How do I earn shells?
Shells are a thank-you in your jar. You earn them for doing good things with your site. Nothing you ask Bernard to do takes one away, and the jar only goes up. You can see yours on the Shells page in your account. For the cost side, see What does it cost?.
The prompt
“Show me my shells so far and tell me which things I could do on my site this week that would earn more.”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
The two numbers
Your balance is what is in the jar now. Lifetime earned is every shell you have earned since you began. Shells you already had stay in your balance.
What earns a shell
- A long working session. Two hours or more of real work in one go earns 3.
- Coming back. The first session after 14 or more quiet days earns 2 more.
- Adding pages. A session where you add pages earns 1 for each site each day, whether you add one page or fifty.
- Firsts. Your first page earns 1. Your first site earns 2. Your first published change earns 1. Your first course, shop product, sent campaign, custom domain or approved script each earn 2.
- Connecting your own AI. Linking your own ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini earns 3, once. See Can I connect my own Claude during the trial?.
- Feedback put right. When you report a problem and it is real and fixed, you earn 1 for that note.
- Looking after your site. Twenty health, search and accessibility jobs earn 1 to 3 each. They include the SEO audit, the link check, the mobile check, the health check, the accessibility check, clearing out duplicate photos and making big pictures load faster. See My photos all have names like 020b253ff7eb.webp and I can’t find anything.
How the health jobs pay
Each of those jobs earns once per site every 30 days. You can run one again sooner and it works as normal, but it does not earn again until the 30 days are up. A job that only reads earns when its report is done. A job that writes a draft earns when you publish that draft.
On the recipe cards, a reward tag shows what a job can earn. A “you ran this” tag shows the date you last ran it on this site, and when it can earn again.
What shells are not
Shells are not money, credit, points or a discount. You cannot buy them, and Bernard never asks you to earn them to keep working for you. Your own AI is free to connect on any plan.
Questions people ask
- Do I spend shells when Bernard does work for me?
- No. Bernard’s own AI never takes shells for any work: not for changes, fixes, recipes, report questions or sorting photos. Shells only go up. Every change still waits for your approval before it goes live.
- What are the two numbers on my shells page?
- Your balance is the shells in your jar now. Lifetime earned is every shell you have ever earned. Balances from before this change carry over unchanged.
- Is there a limit to how many shells I can earn in a day?
- Yes. A daily cap keeps the jar steady, so a burst of work in one day cannot fill it. The limit is currently 10 shells a day. Your work still goes ahead as normal. It just stops adding shells until the next day.
- Can I swap shells for money, discounts or credit?
- No. Shells are a thank-you for looking after your site. They are not money, credit, points or a discount, and they cannot be bought or sold.
- Do I need to approve something for it to count?
- For a job that changes your site, yes. A job that writes a draft earns when you approve and publish it. A job that only reads and reports earns when its report finishes.