowance. If insufficient, it calls the approve function on the USDC contract, asking the user to allow the Manifold claim contract to spend their USDC. This CollectButton.tsx version uses MAX_UINT256 for the approval amount.

    2. Mint: Once approved, it calls the mint function on the Manifold claim contract. The value sent with this transaction is only the manifoldFeeEth. The Manifold contract then internally uses the prior approval to pull the priceUsdc from the user's wallet.

  • State Management: More complex state is needed to track needsApproval, isCheckingOrProcessingAllowance, and the currentAction (approve or mint).

  • Hooks: Uses usePublicClient to read allowance.

• ETH-Only Version:

  • One-Step Process:

    1. Mint: Directly calls the mint function on the Manifold claim contract. The value sent with this transaction is the total priceEth (converted to wei).

  • State Management: Simpler state, as there's no approval flow to manage.

  • Hooks: No need for usePublicClient for allowance checks.

  • Props: The component takes a single priceEth prop.

3. User Experience:

• USDC + ETH Fee Version: Users might encounter two separate wallet transaction prompts: one for approving USDC spend (if it's their first time or previous approval was insufficient/revoked) and a second for the actual mint.

• ETH-Only Version: Users encounter a single wallet transaction prompt for the mint, which includes the total ETH cost.

Conclusion

That's it! By carefully updating these configuration values, you should be able to use the provided frontend components for your Manifold 1155s.

Table of Contents (ctrl-F to skip to section)

1. NFTs might be down, but they are not out

2. You CAN build your own NFT experience

3. Quick tips for vibecoding

4. Highlight how-to

5. Manifold how-to

6. How to use other smart contract providers

7. Ideas to inspire you

8. Let's mint something that matters

NFTs might be down, but they are not out

I think it's fair to say that we are in a bit of an NFT lull. Certainly no collectible to-date has commanded the eye-popping prices of pieces from collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club or Doodles at the peak of NFT mania in the early 2020s (save for maybe the Farcaster OGs).

But to me, it seems unfair to judge the token formats simply by the fact they don't generate millions of dollars of revenue in seconds. They still are a valuable and interesting packaging layer for digital rights, and can enable all kind of interesting experiences, some of which have yet to be built. I think of the onchain Patreon alternative Hypersub which revolves around NFTs and wonder what else could be enabled.

You can building your own NFT minting experience with AI as your guide

Farcaster gives creators a unique chance to sell NFTs directly in-feed, mintable in one click using the built-in wallet. Thanks to the built-in liquidity layer Farcaster provides, artists can connect with current and would-be patrons easily, opening up new opportunities for creators and collectors alike.

This can already be taken advantage of today, via some (definitely neglected) mini app experiences from some of the no-code NFT creation platforms. And I know that as artists and creators, we want to focus on what we do best—making amazing work—not wrestling with code. But the reality is that having your own customized minting experience can make a huge difference in how collectors engage with your drops.

Luckily, today this is easier than ever before. You don't need to hire an engineer—you can direct AI to be your engineer, plus test and deploy your custom minting mini-apps super cheaply!

Below, you'll fiind step-by-step instructions for doing this, using

• either Highlight and Manifold provided smart contracts

• AI assistance from the model of your choice for technical and design support

• Easy testing and deployment on Replit

• All mints in this tutorial were deployed on Base

When you do this, it costs nothing to you, but really helps me!

A few quick tips for vibecoding

• As someone who can't write most code straight from her fingers anymore, but can understand generally, what she's looking and what it does, my level of understanding is still not strong enough yet that I feel comfortable using fully agentic modes of development. I most often work by copying sections of code into AI chat windows, talking to the AI about it, and then copy/pasting it back into Replit, VSCode, et cetera.
  This ensures I have command of my files still and am actively learning about code, how it works.

• If I really don't understand what's going on in an open source repository that does something I want to also do, I will have Gemini go through every file and tell me what that file does. You can write a simple script to do this and execute it within Replit. You can also do this with single files and get line by line comments!
  Make sure you are taking advantage of your endlessly patient pair programmer, who writes better docs than a human ever could or would and doesn't get mad when you ask the same question 5 times in a row.

• Take the time to set up Github in your projects. You will appreciate the version control, I promise.

• Make sure to read the Farcaster mini-app docs on deployment. This tutorial discusses adapting several different smart contract providers for a mini-app. All of the template mini apps are set up for deployment, but you'll have to update the Farcaster metadata in the files, as well as generate your own farcaster.json to use.

• While working with Replit, to test your mini app on Farcaster, copy THIS url while the server is running and paste it into a debugger like the Farcaster Preview Tool or the Frames.js Debugger.

