The Process Behind My AI-Assisted Retirement Countdown

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Thorsten Meyer says he built and published a free web app for Germany’s phased-retirement block model in five days with help from the AI coding agent Claude Opus 5.5. In an account published October 13, Meyer describes a project that grew from a one-minute animated film into a countdown service with calendar tools, games and multilingual narration, while he retained responsibility for creative direction and approvals.

Meyer says the project began on Monday, September 28, when he asked the agent to make a short film counting down the working days in an Altersteilzeit arrangement. In the block model described in his account, a person works an active phase and then spends an equal-length passive phase away from work; a 4:4 model, for example, pairs four years of work with four years off. By Friday, October 2, the project was a public web app.

The app calculates dates from a user’s phase start date and selected model, which Meyer says ranges from 1:1 to 5:5. It counts Monday-to-Friday working days, subtracting public holidays for the selected German federal state and leave entered by the user. The resulting dates drive a daily countdown, milestones, a film about the user’s two phases and a set of games that map calendar time to play.

Meyer describes other features including a bridge-day finder, calendar exports, a printable countdown calendar, badges and a team countdown. His account says the site offers seven languages and five German dialects, with narration and sound. It also says the app has no accounts, cookies or tracking, and that calculations happen in the browser. Shared dates are placed after the “#” in a web address, which Meyer says is not sent to the server in a standard web request.

What the Five-Day Build Shows

The account offers a concrete example of an AI coding agent used across more than code generation: Meyer says it also helped with tests, translations, audio production and deployment. He reports that the project involved about 18,000 lines of JavaScript and Python, fifteen test scripts, and 1,224 voice clips across twelve languages. These are figures from the developer’s own account, not an independent audit.

For readers considering AI-assisted software work, the division of responsibility is as relevant as the pace. Meyer says the agent planned and implemented requested features, tested them and recorded its work, while he chose the product’s tone, selected voices and dialects, reviewed the result and approved releases. His account presents the process as collaboration, not a case in which a system independently decided what to build or whether it was ready to publish.

The app’s focus also gives the project a defined practical use: helping people track a long work-to-retirement schedule in working days rather than only calendar years. Whether its tools are useful or its calculations fit a particular user’s employment arrangement depends on the dates and details entered; the article does not report user research or independent validation.

From Short Film to Public App

Altersteilzeit is a German form of partial retirement. In the block model described by Meyer, an active period of regular work is followed by a passive period away from work. The countdown app is designed around that structure, using the user’s selected model and start date to calculate the other phase’s date and remaining working days.

The project’s reported scope expanded quickly. Meyer says the first day included the film, date entry and two game prototypes that were combined into one. Further work added languages, a daily view, more games and a bridge-day tool. On the fourth day, the agent produced narration and sound effects; on the fifth, Meyer reviewed and approved the release and added five German dialects. He says all 24 commits were co-authored by Claude Opus 5.5, with his directions and approvals forming part of the process.

The games use calendar units as their structure: months, weeks, working days and public holidays become levels, rows or other game elements. Meyer says the final collection has nineteen 3D games, though an earlier day-by-day account refers to fifteen modes. The source does not explain whether those figures count different versions or categories.

“The interesting part is not how much an AI agent can build, but what was still left for me to do.”

— Thorsten Meyer, describing the project’s scope

What the Account Does Not Verify

The development details and performance figures come from Meyer, who created the app; the published account does not include an independent review of the code, tests, privacy claims or working-day calculations. It also does not report how many people have used the service, whether users have tested its date results, or whether the app has been evaluated for accessibility.

Some scope figures are not fully reconciled. Meyer describes nineteen 3D games in the finished app, but also says the game was playable in fifteen modes and that later development added four difficulty levels. The account does not clarify how games, modes and difficulty settings are counted. It likewise reports twelve languages for production work alongside seven languages and five dialects in the app, without fully explaining how those language totals relate.

The account does not specify the agent’s exact model configuration, the computing costs, the amount of human editing required for each output or how the service will be maintained. Its statement that date data in the address fragment is not sent to the server describes the link format, but does not by itself establish the privacy properties of every part of the deployed service.

How Users Can Check the App

Meyer’s account describes the app as already online by October 2, 2026, and his article about the process was published on October 13. It does not announce a later release date, a planned update or a formal evaluation. Readers who use the service can check the entered phase dates, federal state and leave against their own employment arrangements; the article does not say the app replaces advice from an employer or a qualified adviser.

For the project’s next stage, the key open questions are whether Meyer will publish further technical details, how he will handle corrections to calculations or content, and whether usage or independent testing will be reported. No such plans or results are specified in the source account.

Key Questions

What does the Altersteilzeit countdown app do?

It calculates remaining working days for a German phased-retirement arrangement using a start date, a selected block model, public holidays for a German federal state and leave entered by the user. It also includes a daily countdown, milestones, a film, games and calendar tools, according to Meyer.

How long did Meyer say development took?

Meyer says work began on September 28, 2026, and the app was online by October 2, a five-day period. His account describes a rapid sequence of additions, but does not provide an independent project timeline or time logs.

What work did the AI coding agent do?

Meyer says Claude Opus 5.5 helped implement features, write and run tests, handle translations and voice clips, and prepare deployment. He says he supplied direction, made product and creative choices, reviewed outputs and approved releases.

Does the app send users’ dates to a server?

Meyer says calculations happen in the browser and shared dates are stored after the “#” in a link, a portion normally not sent in a web request. These are the developer’s stated design details; the source does not include an independent privacy audit.

Has the app’s accuracy or privacy been independently tested?

The source account does not report independent testing of the app’s date calculations, privacy safeguards or accessibility. Meyer describes his own development process and claims, but does not provide external validation or user-study results.

Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com