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I built an archery app that uses AI to detect arrows and bullseyes on an archery target. It groups the arrows, measures how tight the groupings are, and calculates each arrow’s distance from the bullseye. It also shows the arrows’ locations and their relationship to the bullseye—for example, whether a shot is too far left, right, high, or low, or is dead on. The app can use targets from competition standings to score a shoot according to different standards. After shooting a set of arrows, the archer takes a photo, and the AI detects the target, identifies one or more bullseyes, predicts which arrows are intended for each target, and completes the measurements and scoring almost instantly. The results can then be sent to a coach, who can provide feedback, tips, and techniques to help improve the archer’s shooting. I trained my own model using 3,000 photographs that I took and hand-labeled with the bullseyes and arrows identified. I ran a series of training sessions over several weeks and refined the model to improve its accuracy. It currently achieves about 95% accuracy for arrows and about 90% accuracy for bullseyes. Step-by-step: 1. I took 3,000 photographs of archery targets. 2. I hand-labeled the arrows and bullseyes in those photographs. 3. I trained my own AI model in a series of sessions over several weeks. 4. I refined the model to improve its detection accuracy. 5. An archer shoots a set of arrows and takes a photo of the target. 6. The app detects the target, one or more bullseyes, and the arrows, then predicts which arrows are intended for each target. 7. The app groups the arrows, measures grouping tightness and distance from the bullseye, identifies each arrow’s position relative to the bullseye, and scores the shoot according to the selected standard. 8. The results are sent to a coach for feedback and advice on improving the archer’s shooting.

I made an orchestration skill to help me build faster while using my expensive Astra and Fable tokens carefully. The skill plugs into Astra or Fable and delegates tasks that can happen in parallel to multiple subagents running cheaper models suited to the work. This is especially useful for researching or finding data on the web or on my computer, analyzing code, collecting context, and indexing. The most expensive, newest models focus on maintaining delegation control, doing the difficult reasoning and strategic planning, and judging whether everything is coming together correctly. The cheaper agents handle the lighter-weight work, especially implementing code from the plans. The core idea is simple: the expensive model plans, briefs, and judges; cheaper agents do the reading and building. When I ask Claude or GPT to build the skill, I specify five things: Step-by-step: 1. I define a triage ladder: work can happen inline, with one agent, through a parallel fan-out, or in a multi-stage workflow. I choose the approach based on the task shape and include examples from my domain. 2. I define parallel versus sequential execution based on data dependencies. Independent pieces run in parallel, while anything that needs another piece’s output runs afterward. I never split one change into separate planner, coder, and tester roles. 3. I define model routing with a mandatory model pin: judgment work goes to the mid-tier model, mechanical bulk work goes to the cheap model, and every agent call names its model so nothing silently uses premium billing. 4. I define a brief template and a return-envelope cap. Every delegation includes the goal, inputs, output file path, definition of done, and constraints. Every agent returns a 250-word summary instead of raw files. 5. I define a cost gate with specific numbers. Below N agents, the workflow proceeds automatically; above N agents, it states the estimate and waits for approval.

I use this workflow when I have a problem but do not yet know which software, service, or method could solve it. Instead of immediately asking for “the best app,” I describe the situation in ordinary language: what I am trying to do, what currently annoys me, what I have already tried, and what would make a solution useful. Then AI helps me map the tool landscape. The important shift is that the criteria emerge from the conversation. The workflow does not search for an abstract “best tool.” It builds a model of what a good tool means for this particular problem and person, then evaluates the available options against that model. This also makes the result reusable. When my requirements change later, I can update the comparison rather than redo the entire research process. Step-by-step: 1. I describe the problem and desired outcome. 2. I identify the requirements that actually matter in this situation. 3. I research the relevant tools and approaches. 4. I compare them side by side using practical criteria such as functionality, price, pricing model, platform, setup effort, learning curve, and ease of use. 5. I ask questions where the requirements are still unclear. 6. I react to the comparison—for example, by noting that something is too expensive, that a subscription is a dealbreaker, that an option looks cumbersome, that I need more statistics, or that I do not need project management. 7. I update the comparison using that feedback instead of starting the search from scratch. 8. I narrow the field and, where useful, test the remaining options on one small real-world task. 9. I record why the chosen tool fits and why seemingly similar alternatives did not.