  

How to use Highlight smart contracts in a mini-app

Horsefacts.eth generously deployed a mini-app that will be the basis of all going forward.

This mini app template works out of the box with Highlight smart contracts, requiring only a few simple swaps to get up and running. You don't need to change much at all, because all mints on Highlight are minted via the same smart contract.

1. Change the vectorID in the config.ts to your mint's vector ID. You can find this number on your mint's management page. (Optionally, add a referrer address so your mini app gets referral coin from your mints!)

   

2. Update the NFT metadata to match your own NFT's details. Make sure to match the price for 1 NFT exactly to what Highlight charges, INCLUDING fees. Try a test transaction out and see what amount pops up in your wallet, and then put that in, exactly.

3. Add in your mint image to the /public folder, making sure the reference to the file in the metadata also changes as well.

4. Have fun adding any customizations you want! All of the components that control the front end are in /src/app/components and are styled with Tailwind. You can dump an entire component file in to an AI and ask it to change whatever you want, and go from there!

How to use Manifold smart contracts in a mini-app

I also experimented with using Manifold's widget technology in a mini-app.

Unlike the other examples here, you do not interact directly with your mint.

UPDATE: YES IT DOES. I created an all new tutorial to fix this error. If you want to still use Manifold widgets, read on. If you want to interact directly with Manifold smart contracts, read this.

How to mint Manifold 1155s in A Farcaster mini app

A key update to my Farcaster mini app guide revealing that Manifold integration is possible after all. Includes working examples for ERC-1155 tokens with both ETH-only and USDC+ETH fee mints, plus a demo Replit showing the implementation in action.

https://paragraph.com

Instead, Manifold provides a component that handles everything for you, from wallet connection to the confirmation dialogue.

It's very simple to set up, but you have very little control over display and function. There's no auto-connection to the Farcaster wallet. And because you are completing all operations passing through Manifold, it can be quite slow.

BUT! It works! And is an option for you. So here's how to do it.

1. Add the links to the Javascript and CSS files to the widget you want to use from Manifold into the <head> of your page in index.html. You'll see here I have both the Connect and Buy Button components here available.

   

2. In the app.tsx, replace the entire <CollectButton> component with the HTML provided by Manifold for the Buy Button. Replace the data-id with the Instance number of your mint, from the mint management page.
   then repeat steps 3 and 4 above!

3. Add in your mint image to the /public folder, making sure the reference to the file in the metadata also changes as well. (The information in config.ts becomes way less relevant in this example. You could remove most of that and just write in all the details you want, on the front end, if you so choose.)

4. Have fun adding any customizations you want! All of the components that control the front end are in /src/app/components and are styled with Tailwind. You can dump an entire component file in to an AI and ask it to change whatever you want, and go from there! To style the Manifold provide Buy Button, right-click-Inspect-Element, copy the HTML for the button out of the page, and then ask AI to style it using the classes provided in that HTML.

How to use other smart contract providers in a mini-app

Highlight and Manifold are not the only smart contract providers available for artists who don't want to write their own.

When modifying Horsefacts' original example for other smart contracts, the files you'll want to focus on to adapt that repository for other providers are:

• src/config.ts

• src/components/app/collectButton.tsx

Those 2 files control the entirety of the "web3" logic within the application. All other files are just window dressing that make your app look cool and allow the end user to have a great experience. You can drop those 2 files in their entirety into an AI, along with the docs you're working with, and start to adapt the files.

Other options for NFT providers

• Thirdweb

• Scatter.art (recently used for Based Dickbutts and Based Interns collections, the mini app is open source)

• Creating and deploying your own smart contract! (In the process of doing this tutorial, I experimented with this option, and found it easier than I expected. Perhaps the start of another tutorial).

Ideas to inspire you

• Wrap your entire application in a wrapper that detects if the app is being loaded in a Farcaster mini app or not. Bam! You can now display minting and crypto stuff only to people with wallets, and create "normie friendly" experiences for everyone else. Make a Quote of the Day app but only allow Farcaster users to mint it.

• Offer a free mint if the user provides his or her email address, allowing you to build your audience in a way that exists outside of Farcaster.

• Bring back the time-released metadata of the NFT boom and turn a metadata reveal into a social event (the creative hook here is on you!).

Let's mint something that matters 🛳

We’re past the gold-rush stage when a NFT could raise millions overnight—and that’s good . The quieter market gives builders room to experiment without noise and beating back scammers. With free AI copilots, one-click contract deployments, and Farcaster’s fully integrated wallets, you can launch a completely custom minting experience in a weekend or less.

