The easiest way to install Kickbacks.ai and start earning from Claude Code & Codex while you code.
Turn the “Discombobulating…” spinner into passive income — up to 50% of ad revenue back to you. Works in Cursor, VS Code, and the Claude Code terminal. Free. Takes ~10 minutes.
Community setup guide — not affiliated with ShiftKeys, Inc. or Kickbacks.ai.
Official support: support@kickbacks.ai · Extension issues
⭐ If this repo saves you time, star it so others searching “Kickbacks Cursor setup” or “how to install Kickbacks.ai” can find it too.
- Why use this repo?
- How Kickbacks works
- What to expect (honest status)
- Pick your path
- 5-minute setup (Cursor & VS Code)
- Setup with an AI agent
- Earnings, payouts & eligibility
- Compatibility
- Troubleshooting quick fixes
- Share with your team
- FAQ
- All docs & files
Official Kickbacks docs are spread across the website, marketplace listing, and GitHub mirror. This repo puts everything in one place — tested, ordered, and ready to hand to a human or an AI agent.
| What you get | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| USER-GUIDE.md — plain-English steps | No terminal required. Paste into Google Docs for your team. |
| INSTRUCTIONS.md — 25-step agent runbook | Cursor / Claude Code can install extensions and troubleshoot for you. |
| docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md | Fixes for “Kickbacks incompatible”, sign-in errors, $0 balance. |
| docs/FAQ.md | Privacy, payouts, Cursor vs VS Code, terminal-only users. |
| SHARE.md | Copy-paste messages for Slack, Discord, X, and email. |
Built for search: keywords like Kickbacks.ai setup, Kickbacks Cursor, Kickbacks VS Code, Claude Code earn money, and Kickbacks incompatible fix are covered throughout.
flowchart LR
A[You use Claude Code or Codex] --> B[AI shows thinking spinner]
B --> C[Kickbacks swaps spinner text for a tiny ad]
C --> D[You earn impressions & clicks]
D --> E[Balance updates in status bar]
- Claude Code or Codex shows a spinner while working (“Baking…”, “Discombobulating…”).
- Kickbacks replaces that line with a small sponsored message — advertisers bid for the slot.
- You earn on impressions and clicks (clicks pay ~50× more than impressions).
- Your balance appears in the editor status bar and on kickbacks.ai.
Privacy: Kickbacks only changes display text. It does not read your code, prompts, files, or AI replies. It sends ad/visibility events, a per-install ID, and your account email after sign-in. IPs are stored only as a salted one-way hash. Fully reversible with Kickbacks: Restore Claude Code.
Kickbacks is early (as of June 2026). Set expectations correctly before you spend 10 minutes installing it:
- 💵 You earn an estimated 50% of net ad revenue — credited per qualifying impression (ad visible ≥ 5s during real coding) and per click (~50× an impression).
- 🌱 It's bootstrapping. The platform is seeding its own ad inventory while it onboards real advertisers, so early balances are typically small.
- 🏦 Payouts are monthly via Stripe Connect once your balance crosses US $10 (tax forms required). Some countries can't cash out yet — including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Vietnam. Check before installing →
- ✅ One account per person, genuine usage only. No bots, scripts, or fake clicks — that's how accounts get banned. Stay eligible →
This is a community guide, not a get-rich-quick scheme. Install it because the ads are unobtrusive and the upside is free — not because it'll replace your salary.
| You are… | Start here | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 👤 New to extensions — want clicks, not commands | USER-GUIDE.md | ~10 min |
| 🤖 Using Cursor, Claude Code, or Copilot | INSTRUCTIONS.md or AGENTS.md | ~15 min |
| 🔧 Stuck on an error | docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md | ~2 min |
| 📣 Sharing with friends or a team | SHARE.md | ~1 min |
Install order matters: Claude Code first, then Kickbacks. Skipping this causes
Kickbacks incompatibleerrors. Details →
- Open Cursor or VS Code
- Extensions (
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + X) → search Claude Code - Install Claude Code by Anthropic
- Open the Claude panel once (spark icon or status bar)
Using Codex instead? Install ChatGPT by OpenAI from Extensions.
- Extensions → search Kickbacks
- Install Kickbacks.ai
- Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P → Developer: Reload Window
- Click Kickbacks: Sign in in the bottom status bar
- Sign in with Google in your browser
- Confirm status shows
Kickbacks ($0.00 today · $0.00) - Use Claude or Codex normally — earnings accrue while they think
Preview ads before sign-in do not count. You must sign in to earn.
→ Full walkthrough with status bar meanings: USER-GUIDE.md
Paste this into Cursor, Claude Code, or any agent that can fetch URLs:
Fetch and execute INSTRUCTIONS.md from https://github.com/ckryptickunal/kickbacks-setup
Run STEP-001 onward. Report PASS/FAIL after each ACTION. Stop at every GATE until I reply.
Install extensions in order: Claude Code first, then Kickbacks.