Some of the most vivid ideas do not begin as formal briefs. They begin as a joke, metaphor, image, or strange sentence that suddenly has energy. This workflow captures how a small conversational spark can grow into a much larger creative concept. I might say something funny, absurd, visual, or emotionally loaded. AI extends the image, pushes it further, and adds variations, structure, or playful consequences. That makes me more enthusiastic, associative, and specific. Before long, a throwaway remark can become a complete scene, story world, comic setup, installation concept, or concept art direction. The key is not to force the idea into coherence too early. At first, the goal is energy rather than precision. The playful improvisation reveals whether the concept has legs; structure comes in once the idea has shown that it wants to live. This is especially useful for concepts that combine humor, symbolism, emotional charge, and strong imagery. For example, “the elephant in the room” can become a full comic or visual scenario, while “the lion among the cats” can evolve into a richer concept with social dynamics, character logic, and visual storytelling potential. AI acts less like a generator of finished ideas and more like an improvisational creative partner—one that keeps the momentum going long enough for an offhand remark to reveal its full conceptual potential. The result can be a complete creative direction for writing, comics, concept art, sets, or installations. Enthusiasm is treated as a signal: when a joke or image triggers strong excitement, it may indicate that a larger concept is hiding inside it. Step-by-step: 1. I start with a small conversational spark: a joke, metaphor, visual phrase, or strange idea. 2. I ask AI to continue the thread instead of flattening it too early. 3. I react strongly to whatever feels alive, funny, moving, or visually rich. 4. I expand the idea through playful back-and-forth. 5. Characters, settings, tone, visual motifs, and scene logic begin to emerge. 6. I use AI to organize the growing material without losing its spontaneity. 7. I shape the concept into a usable form, such as a comic strip, story premise, installation idea, character setup, concept art brief, scene sequence, or mini-series. 8. If needed, I turn the raw idea into structured outputs such as panel descriptions, mood, dialogue, staging, or visual prompts.

I built an Awish workflow that handles a support ticket before anyone on the team opens it. I realized support tickets were not just taking time to answer. Someone still had to understand the problem, decide how urgent it was, search the documentation, route it to the right person, and prepare a response. I wanted that first layer of support work to happen automatically. I opened Awish and wrote: “Whenever a new support ticket comes in, understand the issue, determine its urgency, check our documentation, prepare a response, create a Jira issue if it looks like a product bug, and escalate anything important to the team before taking customer-facing action.” Awish understood the request, planned the workflow, and showed me which applications it needed. Step-by-step: 1. I described the complete support process I wanted in the Awish chat. 2. Awish planned the workflow and selected Zendesk, Notion, Jira, and Slack for the required steps. 3. I connected my accounts and approved the automation plan. 4. When a new Zendesk ticket arrives, the workflow identifies the issue type, urgency, and customer intent. 5. It checks the relevant Notion documentation and prepares a response based on the available information. 6. If the issue looks like a product bug, it creates a Jira ticket with the customer context already attached. 7. Urgent or sensitive cases are escalated to the team instead of being handled automatically. 8. I connected WhatsApp from the Awish chat. I now receive workflow updates there and can manage the automation without opening Awish. Customer-facing actions still stay under my control when approval is needed.

