One person, built carefully.

Mantis Crochet is a one-person project. I’m Shawn Terry — operations manager by day, building Mantis nights and weekends. I’m not a career developer; I think in systems and outcomes, and I use AI as the execution layer. That shapes the product more than the code does.

Mantis exists because the existing crochet tools each solve one slice of the work and leave the math, the chart, and the project tracking out of sync. Ravelry is a marketplace and a social network — not a workspace. Converter apps try to turn written patterns into charts but lose stitch semantics in the process. Mantis treats the chart as the source of truth, with a closed stitch vocabulary so import, editor, yardage, and cooking mode all agree on what every symbol means.

Two things are non-negotiable here. Verified math: the chart engine catches stitch-count errors before you cast on, not mid-project. AI on a leash:every AI feature has tier caps and a per-request cost ceiling, prompts are server-controlled, and answers route through a closed vocabulary instead of free text. Designers keep control of how their patterns are used — sharing and modification default restrictive until a designer registers and grants them.

Mantis is in pre-alpha. The chart editor at editor.mantiscn.com has been live for months; the rest of the product is shipping in slices and goes to alpha testers when the recipe-keeper-core feels finished — not partial. If that sounds like something you want to try, the trial is open. If you have feedback, a bug, or a partnership idea, write me at support@mantiscn.com.