03 · Selected work

Hawk AEO / NIGHTHAWK

Defence-aerospace intelligence: a free AEO acquisition layer that hands off to a Cloudflare product glass, API, and Telegram bot.

Live · TLS · custom domains ML-NIGHTWORX product Not Hawk Information Services NightHawk™

“Hawk” here is ML-NIGHTWORX’s acquisition surface and product host. The case study evidence contains no files referencing Hawk Information Services NightHawk™. Do not conflate them.

Pattern

AEO → product glass. Crawlers and humans get teaser answers on HAWK AEO; attributed handoff links open the paid NIGHTHAWK surface.

Market figures

Tracked-market totals, NATO share, and programme KPIs are platform-published intel outputs from the surfaces — not personal financial results.

Channels

Pages glass, API worker (21 endpoints, v2.2), Telegram @nighthawk_intel_bot (v2.0, 3 free AI questions/day).

Auth & money

Bearer API keys in KV; EIP-191 agent signatures; Stripe checkout; USDC micropayments at $0.01/call with spending-policy enforcement.

The system

NIGHTHAWK aggregates military-aircraft production forecasts, live global-defence events (GDELT / DELTA), and Gemini analysis into three delivery channels, plus a free discovery layer:

  • HAWK AEO (Cloudflare Pages) — no auth, no API access. Teaser KPIs, FAQ chips, an eight-item programme catalogue, API health badge, llms.txt, attributed handoff (src=aeo2 + UTM).
  • NIGHTHAWK glass — dashboard, API docs, payments, procurement, terms. Free tier 100 req/day, then Stripe or USDC.
  • API worker — GDELT feeds, Gemini chat, Stripe, USDC agent deposits, key management, spending policy. Secrets stay server-side.
  • Telegram bot — freemium cap, /link wallet for unlimited USDC-paid access, /brief defence summary.

Data layers confirmed in code: HAWK1 military-aircraft CSV (97 programmes, 2015–2039); Teal Group rotorcraft forecast (84 programmes, 2025–2034); DELTA Cloud API v2 (24h window); Gemini 2.5 Flash default (2.5 Pro available). SIENNA audit methodology is documented on the about surface: duplicate groups resolved, 0% discrepancy on units × price = total value across audited rows.

Platform-published KPIs on HAWK AEO include tracked market $997B, 181 programmes, NATO 80.8%, F-35 26.8% of global market. Treat them as intel outputs of the product, not as ML-Nightworx revenue.

  • Cloudflare Pages + Workers
  • Workers KV
  • GDELT Cloud API v2
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash
  • Stripe
  • USDC · EIP-191
  • Telegram Bot API
  • GA4 (unified)

Design decisions worth copying

  1. Server-side secrets for GDELT, Gemini, Stripe, Telegram — never on the client.
  2. USDC contract-address enforcement on deposits (audit hardening).
  3. Canonical treasury address across API, bot, and static pages.
  4. Acquisition (AEO) separated from product. Teasers; no bulk data; no live feeds on the free surface.
  5. Blended monetisation: USDC pay-per-call with zero sign-up, API self-serve Free/Pro/Enterprise, consultative white-label escalator.
  6. HTTPS and security headers on Worker responses and both Pages projects.
  7. One GA4 property across AEO and glass, with cross-domain linker and handoff UTM.
  8. EIP-191 agent auth, nonce replay protection, spending-policy hard stops.
  9. Freemium bot with a persistent API key and wallet linking.
  10. Limitations baked into every consumer surface — not a footnote in a PDF.

Limitations (published with the product)

  • Dataset is 4.5-gen sunset era only. Missing J-20, Su-57, PAK DA, NGAD, GCAP/FCAS, UCAV programmes.
  • Surfaces state $250–400B hidden value outside the forecast; valid through 2028.
  • Russia’s rotorcraft fleet is absent from the Teal data used.
  • USDC verification is a static contract-address check — no native chain-deposit indexing.
  • KV balance/rate increments use waitUntil; cross-edge race is a documented theoretical/MEDIUM.

A standalone legacy dashboard file exists outside the sitemap and is not canonical. API worker apex/zone routes were intentionally removed in favour of the nighthawk-api host only.