At the end of the day, an NFT is just a wrapper. What you wrap—art, access, memories, patronage, gameplay—is up to you. So spin up a Replit workspace, remix a mini-app, and let the AI handle the boilerplate while you focus on the fun stuff. 🥰

Need more help? Direct any simple questions to @keccers.eth on Farcaster or reach out to hire me to hold your hand for a longer pairing session.

A special thank you once again to Leeward for continued sponsorship of the Keccers Tip Fund.
Give to me, and I shall redistribute to others. Your generosity enables further generosity from me.

This week I tipped...

Koolkheart.eth's fire fit

Koolkheart on Warpcast

I know you’ll have questions 😂 Outfit: locally made African Wear Hat: locally made from 🇳🇬 Shoes: Locally made from 🇳🇬 Wrist watch: Fitbit versa 3 The year was 2022 as a wedding guest Fire or water guys? https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/20c64eb3-fe74-404d-fe2a-bed5f58cfa00/original https://warpcast.com/cxs/0x895efc05

Farcaster

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Bhoka shared clothes that are out of this world 💫

Bhoka on Warpcast

Rahul Mishra's spring summer 2023 couture collection "Cosmos" https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/6d43f926-5a29-4437-08af-b8d7c3316300/original https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/e11ab3c6-f686-4825-014b-e83028ea0700/original

Farcaster

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Dr. Omar shared his perspective on a recent radiation study. I've always been confused about the best way forward with balancing radiation exposure and my high breast cancer risk — what he shared here was an incredibly valuable resource for me in navigating that.

Omar on Warpcast

Extremely misleading. They used a linear no-threshold (LNT) model, it's standard in regulatory contexts, extrapolating from high-dose data to low-dose clinical imaging has many uncertainties. These projections are more suited for radiation safety policies than for giving precise individual risk assessments. https://x.com/EricTopol/status/1911798598385455431

Farcaster

Omar on Warpcast

Informative episode by Dr. Mehta. Most physicians dont deal with radiation oncology much as it lives in the bottom (literally) of mind and place at hospitals and medical centers. Discuss treatments, radiation definitions and more. https://youtu.be/xtgQUiBuGVI?si=cPUXOeqTtwK6-uPF

Farcaster

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Swampnet deleted what she posted that I tipped. Up to her if she wants to tell you about it or not.

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Lauren's gave me a great idea. I think about this all the time, genuinely. Like "damn, why can't I give my health to someone more worthy?". And I was reminded — I CAN.

lauren connolly on Warpcast

who uhh needs a kidney https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/72b1bfd2-ef3b-4faa-fac9-a884cfbd1300/original

Farcaster

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Kasra's continued contributions to the Farcaster ecosystem continue to impress. Here, he analyzed the best approach for finding 'trending topics' and also released a plugin that allows anyone to make their Wordpress blog a mini app.

Kasra Rahjerdi on Warpcast

oh and to launch this i turned my Wordpress site into a frame, code fore that here: https://github.com/jc4p/frames-wordpress-plugin -- let's you customize specific posts with specific CTAs! https://warpcast.com/jc4p/0x689f7a4b

Farcaster

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How could anyone say no to Kyle's son'? Between the cheeks and the too-big shoes I teared up a little.

Kyle Tut on Warpcast

Y'all have no idea how strong John Deere propaganda is. My son didn't stand a chance. His first word was tractor, second combine. https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/a53d9d45-383d-4139-2366-b66283fcf200/original

Farcaster

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CalypsoCat tipped me off to a new weather radar that came online

Calypso on Warpcast

New weather radar that came online last week! https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/8948e794-2c26-4fc0-b2bc-52e6e73d5800/original

Farcaster

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Black licorice is my favorite candy, and I love to see how it's sold all over the world. Thanks, Naomii 😀

Naomi on Warpcast

Giving into my licorice cravings. https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/b9351d13-b177-4aeb-cd52-ee5e49847e00/original

Farcaster

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I gave Thibauld's son's allowance a boost for his scholarship and good taste in books.

Thibauld on Warpcast

9yo started reading Lord of The Rings... and my mind is blown 🤯 He started on its own! We didn't even push him... we just said: "You can't watch the movie yet because your brother is too young" and in our next trip at B&N, he asked for the book and he's now devouring it 🤓 https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/259ec65b-65af-44b1-97ad-499f2f70b200/original

Farcaster

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I love moms and I thought it was awesome that Afrochicks shared her awesome gMatcha mini app with her mom, too.

Naomi on Warpcast

i showed my mum the /gmatcha channel and my mini apps yesterday now she is sending me matcha content on whatsapp i love her sm and no i didnt know about matcha cheesecake https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/f82a566d-850d-4fe2-db32-4cd26acde500/original

Farcaster

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I should set up a reoccuring donation to Brix for showing us the behind-the-scenes of their small family farm. It's a perspective I don't think I would have ever gotten without Farcaster.

