Submit Directories

Overview

Full lifecycle for submitting a product to 800+ AI tool directories: collect product info → analyze directories → build submission plan → discover forms → auto-submit → manual browser submissions → track progress.

Setup

Install dependencies

CODEBLOCK0

Configure credentials via environment variables

Never hardcode credentials in scripts. Set these before running any pipeline step:

CODEBLOCK1

Tip: save these to a local .env file (already in .gitignore) and load with:
CODEBLOCK2

Place assets

• - logo.png — product logo (used for file upload fields)
• INLINECODE3 — product screenshot (used for file upload fields)

Both should be in the same directory as the scripts.

Phase 0: Collect Product Info

Ask one at a time (never dump all at once):

#	Field	Question
1	Product URL	"What is your product/startup website URL?"
2

Product Name | "What is your product name?" |
| 3 | Tagline | "Give me a one-line tagline." |
| 4 | Description | "Write 2-3 sentences: what it does, who it's for, what makes it different." |
| 5 | Pricing | "What is your pricing model?" (Free / Freemium / Open Source / Paid) |
| 6 | Keywords | "List 5-7 category keywords." |
| 7 | Email | "What email for submissions?" |
| 8 | Name | "What name on submissions?" (get first + last separately too) |
| 9 | Username | "Preferred username for sites requiring registration?" |
| 10 | Password | "Throwaway password for sites requiring registration?" ⚠️ Use a throwaway — never a real password. Set via SUBMIT_PASSWORD env var; passwords are stripped from submission_plan.json before saving. |
| 11 | GitHub URL | (optional) |
| 12 | Twitter/X | (optional) |

Then ask submission preferences:

• - "Submit to Google-login directories? (You complete auth manually)"
• "Skip all paid directories, or flag for review?"
• "Fill forms on captcha sites and pause for you to solve, or skip?"

Assets: Tell user to place logo.png and site-image.png in project root.

Phase 1: Configure

1. 1. Set all required environment variables (see Setup section above)
2. Generate 30 unique copy variations (title + description pairs):

- Different angles: features, benefits, pricing, use case, comparison - Vary length: short punchy vs. detailed - Different keywords, never same opening

1. 3. Store in INLINECODE8
2. Update checkpoint.md with product info (omit passwords)

Phase 2: Analyze & Classify

CODEBLOCK3

Report auth type breakdown when done.

Phase 3: Build Submission Plan

Filter directories.json:

• - INLINECODE11
• INLINECODE12 OR INLINECODE13
• Include google_only / google_and_email only if user opted in

Create submission_plan.json entries with copy variation (rotate evenly), credentials, status: pending.

Phase 4: Discover Forms

CODEBLOCK4

Visits each submission URL, extracts form field metadata, updates submission_plan.json. Report: discovered / not found / timeout counts.

Phase 5: Auto-Submit

CODEBLOCK5

Report: submitted / no matching fields / timed out / needs manual attention.

Phase 6: Manual Browser Submissions

Use Playwright MCP (mcp__playwright namespace) for sites needing manual interaction.

Captcha sites

1. 1. browser_navigate → submission URL
2. INLINECODE21 → understand page
3. INLINECODE22 / browser_type → fill all fields
4. Ask user to solve captcha
5. INLINECODE24 submit → verify confirmation

Google login sites

1. 1. browser_navigate → login page
2. Click "Sign in with Google"
3. Ask user to complete Google auth
4. After login, proceed to submission form
5. Use browser_tabs to switch between OAuth popup and main tab

Rich text / complex forms

• - TinyMCE/Quill: use browser_evaluate to set content directly
• Combobox/select: browser_click dropdown → click option
• Multi-step forms: browser_snapshot after each step for new fields
• Custom upload widgets: use browser_file_upload for logo/screenshot

Phase 7: GitHub PR Submissions

Requirements: gh CLI installed and authenticated (gh auth login). Set SUBMIT_GITHUB_URL if you want your repo linked in entries.

For awesome-list directories:

CODEBLOCK6

Record PR URL in checkpoint.md.

Tracking

Update checkpoint.md after each phase with: counts by status, successful list, failed list with reasons, next steps.

Status Values

Status	Meaning
INLINECODE36	Confirmed submitted
INLINECODE37

Requires payment | | skipped_login_required | Requires account creation | | captcha | Needs manual captcha solve | | no_form_found | No submission form on page | | no_fields_matched | Form exists, no fields matched | | timeout / submit_timeout | Page/submit timed out | | cloudflare_blocked | Cloudflare challenge | | domain_parked | Dead domain |

Rules

1. 1. Never assume — unclear about product/preferences? Ask.
2. Never commit real passwords — use env vars only; passwords are stripped from submission_plan.json automatically before each save.
3. Report after every phase — never run pipeline silently.
4. Explain every skip — tell user why a directory was skipped.
5. Verify submissions — check for confirmation or error states.
6. Rate limit — max 5 concurrent submissions to avoid IP blocks.
7. Strip personal data before git push — search for email, name, password in all files.

Common Submission Blockers

Blocker	Frequency	Detection
Paid listing	~20%	Pricing page, Stripe links, "$" on submit page
reCAPTCHA / Turnstile

~10% | iframe[src*=recaptcha] or [data-turnstile] | | Login required | ~15% | Redirect to /login on submit URL | | Newsletter-only forms | ~10% | Looks like submit but is email signup | | Domain parked/dead | ~8% | No content, DNS failure | | Cloudflare blocked | ~3% | Challenge page, 403 | | Reciprocal link required | ~5% | Old web directories requiring backlink |

Best ROI Directory Types

1. 1. AI tool directories with simple HTML forms
2. Startup directories using Google Forms
3. GitHub awesome-lists accepting PRs (free, high-quality backlinks)
4. NoCode/SaaS aggregators
5. General web directories with DA≥30

File Reference

File	Purpose
INLINECODE50	Master database (827+ directories)
INLINECODE51

Targets with copy, fields, status (no credentials stored) | | checkpoint.md | Progress tracking — source of truth | | analyze_directories.py | HTTP-level analysis | | cleanup_and_categorize.py | Triage + browser check list | | browser_verify.py | Playwright browser verification | | discover_forms.py | Form field discovery | | submit_directories.py | Auto-submission engine |