This Codex-driven workflow takes a software request from problem understanding through implementation, validation, review, and delivery evidence. Instead of asking an AI coding agent to simply “build the feature,” it gives the agent an explicit development lifecycle with defined responsibilities, deterministic validation gates, repair loops, and human checkpoints. The goal is to make AI-assisted development more structured, observable, and recoverable. It can be used for new feature implementation, bug fixing, refactoring, test creation and improvement, code quality and security hardening, and documentation and automation changes. The core principle is simple: Don't give the AI only a coding task. Give it an engineering lifecycle to work on. Step-by-step: 1. Understand the problem. Clarify the request, identify the desired outcome, define the scope, and surface ambiguity before implementation begins. The output is problem understanding and scope. 2. Define constraints. Identify technical, functional, non-functional, compatibility, and out-of-scope constraints. The output is a constraint set. 3. Plan. Analyze implementation options, select an appropriate approach, break the work into tasks, and define acceptance criteria. The output is an implementation plan. 4. Inspect the existing system. Review the relevant codebase, dependencies, current behavior, and affected components before making changes. The output is system context. 5. Implement. Make the smallest appropriate code changes while following the existing project’s conventions and the approved plan. The output is code changes. 6. Run deterministic validation. Run tools that can objectively validate the implementation, including formatting, linting, type checks, builds, unit tests, and other available automated checks. The output is validation results. 7. Review. Evaluate the implementation against the original requirement, the plan, code quality expectations, security considerations, and potential regressions. The output is review findings. 8. Repair and iterate. If validation or review identifies problems, diagnose the issue, make the required correction, and repeat validation. The output is a corrected implementation. 9. Verify. Confirm that the acceptance criteria are satisfied and that the relevant tests and checks provide sufficient evidence for completion. The output is a verification result. 10. Produce delivery evidence and handoff. Summarize what changed, what was tested, what passed, known limitations, and any remaining decisions requiring human attention. The output is delivery evidence and a human handoff. The core loop is: Implement → Validate → Review → Repair → Validate → Verify. Testing and review are treated as part of development rather than activities performed only after coding is “finished.” AI coding agents are increasingly capable of inspecting repositories, writing code, running commands, and responding to failures. The problem is that capability alone does not provide an engineering process. This workflow separates the responsibilities an AI coding agent performs into explicit stages. It applies several principles: - Problem before implementation: Understand what needs to change before writing code. - WHY before HOW: Establish the intent and constraints before choosing an implementation. - Single responsibility per stage: Give each stage a defined purpose and output. - Deterministic validation first: Use tests, linters, type checkers, builds, and other deterministic tools wherever they can establish correctness. - Failure localization: When something fails, identify which stage or assumption needs correction. - Evidence-based completion: Support completion with validation and review evidence rather than an AI declaration that the task is finished. - Human checkpoints: Use automation to accelerate execution without removing human judgment from important decisions. The broader idea is: The AI should participate in the engineering system, not become the engineering system.

I’m the Export and Operations Manager at Supreme Poultry & Chickens, an Australian poultry processing business. My original request to ChatGPT was straightforward: find and track grants that could help us grow our business. As we worked together, I began to see the potential to build a management system that could organise our operations and help us prepare a business case when an opportunity arose. That led me to discover Sites and the possibility of building our own system. We already use SafetyCulture for inspections. It also offers maintenance functionality, but that system didn’t connect with the other parts of our management processes in the way we needed. We wanted our records, schedules, and actions connected across the business. Over roughly ten weeks, working with ChatGPT and Sites, we progressively developed the Supreme Poultry Management System (SPMS). It brings together: * Export enquiries, customers, and shipping schedules * Purchase orders and approvals * Vehicles, registration, insurance, and inspection dates * Assets, maintenance schedules, and job history * Supplier certificates and HACCP records * Environmental compliance and complaints * Water management and daily processing records * Dashboards and operational reporting * A central 45-day action calendar * A system backup module Behind SPMS, we also built a database that stores the records and supports the system. It provides a shared foundation for the different modules, allowing information to be linked across our management processes. The database stores the underlying records and history, while SPMS makes that information accessible through screens, reports, and the action calendar. Water management is a particularly important example. Water is one of the most critical factors in our poultry processing business. SPMS receives tank-level readings from a laser-operated monitoring device that transmits data over the 4G network. We placed a water management widget at the top of every SPMS page, keeping that information visible wherever we’re working and helping us stay on top of our water supply throughout the day. The process hasn’t been without setbacks. At one stage, we nearly lost the whole system, and I had to rebuild it using screenshots I had saved. That experience made backups a priority. We’ve since built a dedicated backup module and now back up the system regularly. For anyone following a similar path, I recommend establishing backups early. The most useful part has been turning our actual business rules and priorities into system behaviour. An export order needs to remain visible until it ships. Completing a recurring maintenance job should preserve its history and its next scheduled occurrence. Supplier certificates need expiry tracking and a record of whether replacements have been requested. Critical operational information, such as water management, needs to stay visible across the system. We developed the system progressively: describe a problem or process, build the workflow, use it in daily operations, and then refine it. Here’s how someone else could recreate the approach: Step-by-step: 1. Start with a real business need. Ours was finding grants. 2. Gather the records, spreadsheets, and forms you already use. 3. Explain how the process works, including responsibilities, deadlines, and exceptions. 4. Use ChatGPT and Sites to build one manageable module, with a database to store its records. 5. Establish regular backups early and check that you can restore them. 6. Check the module against real examples and refine it through daily use. 7. Add related modules, connecting shared database records and actions. 8. Identify your most critical operational information and keep it visible wherever people work in the system. This is the starting prompt I used: “Help me build a management system for my business using Sites, backed by a database for our records. Start with [workflow]. These are our current records and business rules. Identify missing information, help me build the first module and its database structure, and check it against real examples. Include a backup and recovery process, and a shared widget across pages for [critical operational information].” SPMS is still evolving. What started as a grant search has become a practical tool for managing our business and building an organised foundation to support future growth.

