# Insert Coin

> Diagnostic AI for pinball and classic arcade repair. Describe a symptom and get a step-by-step diagnosis grounded in the machine's own operations manual, with page citations.

Insert Coin is a web app at https://getinsertcoin.com. You describe what a machine is doing ("left flipper feels weak", "STTNG resets on multiball", "Galaga blank at boot") and it walks you to the fix through the actual operations manual for that title: switch numbers, coil specs, and citations to the manual page it leaned on.

## How answers are built

- **Ingest.** Operations-manual PDFs are OCR'd, layout-parsed, and split into page-bounded, heading-aware chunks. Each chunk is embedded and stored in a vector database.
- **Retrieve.** Your question is embedded and matched against those chunks by cosine similarity, scoped to the machine you tag.
- **Answer.** The retrieved sections are handed to a language model as grounding context. It writes a step-by-step plan and cites the manual sections it used.
- **Learn.** A blessed answer becomes a verified prior that surfaces on similar future questions.

Coverage spans pinball (Bally/Williams WPC, Stern SAM/SPIKE, Gottlieb System 80) and classic arcade (JAMMA boards, Atari/Namco classics). Manuals are drawn from public archives such as archive.org, cited rather than reproduced verbatim.

## Pages

- [Home](https://getinsertcoin.com/): The pitch and a live sample diagnosis, no account needed.
- [About](https://getinsertcoin.com/about): What it is and how answers are built, with live coverage counts.
- [Library](https://getinsertcoin.com/machines): The machines that currently have an indexed manual.
- [Pricing](https://getinsertcoin.com/pricing): A free tier of 3 diagnoses per rolling 7-day window (a diagnosis is one conversation; follow-ups in the same thread are free), and a Founding Operator plan at $30/year (billed annually through Stripe) for unlimited diagnoses.
- [Terms of Service](https://getinsertcoin.com/terms)
- [Privacy Policy](https://getinsertcoin.com/privacy): What is stored and what is not.

The diagnostic chat, shop log, and settings sit behind an email sign-in and will not answer an unauthenticated fetch.

## Sign-in

Email magic link only. There is no password: you enter an email address, receive a one-time link, and clicking it signs you in.

## What this is not

- **Not a licensed technician.** An answer is a manual-grounded second opinion from a language model. It can be wrong, and it has no eyes on the machine in front of you. Verify it against the manual before acting.
- **Not safe by default.** Arcade and pinball machines carry lethal voltages. CRT monitors hold a charge long after they are unplugged, and power supplies and high-voltage sections can injure or kill. Unplug the machine and discharge stored energy before working inside it. You are responsible for your own safety.
- **Not affiliated** with Bally, Williams, Stern, Gottlieb, Atari, Namco, or any manufacturer.

## Contact

Support is the owner's inbox: help@getinsertcoin.com