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Built by a working newsroom — now available to yours

The operating system for local news

AI-powered automation, built-in CMS, event calendar, newsletters, and financial tracking. Everything a local newsroom needs to publish more with less.

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Newsletter subscribers managed
24/7
AI swarm running autonomously
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Sources scanned daily
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Live newspapers in production

Built for local newsrooms

Every tool a publisher needs, integrated into one platform. No more duct-taping five different SaaS products together.

🤖

AI Swarm Automation

Autonomous AI agents handle research, drafting, data analysis, and routine tasks. You set priorities, they execute 24/7 with human approval for sensitive actions.

📰

Ghost CMS Integration

Self-hosted Ghost instances per outlet. Publish stories, manage memberships, send newsletters — all from one dashboard with multi-outlet support.

📅

Community Event Calendar

Embeddable event calendar with public submission forms, automated scraping from Facebook and iCal feeds, and sponsor placements. A CitySpark alternative you own.

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Newsletter System

Automated newsletter assembly from your published stories. Schedule sends, manage subscriber segments, and track opens — all built on Ghost's proven email infrastructure.

📊

Revenue Dashboard

Track subscriptions, advertising, sponsorships, and expenses in real-time. Stripe integration, Wave accounting sync, and automated monthly close reporting.

📱

SMS Breaking News

Twilio-powered SMS alerts for subscribers. Breaking news reaches your community instantly. Opt-in via web form or text keyword, with full compliance handling.

How it works

Get your newsroom running on Firestarter OS in days, not months.

1

Connect Your Stack

Link your Ghost CMS, Stripe account, email provider, and social channels. Firestarter OS becomes the brain that connects everything.

2

Set Your Priorities

Create tasks on the kanban board with priority, outlet, and blast radius. The AI swarm picks up work based on your rules — you stay in control.

3

Publish More, Stress Less

AI handles the tedious work. You focus on reporting. Stories, newsletters, events, and financials — all managed from one dashboard.

"Can't I just use Ghost + Zapier?"

🔗
Zapier connects tools.

It triggers actions: "new post → tweet." It can't research, draft, analyze, or make decisions.

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Firestarter does work.

AI agents research stories, scrape events, assemble newsletters, track revenue, and manage your entire task queue — autonomously.

Setup: hours, not weeks.

We provision Ghost, connect your accounts, and configure the swarm. You're publishing on day one.

See it in action

The AI swarm works autonomously, reporting progress and pausing for human decisions when needed.

Firestarter OS — Swarm Dashboard
[swarm] Orchestrator Online | DRY_RUN: false | Worker Timeout: 900s

[10:02 AM] Task Started: Write city council recap — Forest Grove
Priority: High | Blast Radius: Correctable | Outlet: NitG
[10:02 AM] Planning stage: gpt-4.1-nano decomposing task...
[10:02 AM] Execution plan: 4 steps | Resources: Ghost:NitG, Airtable:StoryBoard
[10:03 AM] Executing via claude -p (bypassPermissions)...
[10:08 AM] Task Completed: Draft published to Ghost (NitG)
[10:08 AM] QA review: gpt-4.1-mini... APPROVED

[10:09 AM] Task Started: Scrape community events for this week
Priority: Medium | Blast Radius: Reversible | Outlet: Both
[10:12 AM] Task Completed: 14 events imported, 3 duplicates blocked

[heartbeat] Uptime: 6h 12m | Completed: 8 | Failed: 0 | Budget: 34%

Built by a working newsroom

Firestarter OS isn't theoretical. It runs two real newspapers every day.

"I built Firestarter OS because I needed it. As a solo publisher running two newspapers, I was drowning in busywork — newsletters, event calendars, financial tracking, subscriber management. Now AI agents handle the routine work while I focus on what matters: reporting."
Chas Hundley, Founder & Publisher
News in the Grove & Banks Post
2
Newspapers running on Firestarter OS today
1,600+
Newsletter subscribers managed
42
AI tasks in the current swarm queue
100%
Human review on all published content

What it actually does

Real workflows running in production newsrooms right now.