BrixBountyFarm 🎩 on Warpcast

It’s spring planting season. Progress. Just a few more beds to plant in this section tomorrow afternoon and then we’re on to the next slate. Purple Pac Choi trial pictured. Also in the ground this afternoon: salad turnips, lettuce mix, arugula, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, dandelion greens, parsley, & swiss chard - basically the crops for the true veggie lovers. tomorrow we’ll get to the lettuce heads, beets, cilantro, dill, and fennel. Waiting for more warmth before the cukes, tomatoes, melons, etc are ready for outdoor planting. https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/8ca1e1d5-753b-435a-e2d9-31949dc1a600/original https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/14983561-7776-4f40-bace-e9d4f2ca8200/original

Farcaster

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Ghost had a beautiful way of expressing how difficult it is to be different.

Ghost 🎩 on Warpcast

“ The nail that sticks out gets hammered down “ There is a Japanese saying that goes like this 出る釘は打たれる (Deru kugi wa utareru) meaning those who stand out or go against the grain often face pressure to conform or are punished for it 🙂🫠 https://warpcast.com/keccers.eth/0xa74c3345

Farcaster

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OMGiDRAWEDit made me laugh and laugh with their planned 'death song'.

OMGiDRAWEDit 🦎 on Warpcast

Mines Deeper Underground - Jamiriquai. But a cover version sung by myself recorded on my phone in a toilet. https://warpcast.com/keccers.eth/0x7bbf0f53

Farcaster

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A Good Friday, indeed. Thank you Derek.

derek on Warpcast

The death of Christ crumbles graves, opens tombs, and kills death itself. A Good Friday, indeed.

Farcaster

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I miss living in a place with all four seasons so much, and experiencing the delight of spring's first bloom. Tyler gave it to all of us.

tyler ↑ on Warpcast

ITAP of the first clematis of the year https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/e5a3c574-a5b8-4b37-18eb-37197a970a00/original

Farcaster

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Krisr is just one of the coolest new accounts on Farcaster, period. He's letting us get a glimpse of the trip of a lifetime — a motorcycle journey through West Africa.

Kris Roos on Warpcast

Day 3 started strong leaving Agadir and quickly getting into the Sahara desert with nearly nothing for hundreds of KMs in every direction. Pushed through some 350 KMs, making it to Tan-Tan which is this lost town in the middle of the desert- really surprised it exists (look at the map). Trip is getting more interesting with some unexpected obstacles now! After a detour to find gas, the last 100 KM ended up in the dark with crazy winds since this week there’s a windstorm here. I made it into town freezing at around 21:00 after the ride and found the hotel/ house I booked but with nobody there. Also in the meantime the USB outlet on the bike went out so my phone was about to die. Waited for nearly an hour before a little girl found me and gave me a cookie and then disappeared into the village to find the guy whose house it was thankfully :) https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/fa3f94b1-7b53-40f0-6851-fb5c80be9900/original

Farcaster

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I wake up every day with this feeling and then spend the rest of the day beating it back. Siadude understands.

siadude.degen 🎩 on Warpcast

😁 https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/830a75a2-edf4-48bd-20b1-783a80219800/original

Farcaster

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A 'big if true' math discovery makes for a great day. How awesome to have a reminder from Thomas there are always new things left to find and uncover.

Thomas on Warpcast

Big if true — a team of mathematicians has generalized the derivation of the Navier-Stokes equation from the Boltzmann equation, and of the Navier-Stokes equation from Newton’s equations. Essentially deriving the macroscopic behavior of atoms from the mesoscopic and then the microscopic scales. This would be a big step forward in axiomatizing physics (i.e., modeling the whole of physics from fewer first-principle rules). This was one of Hilbert’s “sixth problem” on his list of 23 problems delivered to the International Congress in 1900. Lay article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lofty-math-problem-called-hilberts-sixth-closer-to-being-solved/ Pre-print: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lofty-math-problem-called-hilberts-sixth-closer-to-being-solved/ https://arxiv.org/pdf/2503.01800

Farcaster

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I don't know — and that person you're asking probably doesn't either. A fantastic find and share from Andy.

Andy W on Warpcast

wonderful essay https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/a332fd07-6163-43e5-228a-f166476c6100/original https://quarter--mile.com/i-literally-don-t-know

Farcaster

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This concludes another edition of I LIKED IT SO MUCH I PAID FOR IT! Thank you as ever from the bottom of my heart. Next week may not be as robust as I experiment with alternative tipping mechanisms that let me distribute less money to even more people. Regardless — see you on the timeline!

