Cull-pass on 2026-05-15 removed 13 tools (7 hard-cull, 6 soft-archive). resize-image + resize-all-platforms were absorbed into bulk-image-resize with 301 redirects. A handful of tools survived the cull because their moat is real — but the moat needs polishing for the survival to hold up post-launch. This phase tracks that work.
The pattern: every tool listed below “looks commodity at first glance” — exactly the kind of tool a competitor might claim AI replaces. The fix isn’t to cull; it’s to lean harder into the specific niche that makes the tool durable.
- qr-code-generator — every CDN-script QR tool exists. Our moat is logo-embed with proper error correction. Verify it works at common sizes.
- canning-calculator — a niche audience, but the safety stakes are real. Needs data quality that respects the audience (USDA-source canning tables).
- compare-pdf — featured tool, strong moat; the annotated-diff-PDF export legal teams asked for first has shipped.
2026-10-04: uuid-generator and hash-generator left the catalog in the cull of tools a chat assistant now does in one request.
Cull-revisit trigger: if these aren’t polished within 2 release cycles after launch, re-evaluate against the D18 moat framework. Survivors that don’t earn their keep get soft-archived in the next sweep.