📝

AI-Powered News Desk

AI agents handle press releases, meeting minutes, and public records requests. They research, summarize, and prepare drafts. You review and publish. Your byline, your editorial judgment — with 10x the throughput.

📅

Automated Event Calendar

Scrapes local venues, Facebook events, and iCal feeds automatically. Community members submit events through a public form. Everything is auto-categorized and published to your embeddable calendar.

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Revenue on Autopilot

Automated invoice reminders, subscription management, and ad placement scheduling. Track subscriptions, advertising, and sponsorships from one dashboard with real-time Stripe integration.

What publishers are saying

"I went from spending 60 hours a week to 25 — and we publish MORE content now."
— Solo publisher, rural Oregon
"The swarm handled 42 tasks in its first week. I just reviewed and approved."
— Community newspaper editor
"Finally, a platform built by someone who actually runs a newspaper."
— Digital-first publisher
"I went from spending 60 hours a week to 25 — and we publish MORE content now."
— Solo publisher, rural Oregon
"The swarm handled 42 tasks in its first week. I just reviewed and approved."
— Community newspaper editor
"Finally, a platform built by someone who actually runs a newspaper."
— Digital-first publisher

Firestarter OS vs. The Old Way

See what changes when AI agents work your beat 24/7.

Feature Traditional Firestarter OS
Story research Manual Google searches AI agents scan 50+ sources daily
Event calendar Manual entry or expensive SaaS Auto-scraped, community-submitted
Newsletter Hours of formatting One-click generation from published stories
Revenue tracking Spreadsheets Real-time dashboard with Stripe integration
After-hours coverage Nothing AI monitors breaking news 24/7

See it in action

Real screenshots from a live newsroom running on Firestarter OS right now.

swarm.firestarternews.com/board
Firestarter OS — AI Task Board with kanban columns showing real newsroom tasks
AI agents autonomously pick up, execute, and complete tasks
📊 Kanban board with priority badges and real-time status
🔒 "Needs Human" column ensures you stay in control

Simple, transparent pricing

Start free, scale as you grow. No per-seat charges — your whole team gets access.

Starter

$49/mo
For solo journalists and hyperlocal outlets
  • 1 Ghost CMS instance
  • AI task board (50 tasks/mo)
  • Event calendar + public submission
  • Newsletter automation
  • Revenue dashboard
  • Community support
Get Started

Network

$399/mo
For multi-title publishers and networks
  • Unlimited Ghost instances
  • Unlimited AI tasks + priority queue
  • Custom AI agent workflows
  • AgentMail (AI email outreach)
  • White-label calendar embed
  • Dedicated onboarding + support
Contact Sales

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about Firestarter OS.

No. AI agents handle operational tasks — research, data gathering, event scraping, newsletter assembly, financial tracking, and routine admin. All published editorial content is written and reviewed by human journalists. That's a core principle, not a compromise.

Nope. Firestarter OS provisions a self-hosted Ghost instance for each outlet as part of onboarding. If you already have Ghost, we can connect to your existing site instead. Ghost Pro accounts work too.

It's a pipeline of AI agents that pick up tasks from a kanban board. Each task goes through planning, execution, and quality review stages. The swarm runs 24/7 but pauses for human approval on anything with real-world consequences — publishing, sending emails, spending money.

Absolutely. The Starter plan is designed for solo journalists and hyperlocal outlets. You get the full platform — newsletter automation, event calendar, revenue tracking, and AI task automation — scaled for a single publication.

Ghost + Zapier handles publishing and basic automations. Firestarter OS adds an AI agent layer that can actually do work — research, draft summaries, scrape events, manage your task queue, track revenue, and assemble newsletters. It's the difference between connecting tools and having a virtual newsroom assistant.

Early access includes a free trial period while we finalize the platform. You'll help shape the product with your feedback. When we launch pricing, early access publishers get a permanent discount on their plan.

Ready to fire up your newsroom?

Join the early access program. Built by a working publisher, for working publishers.

No credit card required. We'll reach out within 24 hours.