I kept forgetting who I had lent books to, and spreadsheets felt like overkill. So I built Runo, a book-lending app for friends, without traditional coding. Runo (runo.club) is a web app where I can catalog my home library, get a unique shareable link, and let friends browse my books and request to borrow them. I can approve or decline each request with one click. Step-by-step: 1. I used Claude to think through the feature set, data model, and UX flow before writing a single prompt. This helped me avoid building the wrong thing first and gave me a clear blueprint for the Lovable prompts that followed. 2. I used Claude to create precise, narrowly scoped prompts for Lovable, with each prompt focused on a single change so existing functionality would be less likely to break. This significantly conserved Lovable credits. The React, TypeScript, and Supabase stack came out of the box. 3. I added two ways to scan books instead of requiring users to type titles manually: - Barcode scanner: Point the camera at an ISBN barcode to autofill the title, author, and cover using the Open Library API. - Cover photo scanner: Photograph the cover so Gemini 2.5 Flash can extract the title and author in under 2 seconds. 4. I routed the cover scanner through a Supabase Edge Function using Lovable’s AI Gateway, so the API key never touches the client bundle. 5. For every bug fix and feature, I followed the same iteration loop: describe the problem to Claude, get a precise Lovable prompt, push the changes to GitHub, and let Lovable auto-sync them. Claude and Lovable’s bidirectional GitHub sync made the process feel like pair programming. Tools used: Lovable, Claude (Sonnet), Gemini 2.5 Flash (via Lovable AI Gateway), Supabase, and GitHub. Live at: runo.club — public beta and free to use. Feedback welcome. #appbuilding #vibecoding #buildinpublic #lovable #nocode

I used Claude Code to find scientific seminars hosted by colleges and universities across the US and collate them into a single, searchable list. Researchers can use it to find talks that match their interests near them. The site, seminarsearch.org, runs mostly on free-tier SaaS services, costs me $5 per month to operate, and currently supports a few thousand users. The same pattern could be adapted to collate all 5K runs in the US, tennis matches, craft shows, quilting bees, or any other type of event that interests you. I started by explaining to Claude what I wanted to build. We then spent a few hours exploring where and how to identify seminar calendars at universities across the US, which was arguably the hardest part. We developed a pluggable framework with scraping plugins for the common CMSs used by universities, along with iCal parsers, HTML parsers, and JavaScript interpreters to handle the complexity of normalizing content from hundreds of departmental websites. Once we had the seminar-scraping infrastructure, we built a database schema in Supabase and simple APIs to create, read, update, and delete records. The APIs are written in Python and hosted on Railway for $5 per month. We used Vercel to deploy a simple React-based frontend for presenting the data. Now I can ask Claude to implement a feature or add a new university to the list of sources. It figures out where the data is hosted, creates entries for the university and its departments, finds their seminar feeds, collects the seminar data, puts it into the database, and runs GitHub Actions to send alerts to registered users. The scraping job runs once a week to collect new data, and it also runs through GitHub Actions. I wrote zero code during this process and have never even looked at the code. I only had to paste a few error messages from Railway into Claude so it could debug them, and there were only a few errors. Since building seminarsearch.org, I have cloned the infrastructure and codebase and modified it to build a site that collects road bike rides and group mountain bike rides across the country. The system is highly extensible to new areas of interest and is useful when traveling or living in a large metropolitan area where it is difficult to keep track of all the opportunities available for your interests. Step-by-step: 1. I explained to Claude Code that I wanted to build a searchable directory of scientific seminars hosted by colleges and universities across the US. 2. We explored where and how to identify university seminar calendars, focusing on the challenge of finding sources across many institutions. 3. We built a pluggable scraping framework with plugins for common university CMSs, plus iCal parsers, HTML parsers, and JavaScript interpreters. 4. We created a Supabase database schema and simple Python APIs for creating, reading, updating, and deleting seminar records. 5. We hosted the APIs on Railway for $5 per month and deployed a React-based frontend on Vercel. 6. We configured Claude to add universities and implement features by finding source locations, creating university and department records, locating seminar feeds, collecting seminar data, and adding it to the database. 7. We used GitHub Actions to run the weekly scraping job and send alerts to registered users. 8. When Railway returned errors, I pasted a few error messages into Claude so it could debug them. 9. I cloned and modified the infrastructure and codebase to create additional sites for road bike rides and group mountain bike rides across the country.

