Jamie Thingelstad

I rebuilt Thingy into the archive agent I always wanted. Thingy started a month ago as an agent that acted as a librarian in front of the Weekly Thing archive. It did a great job at that and even if nobody else used it I found it super helpful to explore the archive. However, I quickly found that I also wanted Thingy to know about the 12,000+ posts on my blog in addition to the Weekly Thing. Oh, and my one episode Another Thing podcast should be available too. I wanted Thingy to know all of the information I have published.

Core to making this happen was to create semantic archives for not just the Weekly Thing, but also my blog and Another Thing. Once I had that foundation, I gave Thingy super powers!

The changes…

• A New Home: Thingy is now its own dedicated website at thingy.thingelstad.com. That gave it room to become a full chat experience, with a cleaner interface, mobile-first interaction, conversation history, and a user experience that feels like Thingy rather than a search box.
• Search Box to Agent: The biggest conceptual shift is that Thingy no longer feels like you are querying a database. It welcomes you, remembers prior conversations, understands which archives are available, and can help connect threads across the Weekly Thing, thingelstad.com, and Another Thing.
• Three Archives, One Conversation: Thingy now works across all three semantic archives: the newsletter, the blog, and the podcast. The source selector lets you focus or broaden the conversation, and the backend has been improved so each archive has similar and robust capabilities.
• Persistent Conversations: Conversations moved from browser local storage to the server. That means Thingy can remember conversations across devices, show recent chats, reload prior threads, and provide robust evals as well as user-friendly naming.
• Curiosity Maps!: This is probably the “show, don’t tell” feature. Instead of only answering questions, Thingy can draw a map of adjacent ideas from the archive. You can start with Thingy’s suggested map or seed it with your own topic.
• Richer Responses: Responses can now render tables, trails, maps, citations, action buttons, copy/share/play controls, and better markdown. This makes Thingy feel less like a chatbot bolted onto an archive and more like an interface for wandering through ideas. Thingy also shares its thinking process with you as it works!
• Voice Input: You can talk to Thingy now. It is not a full voice conversation mode, but speech-to-prompt makes the experience feel more natural, especially on mobile.
• Mobile Experience: The mobile interface got a major rethink: chat-style header, conversation drawer, floating composer, cleaner controls, and a more app-like feel. This matters because Thingy now feels usable on a phone, not merely responsive.
• Memory and Personalization: Thingy can remember user preferences like name and use prior conversation context. It can welcome returning users differently from new ones, and the experience can become more personal.
• Thingy Identity: The UI moved away from a publication aesthetic and toward a dedicated chat client with Thingy’s own visual presence. The larger rail image, cleaner composer, and simplified interaction model make it feel like its own thing.

Thingy requires you to be subscribed to the Weekly Thing, and it will do the subscribing for you as you sign in. Give it a try! 🤩