Spinback — Get paid while you code

Developer tool sponsors pay to appear in your VS Code status bar. You keep 60% of every impression.

Install from Marketplace · Dashboard · How payouts work · Privacy

What is Spinback?

Spinback is a VS Code extension that shows a single line of sponsor text in your status bar and Source Control panel while you work. Sponsors are developer tool companies (databases, hosting, dev platforms) — not consumer advertisers.

Every time a sponsor is visible in your editor, you earn. You receive 60% of gross ad revenue, paid out via Stripe.

That's it. No surveys. No tasks. No referral hustle.

Screenshots

(Beta — screenshots coming)

[1] Status bar sponsor line — a single unobtrusive line at the bottom of VS Code showing the current sponsor.

[2] Source Control panel — the Spinback panel in the SCM sidebar shows the current sponsor and your session earnings.

[3] Earnings dashboard — your lifetime earnings, payout history, and current balance at getspinback.com/dashboard.

Why developers use it

• Zero effort. Install once, sign in with GitHub, and it runs. Nothing to configure.
• Real money. 60% of actual ad revenue, not points or gift cards.
• Unobtrusive. One line in your status bar. No popups, no overlays, no noise.
• Dev-tool brands only. Sponsors are companies like Supabase, Railway, Neon, Sentry, PostHog. Not casinos, not crypto.
• Private by design. Your code, prompts, and project contents are never read or transmitted.

How it works

1. Install Spinback from the VS Code Marketplace.
2. Sign in with GitHub — this creates your earnings account.
3. Code normally. A sponsor line appears in your status bar and the Spinback SCM panel.
4. Impressions are counted when the sponsor is visible while you work (saves, commits, build events).
5. Earnings accumulate in your account at 60% of gross revenue.
6. Request a payout from the dashboard once you hit the $10 minimum.

What Spinback touches in your environment

Spinback is transparent about exactly what it does:

Nothing else. No filesystem scanning, no clipboard access, no network monitoring.

Privacy & Data

What we collect

What we never collect

• Your source code, file contents, or file paths
• Your prompts or AI outputs
• Keystrokes or clipboard content
• Project names or directory structure
• Any other editor content

How impression tracking works

When a sponsor is visible in your editor, the extension sends a small event to api.getspinback.com containing:

• The ad campaign ID
• A timestamp

That's the entire payload. Your session content, current file, or active prompt are not included and cannot be inferred from this data.

Data sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share personal data with third parties. Sponsors only see aggregate impression and click counts — never individual user data or identities.

Full privacy policy: getspinback.com/privacy.html

Security

• Local server is loopback-only. 127.0.0.1:29847 never binds to external interfaces. No inbound traffic from the internet is possible.
• GitHub OAuth uses state validation. The OAuth callback uses a one-time nonce to prevent CSRF forgery.
• Tokens stored in VS Code SecretStorage. Your auth token is stored in VS Code's encrypted credential store, not in plaintext config.
• No eval, no dynamic code execution. The extension is plain Node.js with no dynamic code loading.
• Extension source is auditable. The .vsix is a zip file. You can inspect extension.js directly.
• API uses HTTPS only. All communication with api.getspinback.com is TLS-encrypted.
• Outbound only. The extension initiates all network connections. No incoming connections are accepted except from 127.0.0.1 for the OAuth callback.

Does Spinback modify VS Code itself?

No. Spinback uses standard VS Code extension APIs throughout:

• vscode.window.createStatusBarItem — status bar
• vscode.window.registerWebviewViewProvider — SCM panel
• vscode.workspace.getConfiguration — settings read/write
• vscode.authentication — GitHub OAuth

The extension does not patch VS Code files, modify other extensions, or write to locations outside ~/.claude/settings.json → spinnerVerbs.

FAQ

Is this adware?

By most definitions, adware is software that shows ads without disclosure and without compensating the user. Spinback is the opposite: it's fully disclosed, opt-in, and sends 60% of revenue to you. You install it knowing exactly what it does.

Who are the sponsors?