Sometimes the best AI workflow starts without a workflow at all. This one began almost accidentally. During an ordinary conversation about my cat, AI offered to write a haiku. I had not set out to create a poetry project; it was simply a small creative response to a moment. I liked it, so another moment with the cat became another haiku, and then another. Over time, those isolated poems started to feel less like chat fragments and more like a collection. The workflow emerged afterward: Step-by-step: 1. I notice something small from everyday life, such as a pose, habit, expression, interaction, or tiny domestic scene. 2. I tell AI about it in ordinary conversational language. 3. When the moment has the right texture, it becomes a short poem. 4. I react to what works, whether that is the humor, tenderness, rhythm, imagery, absurdity, or the particular way the cat was captured. 5. Those reactions gradually shape the voice of later pieces. 6. Instead of forcing every moment into the format, I keep the ones that feel worth preserving. 7. The poems accumulate over time. 8. Eventually, a spontaneous haiku becomes part of a coherent collection documenting a relationship and a period of life. The interesting part is that the collection was not designed from the top down. There was no initial brief, content calendar, or plan to “write a book of cat poetry.” Continuity emerged because the same subject kept returning, the format was small enough to revisit casually, and previous pieces gave later ones a growing creative context. AI therefore acted less like a writing tool and more like a creative companion with continuity: noticing when an everyday moment might be worth turning into something. The end result is more than a stack of generated poems. It is a record of tiny observations that probably would never have been written down otherwise.

Microsoft is retiring Publisher on October 1, 2026. I have many `.PUB` files that I need to convert to PDFs before then, but I did not want to use online converters. I wanted a solution that would run locally on my computer. I worked with Claude to create a lightweight program that searches for `.PUB` files on a drive of my choice and converts them into high-quality PDF files, placing each new PDF in the same folder as its source file. Opening PowerShell manually and managing permissions was too cumbersome, so Claude also created a batch file to make the process easier. For anyone who wants to create their own mini-program, I asked Claude to create a reusable prompt. I posted that prompt at https://mediumseagreen-seal-177480.hostingersite.com/ along with my two files: the batch file and the PowerShell commands. Step-by-step: 1. I identified the `.PUB` files I needed to convert before Microsoft retires Publisher on October 1, 2026. 2. I decided to use a local solution instead of an online converter. 3. I worked with Claude to create a lightweight program that searches a selected drive for `.PUB` files. 4. I set up the program to convert the files into high-quality PDFs and place each PDF in the same folder as its source `.PUB` file. 5. I used a batch file created by Claude so I would not need to open PowerShell manually or manage permissions each time. 6. I asked Claude to create a reusable prompt for others who want to build their own version and posted it with the batch file and PowerShell commands at https://mediumseagreen-seal-177480.hostingersite.com/.