Dan Romero on Warpcast

@keccers.eth know anything about this brand? gruns.co https://gruns.co

Farcaster

When I get presented with a question like "do you know anything about this brand" with a link to a health product, this triggers the emergency brake on my focus and redirects it entirely.

Today's asker is Dan Romero wondering: "do you know anything about this brand [Grüns]?

So here we are folks! Let's take a trip and see if Grüns Gummies are worth your cold hard cash (especially in this economy)

What are Grüns?

Grüns are a plant-based gummy multivitamin packed with a broad range of active ingredients. They are completely vegan and contain no animal products or gelatin. Each serving comes in an 8 gummy snack pack that makes them easy to grab and go.

The Gruns are extremely on-trend

You can buy the gummies basically everywhere, and of course they've got a trillion videos in partnership with various influencers (mostly lifestyle) who extol the vitamins' virtues.

Through a combination of organic and manufactured momentum, gummy supplements have been on a generational tear. The people yearn for healthy candy.

Gummies became a widely available option for consumers in 2010, and then exploded in popularity as influencers like Kim Kardashian and Tati Westbrook endorsed the products.

Today, chewables are the most popular way for adults 35 and under to take their vitamins.

The supposedly great thing about Grüns is that it simplifies your stack. As we'll dive into below, they contain so many active ingredients they say they can replace all your other vitamins. This also allows them to simultaneously market their product using the other health trends of the moment, whether it be gut health, greens, mushooms, adaptogens, nootropics, supplements for hair and nails, and so on.

Grüns' product versus Grüns' claims

The claims for this product are truly staggering. There is nothing these gummies will not do for you. They will improve your thinking, give you stronger nails, make you poop better, improve your immunity and aid in weight management. They say they can do so much I feel oddly ripped off they can't find me a boyfriend, too.

Looking at the cheaper low sugar version of the product, what do we actually find?

1. We find a pretty decent, albeit generic, multivitamin.

   1. There's 100% daily value of most essential vitamins, and 25% daily value of a few key trace minerals.

2. There's a lot of sugar relative to the total serving size.

   1. 40% of the product (8g) is sugar. (to their credit, they do offer a 0 sugar option that uses allulose, but it is more expensive.)

3. The ingredients that drive most of the claims on the website are present in very small amounts.

   1. Another 40% of the product (8g) is their ""Core Nutrients Blend" which is comprised of THIRTY different ingredients.

   2. If split evenly between all of those ingredients, that's .27 grams of each ingredient. But of course, we have no guarantees they did that. The breakdown of the blend is not disclosed, and could be majority comprised of just one of the listed ingredients. For the chart above I generously assumed parity.

The company says that clinical studies back the efficacy of the ingredients in their product—but they don't link to any of these studies, probably because if they did it would be blatantly obvious that the doses that have measurable efficacy are nowhere near the amounts present in the product.

• ❌ for 41% more gut bacteria...you need significant amounts of prebiotic fiber (5-10g) or targeted probiotic strains

• ❌ for 53% cognitive improvement...you need specific nootropic-level dosing

• ❌ for 75% free radical reduction...you need high-dose antioxidants

• ✅ for 91% skin/hair/nail improvement...you need collagen, biotin, or fatty acids — Grüns does have 100% DV of biotin, but nothing else. I'll give it to them, but I don't feel great about it.

Near total fail. 35,000 research publications support the ingredients in Grüns because Grüns has tons and tons of stuff in it and so there's just a lot of studies related to those lots of things.

There is a Science page on the company's website but all of the "science" it spotlights is related to supplement purity, not efficacy.

Grüns compared to a traditional multivitamin

What can you get for less, was my natural next question.

Grüns costs a whopping $2.14 per day on a subscription plan, and $2.85 per day if you just want to buy them once. My disposable contacts, special contacts made for astigmatics, cost less than Grüns does on a daily basis. To say that this company must be absolutely printing money might be an understatement.

I compared Grüns to the Nutricost multivitamin capsule, which you can buy from Amazon for just under $14. Nutricost's offering comes in about $0.13 a day.

Between the two products, Grüns and Nutricost have 19 nutrients in common out of 22 total, with nearly identical coverage. Vitamin K2 and Biotin are unique to Grüns, and Vanadium is unique to Nutricost.

Between the nutrients they share, the cheaper product has higher dosage of every nutrient, including the trace minerals that Grüns lacks. The capsules are also inherently sugar free, with no sugar substitute needed to achieve that.

The drawback of the capsules is that if you are perfectly adherent, you risk hitting the upper tolerable limits of some of these vitamins—specifically the B vitamins and the selenium.