Developer tool companies: databases, hosting platforms, observability tools, auth providers — companies that already advertise to developers via newsletters and podcasts. We do not accept consumer advertisers, crypto projects, gambling, or finance ads.

Does this slow down VS Code?

No measurable impact. The extension is event-driven and makes one network request every 60 seconds to record an impression. There is no polling, no UI re-rendering, and no compute-intensive work.

What if the Spinback API goes down?

VS Code and all your other extensions continue working normally. The Spinback status bar item either shows nothing or shows a house message. There is no crash, no error dialog, and no disruption to your workflow.

Will this interfere with Claude Code or other AI extensions?

No. The only interaction with Claude Code is writing to the spinnerVerbs field in ~/.claude/settings.json, which is a documented Claude Code configuration feature. No other Claude Code functionality is touched. The extension does not patch, hook, or intercept any other extension.

Can I turn it off without uninstalling?

Yes. Set spinback.enabled: false in VS Code settings. This stops ad display and impression tracking immediately.

Can I see the code?

The extension source is available at github.com/tigertrails/spinback. The installed .vsix is a zip archive — rename it to .zip and inspect extension/extension.js directly.

How do I know the impression counts are accurate?

Your dashboard shows a running count of impressions and calculated earnings. During beta, we publish the CPM rates and revenue formula publicly. Earnings are: (impressions / 1000) × CPM × 0.60. You can verify the math against your dashboard figures.

What GitHub permissions does sign-in require?

Read-only access to your public GitHub profile (username, email, avatar). We do not request access to your repositories, organizations, private data, or any write permissions.

What happens to my earnings if Spinback shuts down?

Earned balance is paid out on request. If Spinback were to shut down, we would announce a 60-day payout window for all outstanding balances before closing. This is written into our Terms of Service.

Is the 60% guaranteed?

Yes. The developer share is hardcoded as 60% of gross ad revenue in our backend and in our Terms of Service. Spinback retains 40% to cover infrastructure, fraud review, and payment processing fees.

What's the minimum payout?

$10 USD. Payouts are processed via Stripe and typically arrive within 3–5 business days.

Installation

From VS Code:

1. Open Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
2. Search Spinback
3. Click Install

From command line:

code --install-extension GetSpinback.getspinback

Requirements:

• VS Code 1.85 or later
• GitHub account (for earnings — required to sign in)

Getting Started

After installing:

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Run Spinback: Sign In
3. Complete the GitHub OAuth flow in your browser
4. Look for the sponsor line in your status bar — you're earning

Your earnings dashboard is at getspinback.com/dashboard.html.

How Payouts Work

Earnings accumulate in your Spinback account as impressions are recorded.

Formula:

Your earnings = (impressions / 1000) × sponsor CPM × 0.60

Example: 10,000 impressions at a $5 CPM → $30 gross → $18 to you.

To request a payout, go to your dashboard and click "Request Payout." You'll be prompted to connect a Stripe account if you haven't already.

Beta Limitations

Spinback is in public beta. Known limitations:

• Sponsor inventory is limited. During early beta, you may see a house ad ("Spinback — get paid while you code") more often than paid sponsor placements. Earnings from house ads are $0, but this will improve as more sponsors join.
• Payout processing is manual during beta. Payouts are reviewed and sent manually. This will be automated once we complete Stripe Connect setup.
• No referral program yet. Coming in a future release.
• Dashboard is basic. Detailed impression breakdowns, session graphs, and leaderboards are on the roadmap.
• Claude Code spinner injection requires Claude Code to be installed. If you don't use Claude Code, you still earn from the status bar and SCM panel placements.

Roadmap

Support

• Issues / bugs: github.com/tigertrails/spinback/issues
• Email: support@getspinback.com
• Website: getspinback.com
• Privacy policy: getspinback.com/privacy.html
• Terms of service: getspinback.com/terms.html

Legal

Spinback is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Anthropic PBC or Microsoft Corporation. "Claude Code" is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. "Visual Studio Code" is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.