Raw URL (no clone needed):
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ckryptickunal/kickbacks-setup/main/INSTRUCTIONS.md
Agents follow a 25-step runbook: detect your editor, install extensions, guide sign-in, run smoke tests, and produce a completion report.
| Topic | Detail |
|---|---|
| Revenue share | Estimated 50% of net ad revenue to you |
| Impressions | Earn when an ad is visible ≥ 5 seconds during a real request |
| Clicks | Worth ~50× an impression |
| Where balance shows | Editor status bar + kickbacks.ai ledger |
| Payout method | Monthly via Stripe Connect (tax forms required) |
| Payout threshold | Balance must cross US $10 |
| Country limits | India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam can't cash out yet — details |
| Caps | Hourly/daily limits may pause earning — ads still show |
Four ad surfaces: Claude Code panel spinner · Codex panel spinner · Terminal status line · Terminal spinner verb (CLI 2.1.143+)
Kickbacks bans accounts that game the system. To keep your earnings:
- ✅ One account per person — no account networks or alts
- ✅ Real usage only — no bots, scripts, or auto-clickers to inflate impressions
- ✅ Don't tamper with telemetry or circumvent caps
- ✅ Let ads display naturally during genuine coding — that's all that counts
Full fraud ground rules → kickbacks.ai/faq
| Surface | Where ads show | You need |
|---|---|---|
| Spinner overlay | Claude Code panel | Claude Code + Kickbacks |
| Thinking shimmer | Codex / ChatGPT panel | OpenAI ChatGPT ext + Kickbacks |
| Status-bar line | claude in terminal |
Any Claude Code CLI |
| Spinner verb | claude in terminal |
Claude Code 2.1.143+ |
✅ VS Code · ✅ Cursor · ✅ Remote-SSH · ✅ Dev containers
Even terminal-only users need the Claude Code + Kickbacks extensions installed in the editor (sign-in happens there). Why? → FAQ
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
Kickbacks incompatible |
Uninstall Kickbacks → reinstall Claude Code → reinstall Kickbacks → Reload Window. Full guide → |
Kickbacks: Sign in missing |
Reinstall in correct order. Guide → |
| Balance stays $0.00 | Sign in? Preview ads don't count. Hit a cap? Need reload? Guide → |
code CLI installs fail on Mac |
Your code may point to Cursor — use cursor CLI instead. Guide → |
| ⚠ RELOAD to earn money | Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P → Developer: Reload Window |
Know someone using Claude Code or Cursor? Send them this repo — setup takes ~10 minutes and costs nothing.
One-liner for Slack / Discord / iMessage:
Free setup guide for Kickbacks.ai — earn up to 50% of ad revenue while Claude/Codex thinks. Works in Cursor & VS Code: https://github.com/ckryptickunal/kickbacks-setup
More copy-paste templates (email, X, team docs): SHARE.md
Found this helpful? ⭐ Star the repo · 🍴 Fork for your team · 🐛 Report a doc issue
Does Kickbacks slow down Claude or Codex?
No. It only changes spinner display text during wait states. All AI features work exactly as before.
Is my code safe?
Yes. Kickbacks never reads your files, prompts, completions, or AI responses. It sends ad/visibility events, extension/host versions, and a per-install ID; after sign-in it links your account email. IPs are kept only as a salted, one-way hash for fraud checks. Privacy details →
Can I actually cash out — and where?
Payouts run monthly through Stripe Connect once your balance passes US $10 (tax forms required). A few countries can't receive payouts yet — including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Vietnam. Check the country list before you install.
Cursor or VS Code — which is better?
Both work identically. Kickbacks officially supports Cursor the same as VS Code.
Can I turn ads off?
Yes. Click the status bar → Disable Kickbacks, or run Kickbacks: Restore Claude Code to fully revert.
kickbacks-setup/
├── README.md ← Start here
├── USER-GUIDE.md ← Human setup (Google Docs friendly)
├── INSTRUCTIONS.md ← AI agent runbook (STEP-001 … STEP-025)
├── AGENTS.md ← Agent entry point
├── SHARE.md ← Copy-paste share messages
├── docs/
│ ├── FAQ.md ← Searchable Q&A
│ └── TROUBLESHOOTING.md ← Error fixes
└── CONTRIBUTING.md ← Improve this repo
| Resource | URL |
|---|---|
| Website & payouts | https://kickbacks.ai |
| Install extension | https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Kickbacksai.kickbacks-ai |
| Extension source | https://github.com/andrewmccalip/kickbacks.ai |
| Extension bugs | https://github.com/andrewmccalip/kickbacks.ai/issues |
Improvements welcome — typos, new troubleshooting steps, platform-specific tips. See CONTRIBUTING.md.
Documentation in this repo is MIT licensed. Kickbacks.ai is a trademark of its respective owner.
⭐ Star this repo if it helped you set up Kickbacks.ai
Helps others find the best Kickbacks setup guide on GitHub
Facts last verified 2026-06-16 against kickbacks.ai, kickbacks.ai/faq, and the VS Code Marketplace (extension v0.3.177). Numbers like the payout threshold and country list can change — confirm on kickbacks.ai/faq.