B vitamins in high doses consistently over time can cause neuropathy. Selenium in high doses consistently can cause hair loss and gastrointestinal distress. If you're stacking supplements and are interested in the Nutricost, definitely watch out given the high potency of this product.

Overall, looking across both products, I think the Nutricost comes out ahead, and not just on price.

Would I buy Grüns?

Hell would freeze over before I bought these. Had I not been asked to diligence this, I would have assumed it was a scam from the start simply because of the egregious number of benefits claimed on the package; I mentally tune out companies like this now all together. When something feels too good to be true, it usually is!

This week I tipped...

Jenna's sword skills

ȷď𝐛𝐛 on Warpcast

endorse! am no Jay but did tai chi sword for years, pretty satisfying https://youtube.com/shorts/QCkezkqXl6A

Farcaster

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Mumufengg for her dream of a world where honest work wins

Mumufengg on Warpcast

One day handyman will be the highest paying job

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BullishSeller for the computers designed to last through civilizational collapse. Not only is this an awesome project, there's a fantastic repository of links to browse at the bottom.

H&ART BLOCK on Warpcast

theres always https://collapseos.org

Farcaster

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Limes backed out an entire hypothetical Hyrox p&l statement from a podcast with the founder.

limes on Warpcast

Made a projected income statement based on this interview with the founder of Hyrox. What expenses am I missing here because no way Hyrox is printing money like this https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/26162cfc-1f0d-4a5b-dee2-193e7e037600/original https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9RDeCRvSSI&ab_channel=BusinessofSport

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July saw to the core of my soul with this meme about laundry. Real and true.

July on Warpcast

https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/aefd5690-b699-4f96-04a8-46a432522a00/original

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Crunella wrote this cast I could hear — and genuinely made me laugh out loud.

CRUNNELLA on Warpcast

For some reason, I read the beginning of this with the tune like 🎶I’m looking for a girl in bainance. Do work. On bus. Works where. Bainance. Do work. On bus. I’m looking for a girl in bainance. 🎶

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Frdysk shows everyone the proper way to log a run.

frdysk.framedl.eth on Warpcast

M4F Still recovering from that 100m dash sponsored by @ahn.eth Thisgh sk sore 🫠 I'm old https://storage.googleapis.com/moshi-images/images/1a09019fc0302843fa91d4a915f7cb2d4bf39746d4a32ffc.png

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Elle's beautiful 404 page led me to a deep dive on her blog, and an even deeper dive into the role of empathy in creative work. Do you have to feel as others do to produce meaningful things?

elle on Warpcast

just added a new level on my homepage: the 404 error page ^-^ u will end up in the forest if u wander into a non-existent url. works with onscreen buttons or keyboard keys new blog about it and other things here: https://ellesho.me/page/website/now/#escapism

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Stencil's clear eyes about our content machines

Stencil Profane on Warpcast

Make compulsive behaviour loops - reward with diminishing dopamine - build captive audience who mistake volume for authority, award curiosity with expectation, enshitify, mistake innovation for using ‘tools to hand’ as solutions for problems forgotten after C round funding. Reward paucity of imagination. Wonder why Entropy flattens it so fast. Live in this bizzaro world of flat land but in super HD https://warpcast.com/keccers.eth/0xcbf31e43

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Duane's stat on how people looking for information on how to apply to grad school get it — the answer shocked me.

kingd.eth on Warpcast

When working with Google on a redesign in 2022, research showed that 80% of people seeking to research how to apply for graduate school went to TikTok.

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7858's conception of Farcaster as a tree fort for nerds was apt and also a reminder nothing gold can stay.

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Alright I slept on it and it’s still eating at me. This is poison. Is it a step toward 10x’ing DAUs? Almost certainly. I don’t blame Merkle. But this is exactly the kind of mechanism that promotes Current Thingism and tanks the average shelf life of content on a platform. It incentivizes top level casts and replies in the moment’s hottest little bucket over sharing the original thoughts on niche topics that made this place so appealing in the first place. And it was the complete absence of this kind of timeline cruft that made Farcaster feel so preternaturally high signal and productive of non-regretted interactions. This is eulogy for an era that I will remember with great fondness, not a protest or feedback. Happily for all of us, this place is not designed by committee. This is reality, where goods and services cost money. Merkle either slowly bleeds to death providing a magical tree fort for my favorite nerds or it lives long enough to see itself become something more like TikTok. 🫡 https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/09e1bf4f-beff-4ec0-dce7-8bd6702b4c00/original https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/3b4592a3-158f-407a-81c8-e5f766a50f00/original

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Alex for the chart that showed how much better life will be if someone else who isn't me goes to work in the factories.

