Fortkeep PCS Toolkit

Military families move every two or three years, often with one parent at work or deployed. Families lose about $3,000 to damaged or missing property and absorb about $1,900 in unreimbursed costs per move (Military Family Advisory Network). Claims have strict windows (a damage notice in 75 to 180 days depending on the source, an itemized claim in 9 to 12 months for full replacement value), and the evidence people need usually doesn't exist when something breaks.

We're a US military family in Germany. I built Fortkeep out of the household system that already runs our home, for the move we've lived through ourselves.

• Walk the house. The camera stays open in the app: one tap per photo, three guided shots for valuables (whole item, serial label, condition). A vision model reads brand, model and serial number and estimates the cost of a new replacement, which is what claims pay. It asks for a retake when a label is blurry, and never guesses a serial number. The family confirms every item.
• Read the movers' paperwork. Photograph the inventory pages and Fortkeep turns them into numbered lines, explains the condition codes ("SC-10" = scratched, top) and flags marks your own photos contradict, so you can object before you sign.
• Delivery day. Tick off each sticker number as it comes off the truck. Missing or damaged items become claim entries with the before-photos attached, and the app writes the list for the movers' form.
• Deadlines and rights. Every shipment gets its own deadlines, worked out in code from the official sources and shown with the source and date. Where official sources disagree, the family gets the earlier "safe" date plus the official limit.
• A guide for the route. "Leaving Japan / Arriving in Germany": the right claims office for the family's branch, power, pets and local steps, and an honest note where a local guide doesn't exist yet.

• Privacy first, because it's a list of a family's valuables. Location data is stripped from every photo twice (on the phone and on the server), families are isolated from each other, sign-in is rate-limited, and the app never asks for unit, deployment dates or locations.
• Dates are code, not AI. The AI describes items; anything that decides whether a family gets paid is computed deterministically and sourced.
• Offline-first. Internet is usually cancelled before pack-out and not connected yet on delivery day, so photos and check-offs wait on the phone and upload later.
• Easy by default. A stressed spouse sees three big jobs; every tool is one switch away.
• Built for the cloud, paid for later. Docker, continuous database backup and least-privilege Google Cloud scripts are ready, and nothing runs up a bill until the beta needs it.

Stack: Python (FastAPI), SQLite, a no-build phone web app (PWA) with an offline outbox, Gemini vision, Docker + Caddy + Litestream for hosting. 50+ automated tests.

The most useful parts are free for every military family, no account needed: the PCS Claims Toolkit (claim deadline calculator, movers' code decoder and a before-pack-out checklist). Nothing typed there leaves the browser.

The free private beta is open now for a small group of military families (ask to join, and Nathan sends the invite), then the 2027 moving season. Coming: a weight estimator, room video sweeps, receipts and more location guides.

Fortkeep is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Defense.

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