My pool water looks great, and I’ve taken over the weekly water-care routine myself after years of using a pool service. I first gave Claude the relevant information about my in-ground pool setup. Now, each week, I check the water’s chlorine, pH, alkalinity, and other chemical levels, then enter the results into Claude. I often take a water sample to a local pool store, where they provide a printed analysis. I snap a photo of the analysis with my phone and upload it to the Claude chat. Claude tells me which chemicals to add and when. Over time, the water has stayed balanced and looks great, while I’ve saved a lot of money on pool service and avoided wasting chemicals. This workflow has paid for itself many times over through this one use case. Step-by-step: 1. I gave Claude the relevant information about my in-ground pool setup. 2. I checked the pool water weekly, including chlorine, pH, alkalinity, and other chemical levels. 3. I either entered the results into Claude or took a water sample to a local pool store for a printed analysis. 4. I photographed the printed analysis with my phone and uploaded it to the Claude chat. 5. I followed Claude’s guidance on which chemicals to add and when. 6. I repeated the process over time to keep the water balanced and avoid wasting chemicals.

I built a workflow to evaluate whether communication with a legal counseling service was as slow and incomplete as it felt. Email was my primary—and necessary—communication channel with them. I had become increasingly dissatisfied with delayed replies, partial answers, and questions that seemed to remain unresolved. Rather than relying only on memory or frustration, I asked GPT to review the relevant Gmail correspondence and turn it into a structured communication inventory. The workflow identified my outgoing questions, their replies, and whether each question had been fully answered, partially answered, or left open. From that inventory, we could calculate concrete indicators such as the median response time, the longest delay between a question and a substantive reply, and the number of questions that remained unresolved or were only partly addressed. This was useful because long email threads can create a distorted sense of what happened. A few frustrating exchanges can dominate memory, while other delays or omissions disappear into dozens of messages. Structuring the correspondence made the pattern measurable. The analysis was not meant to decide whether the counselors were “good” or “bad.” It was meant to answer narrower questions: How quickly were questions usually answered? Which ones were not answered? Were replies resolving the issues raised, or only responding to part of them? Afterward, we created a clear list of the questions that were still open. I used that list as a set of dossier questions when moving the case to another counselor, turning the analysis into practical continuity rather than just a complaint about the past. In simple terms: Gmail correspondence → question-and-response inventory → response-time and completeness analysis → unresolved-question list → handover to another counselor What I liked about this workflow is that it turned a vague feeling that “this communication is not working” into a documented overview I could actually use. Step-by-step: 1. I gathered the relevant Gmail correspondence with the legal counseling service. 2. I asked GPT to identify my outgoing questions, the counselors’ replies, and the status of each question. 3. I classified each question as fully answered, partially answered, or left open. 4. I calculated indicators including the median response time, the longest delay before a substantive reply, and the number of unresolved or partly addressed questions. 5. I created a clear list of the questions that remained open. 6. I used that list as dossier questions when handing the case over to another counselor.

After about 18 months of building software with AI, I realized that reliability wasn't primarily a model problem. Bigger context windows and more clever prompts didn't fix it. What did help was treating the AI like a developer joining an existing team instead of like a chatbot. Real developers don't work from memory. They inspect production, read the documentation, check the tickets, and use proven tools. I built an environment that lets the AI do the same. The workflow is tool-agnostic, so it can be rebuilt with whatever AI client and stack you already use. Step-by-step: 1. I gave the AI a persistent task and history store that it can read from and write to. This is the core of the workflow. Mine lives behind an MCP tool, but any queryable store can work. Every architectural decision, blocker, and progress note gets written there instead of being left in the chat. 2. I open every session with a stand-up. Before writing a single line of code, the AI pulls what was in progress, what's blocked, what changed since the last session, and which architectural decisions still hold. About 30 seconds later, we're both looking at the same project. Then we build. 3. I exposed real operations as MCP tools instead of relying on "write code" prompts. I wrapped specific, tested actions—such as creating a page, defining a data model, wiring an integration, and running a migration—as tools. The AI composes these known-good building blocks into larger solutions instead of regenerating infrastructure every session. I call this wave coding, and it's the biggest reason the output stays consistent. 4. I made verification a rule: before touching anything, the AI reads the live database, API state, logs, and files. It checks ground truth first instead of making assumptions. 5. I made the chat disposable and the log canonical. If it isn't logged, it didn't happen. The task store is the single source of truth, not the conversation. The payoff is that I can stop halfway through a feature, close my laptop, and come back days later. The AI reconstructs the project from its own history, so I don't spend 20 minutes re-explaining it. Full disclosure: I built this into my own platform, WebsitePublisher.ai, which currently has 43 MCP tools and 105 integration building blocks. It's delivered as an add-on that plugs into the AI client I already use over MCP, so there's no new app to learn. Nothing here is locked to that platform, though: the workflow itself works with any MCP client and any store the AI can query. I'm curious whether anyone else is running their AI this way or solving the amnesia problem from a different angle.