Alex Loukissas 🍉 on Warpcast

schrödiger’s made in americat https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/ee33e48a-c49d-499f-a798-7e1a185c4900/original

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Couldn't resist subsidizing a little of James' Record Store Day haul

James Finnerty on Warpcast

Bringing home some Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/3bdbf8bc-4b54-4198-5193-da47db14cd00/original https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/27358fa0-3b1d-41ae-3bc3-cbb05c39b900/original

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Leeward for taking a definitive stance on if intelligence is correlated with earnings potential

Leeward Bound on Warpcast

"extraction may be inevitable but is it desirable" - and moreover, does being competitively extractive mean you are smart? imho the opposite. the most extractive people i know (and the richest) are all unquestionably the dumbest. when they try to sound smart, it always comes out as "well maybe poor people don't deserve to eat!" and everyone else at the Homeless Charity Gala nods and cheers, because culturally it's widely accepted that anything a rich person says is smart, true, and good.

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I love the chef culture on Farcaster so much, and Stefanie's take on Evelyn's recipe brightened my day. You can just tell there was so much thoughtfulness and care put into this.

Stefanie on Warpcast

Let’s cook dinner 🥧 Making Chef Evelyn Yap’s Chicken Pongteh Pot Pie :) @evelynyap17 has an amazing video here with the full process and recipe. Please give it a watch! https://warpcast.com/evelynyap17/0x782ded0e I can’t wait to try more of her recipes! 💜 https://warpcast.com/evelynyap17/0x782ded0e

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We are so lucky to have gotten Justin over on the Far Side, and this screenshot of a literal mailbox for e-mail made my eyes green with jealousy. I would kill to have this interface instead of a red dot. I think I would take things more seriously.

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General Magic MagiCap https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/2ad75a22-3156-4171-34d9-0805c6836300/original

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A token of good luck and well-wishes for Ryan's Beatrix Potter-inspired book. I'd love to color this in with my niece one day.

Blind Chronicles on Warpcast

Excited to share my next adventure. I decided that watching my wife and co worker's coloring that I would take my Geo Critters series and create a coloring book series. Tomorrow I'm going to create a video and narrate the story associated to this book and creating a coloring book for sale in my art style. Mixed with AI but still me. Don't ever let anything hold you back from chasing your dreams. Believe in yourselves and never give up. Push forward! https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/8f8592b3-5c56-4e0c-ad2b-7446c1d08a00/original https://imagedelivery.net/BXluQx4ige9GuW0Ia56BHw/8eb02990-d3e3-4cc1-3e79-2d19421fcb00/original

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That's all she wrote folks — tips issued today, April 15th, will be included in next week's recap. Thank you so much for everything, from the belly laughs to moments of true introspection. See you on the timeline!

ceej on Warpcast

i have a @keccers.eth question what do you think of these https://www.lumen.me/

Farcaster

Challenge accepted. As I dove into the details on this one, it turned into something much longer than a cast, which is why you find yourself here. I am sympathetic to anyone who doesn't want to read all that. I've created a handy TLDR graphic for you below if you don't care about the details. If you do — read on.

Lumen is a small, vape-like device you breathe into daily, usually at the start of your day. 

Using the amount of carbon dioxide in your breath, a Lumen can report to you via an app whether you are using fat or carbohydrates (glucose) as your body’s energy source. For an additional subscription fee, you can get dietary recommendations, a personalized nutrition plan, coaching, and integration with your wearables.

Over time, as the Lumen “gets to know you”, the app is able to create for you a metabolic flexibility score — a proprietary measurement that assesses your ability to adapt to changes in metabolic demand. Put more simply, metabolic flexibility is your body’s ability to switch between different energy sources depending on what you have eaten and what you’re doing that day. 

While metabolic flexibility is a scientifically studied concept — the idea was created to explain how insulin resistance occurs in individuals — Lumen’s Flex score is not a scientific measurement. It’s a score they made up to assess this.

Lumen is part of a much bigger health trend around “metabolic health”. You know the drill already: society is fat, sick, and a majority of Americans have some sort of metabolic dysfunction: “88% of Americans display some level of metabolic dysfunction; up to 37% suffer from full-blown “metabolic syndrome.”. 

And as it were, the best way we have to solve our problems is to throw technology and money at them, so here we are — with metabolic health vape pens and multiple different wrappers around continuous glucose monitors (think like Nutrisense and Levels). 

It’s also beneficial to be thin in a sociocultural sense, and sometimes it’s hard to disentangle how much of this is truly about “health” and how much of it is about “hey this is a cool new way to diet, without counting calories”. Being skinny for skinny’s sake is seductive, and that also drives the appeal of these products, even if they do not overtly market that way.

