commit 69327109d80d7073ac56af3b2e77d7a7650c8afc
Author: root <root@v2202607377162478911.nicesrv.de>
Date:   Wed Jul 15 18:32:50 2026 -0400

    Gift-a-Roast: project kickoff — concept, accent slate, research dispatched

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbb1112
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Gift-a-Roast Changelog
+
+## 2026-07-15 — Project Kickoff
+
+- Pulled from idea queue into active project phase
+- Created project structure: README, CHANGELOG, ROADMAP
+- Dispatched API cost research (Twilio, STT, LLM, TTS, song generation)
+- Defined regional accent slate: Southern, NYC, British, Scottish, Jamaican, Valley Girl, Australian, Boston
+
+_No build work yet — research phase first._
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cca8b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# Gift-a-Roast 🎁🔥
+
+An insult-as-a-service platform: order a custom AI roasting call to send to anyone, in their regional dialect, optionally set to music.
+
+## Overview
+
+1. **Website:** Customer visits, selects insult style/dialect/accent, enters recipient's phone number, schedules delivery, pays
+2. **Call:** Recipient gets a Twilio call from an AI agent who insults them in the requested regional dialect
+3. **Song mode:** Optional — the insult comes as a sung roast tune
+
+## Stack
+
+| Layer | Technology |
+|---|---|
+| Payments | Stripe |
+| Calls | Twilio inbound/outbound |
+| Speech-to-Text | Deepgram / Whisper |
+| Insult Generation | admin-ai (LLM) |
+| Text-to-Speech | ElevenLabs (regional accents) |
+| Song Generation | Suno API / LLM lyrics + TTS |
+
+## Status
+
+- [x] Concept defined
+- [ ] API cost research
+- [ ] Per-call cost analysis
+- [ ] Pricing model
+- [ ] Legal review (harassment, opt-out, right of publicity)
+- [ ] MVP build: website + Twilio flow + STT/LLM/TTS pipeline
+
+## Key Contacts
+
+- **Owner:** Germaine Brown
+- **AI Engineer:** Sho'Nuff (Hermes)
+
+_Regional dialects/accents (demo slate):_
+- Southern (Texas drawl)
+- New York (Brooklyn)
+- British (Cockney)
+- Scottish (Highlands)
+- Jamaican (Patois)
+- Valley Girl (California)
+- Australian (Outback)
+- Boston (Southie)