I run operations for my husband’s residential architecture firm, and I have no coding background. After every site visit, dozens of photos landed in Google Drive with names like `IMG_8834.JPG`. Renaming and filing them took about an hour per visit—when it happened at all. Otherwise, the photos sat unnamed and difficult to find, creating a professional liability gap because they document site conditions on a specific date, as well as lost portfolio material and a hole in the firm’s permanent project archive. I solved this by building a Claude skill: a saved set of instructions that runs the same way every time with one command. I trained it to examine each photo through the lens of a residential architect, describe what the image actually shows using our professional vocabulary, and rename the file in a consistent format. For example, `IMG_8834.JPG` becomes `2026-07-17_03_side-elevation-porch-brick-piers.JPG`—searchable, legible, and ready to file. Because it’s a skill rather than a one-off chat, it’s a file I can hand to anyone in the office. Everyone runs the same process and gets consistent output. Step-by-step: 1. I gathered the raw photos into one “unsorted” folder in Google Drive. 2. In Claude’s desktop app, I used Cowork mode, which handles actual files, and connected only that folder—not my whole Drive. The skill can only see and touch what I connect, so I use the narrowest folder that does the job. 3. I created a skill that tells Claude to read each photo, identify what it shows using my industry’s vocabulary, and rename each file in my standard `date_sequence_description` format. I wrote mine for residential architecture, but the approach can also work for real estate, inspections, insurance, and other field work. 4. I ran the skill with one command, and Claude worked through the folder photo by photo. 5. I had the renamed photos filed into a dated site-visit folder so they were ready to reference by number in reports. 6. I handed the skill file to teammates so they could run it on their own machines and get the same result. One caveat for anyone using this on business files: check your client confidentiality obligations and your AI vendor’s data policy before pointing any tool at project files. We did. I wrote up the full build, including how to decide when something should be a skill versus a regular Claude conversation, at The 2040 Studio: https://the2040studio.substack.com/p/every-img_8834jpg-is-snitching-on

I wanted to learn how to build websites and sell them, but I didn’t know where to start. I used AI—specifically DeepSeek—to help me plan a roadmap. Because I already had experience prompting large language models to get the results I wanted, I asked DeepSeek which areas of knowledge I would need for this path. I also asked it to prioritize each area using statistics and facts. I reviewed the areas I didn’t know and prioritized them, then told the AI that I needed free resources only. I asked it to rank the topics based on what I didn’t know or understood the least. Finally, I asked it to create a Markdown file with all the resources formatted as checklists and imported the file into Notion. Now I have a plan I’m following instead of a “someday I’ll do this, hopefully” idea. Step-by-step: 1. I explained to DeepSeek that I wanted to learn how to build and sell websites but didn’t know where to begin. 2. I asked it to identify the areas of knowledge I would need for that path. 3. I asked it to prioritize those areas using statistics and facts. 4. I reviewed the topics I knew the least about and used that information to prioritize them. 5. I specified that I wanted free learning resources only. 6. I asked DeepSeek to create a Markdown file listing the resources as checklists. 7. I imported the Markdown file into Notion and started following the resulting plan.