No, it’s not a fraudulent product. It does what it says it’s going to do, mostly — but there are some limits to the device. 

The gold standard corollary for the measurement Lumen claims to provide is called a Respiratory Exchange Rate (RER) measurement. You might have seen fitness people on Instagram do this — they get on a bike with a mask on and pedal really hard. Generally when people do this they aren’t seeking their RER measurement directly — RER is a component of the equation used to calculate your basal metabolic rate, or the amount of energy you use at rest. 

Lumen has commissioned scientists to compare their device to what you receive when you take an RER test. I’ll let this paragraph from Mashable’s review of the device tell you how that went:

“Lumen’s internal studies and a study conducted by San Francisco State University have found that Lumen’s measurements are “comparable” to an RER measurement taken by a traditional device. However, the experts Mashable consulted — two members of U.C. Davis’ Health Sports Medicine program — aren't entirely convinced of its accuracy, or usefulness. The SFSU study concludes that "Lumen can be seen to be an effective instrument for monitoring relative, individual changes in metabolic responses (within-subject consistency), rather than a substitute for laboratory-grade RER measurements." In other words, the Lumen scale is a relative score that can track change over time, but is not an analog for a measurement you'd take in a lab.

Yet another study commissioned by Lumen came to a similar conclusion:

“A portable, home-use metabolic device (Lumen) detected significantly increased expired %CO2 in response to a high-carbohydrate test meal, and may be useful in tracking mean weekly changes to acute dietary carbohydrate modifications, especially when protein intake is standardized. Lumen measures following a high-carbohydrate diet may be better assessed under fasting conditions, whereas measures post-breakfast may be better suited for monitoring low-carbohydrate diets. Further research comparing applied versus laboratory settings is warranted to establish clinical and practical efficacy of the Lumen device, particularly in relation to end-user goals.”

In short: Lumen is useful for seeing your response to your diet for yourself over time. 

Other criticisms of Lumen include: 

• Lumen in their marketing claims to be equivalent to RER. It is not, by their own research. 

• It’s unclear if it’s correct to be planning your diet around your metabolic state, rather than the activity you are going to be doing that day. Lumen may tell you that you should have a “low carb day” — but is that the best advice for you if you’re going on a multi-hour intense hike in the afternoon? You might just be setting yourself up for a bonk.

• A resting RER like Lumen parallels is not sensitive to day-to-day changes, but Lumen asks you to check your measurement daily. At best, like its own study notes, it’s best to consider weekly changes, or use it before and after a certain intervention. 

Affiliate marketing, loosely. It is now standard practice for health tech companies to offer “affiliate” (read: influencers) a cut of sales in exchange for promoting a company’s products. Lumen has one, and so if you’re a health/wellness influencer you can shill them and get money on every sale. 

Depending on the company they may closely restrict who they allow to join the program, or they may let anyone with over 10,000 followers who isn’t fat to sign up. Sometimes a company will force an affiliate to use certain talking points and make them read and view educational materials about what they are selling. Sometimes the company will just be like, here’s some product links, have at it.

There’s an incredible variance in your experience as an affiliate — save for the consistently generous commissions which seem to be the one standard. For more on the mechanics of these programs — one of the best explainers of affiliate marketing in health is Bryan Johnson’s video on AG1. 

The Lumen device, while not essential to a healthy lifestyle, belongs to a growing category of metabolic monitoring tools alongside continuous glucose monitors and ketone tests. These devices share a common purpose: helping people adopt lower-carb diets. However, it does not require expensive technology to do this, and many people have and will continue to successfully make dietary changes without any fancy tech tools. 

Purchasing a device like Lumen can serve as a powerful psychological anchor, helping people identify as "the type of person who prioritizes health," which enhances motivation and commitment. Unlike some health metrics where awareness can trigger nocebo effects (such as sleep data potentially worsening your day if you're told you slept poorly), metabolic information about carb or fat burning states appears to have no harmful effects. 

For individuals with specific needs—serious athletes optimizing performance or people managing pre-diabetes, for instance—the metabolic information provided by Lumen might offer genuinely actionable insights about how particular foods or exercise routines affect their unique physiology, provided its limitations are taken into consideration. In these cases, the device transitions from being merely motivational to potentially clinically valuable.

Probably not. But I’ve:

• had bouts on and off using continuous glucose monitors

• have tested my a1c multiple times using my period blood

• feel like I have a good grasp on my eating habits

• Don’t feel like I can splurge on a $200 health device right now. 

Have another health or health tech related question? Please mention me on Farcaster and I will do my best to respond promptly!