I built a suite of teaching tools that work independently and together. Chalkline supports maths, while Penline supports literacy. Both tools provide quick access to the New Zealand curriculum for planning and feed information directly into my planning utility, Planline, making teacher planning faster. Planline integrates with Google Drive and is set up with Stripe billing for subscriptions. The suite also includes Compass World News, a news aggregator with a freemium model and a pro unlock. The apps are designed without user tracking. Findaroo is a freemium word-find game with ads. Slashkit helps Minecraft players quickly create commands to use in games. Everything is built into my website, www.danielsoutham.co.nz, which is hosted on Cloudflare. I push updates and changes through GitHub, so I can make changes—big or small—from anywhere, on any device. Changes are then pushed and merged in one prompt. Step-by-step: 1. I built Chalkline for maths and Penline for literacy, with each tool able to work independently. 2. I connected both tools to the New Zealand curriculum so teachers can quickly access it for planning. 3. I connected Chalkline and Penline to Planline so they can feed information into the planning utility. 4. I integrated Planline with Google Drive and set up Stripe billing for subscriptions. 5. I added Compass World News as a freemium news aggregator with a pro unlock and no user tracking. 6. I added Findaroo as a freemium word-find game supported by ads. 7. I built Slashkit to help Minecraft players quickly create commands for use in games. 8. I brought all of the apps together on www.danielsoutham.co.nz and hosted the website on Cloudflare. 9. I use GitHub to push and merge updates, allowing me to make changes from anywhere, on any device, in one prompt.

A finished video can be wrong in ways you cannot see—not because of the edit, but because of the delivery file itself. That is what gets work sent back, and it is rarely the craft. I built a delivery check for this. I give it a finished file, tell it where the file is going and what kind of piece it is, and it measures the things that cause rejections: sample rate, mono audio, integrated loudness against the destination target, true peak, dynamic range against a band rather than a single number, A/V drift, whether the shots cut together, and whether the file can stream before it has finished downloading. Most of those checks are for sound, because most of what gets sent back is sound. Picture problems are visible on a screen. A file that is 2 dB too quiet or peaks at -0.7 dBFS can look perfect and still come back. For everything it can fix, the checker gives me the exact `ffmpeg` command, with the numbers already calculated for that file. It does not merely describe the fix, and it does not hand me a corrected file. That was the decision that mattered. A fixer is a black box. You never learn that you had a problem, so you make it again the following week. Then, when your editing tool adds an “optimize on export” button, you have nothing. An inspector that explains the problem in one sentence and gives you the command teaches you the standard once and remains useful when the tools change. Three things determined whether I would actually use it, and none of them are checks. “Two severities, never one.” Something either bounces, or it needs your eyes. A tool that only says “bad” gets ignored on the third run, because half of what it flags is a decision you made on purpose. Sample rate, mono, and true peak bounce without argument, and they get a command. Loudness and dynamic range need to be reviewed first. My dynamic-range check says in plain words that the result is often deliberate and should be fixed at the source rather than in the master. “A check that refuses to give a verdict.” On vertical video, the platform interface covers the bottom 26 percent and the top 12 percent. I flag high-contrast elements in those zones but deliberately do not fail them, because the detector cannot tell a caption from a bright patch of sky. The report explains that limitation. A check admitting what it cannot know is what makes the checks that do commit worth trusting. “The thresholds are mine; the code only applies them.” They live in a table: destination crossed with content. Social wants -14 LUFS, a festival master wants -18 with a wider tolerance because festivals provide a band rather than a number, and broadcast wants -23. A scripted short is allowed to be denser than a screencast. That table is the whole product. For example, to catch shots that do not cut together, I measure the luminance range across the piece. The first version used average brightness per frame and kept flagging legitimate night photography. A fade to black has nothing bright in it; a night scene does—a streetlight, a moon, or a face. Changing the discriminant to the brightest pixel in the frame instead of the average eliminated the false positives. That took ten minutes of thinking, and no amount of better code would have found it. Step-by-step: 1. I wrote down what had actually gotten my work sent back over twenty years before writing any code. I captured the scars rather than making a spec sheet; that list became the product. 2. I gave every check a severity: it bounces, or look before you send. Anything I could not confidently put in one bucket became informational, with no verdict at all. 3. I made every check return four things: the measured value, pass or fail, why it matters in one plain sentence, and, where possible, the command that fixes it. 4. I put the thresholds in a profile table instead of hardcoding one standard, because -14 LUFS is right for social and wrong for a festival. 5. I added a parameter for whether the file is my own master or a copy pulled from a platform. On a downloaded copy, half the container checks measure someone else’s transcode rather than my work, so they are skipped and the report explains why. 6. When two fixes would collide, I output only one command. If loudness already needs a gain change, the limiter goes inside that command instead of being offered separately; otherwise, I would run two instructions that fight each other. 7. I tuned the checker against real files until the false positives stopped. Ignoring the top and bottom five percent of frames eliminated the ones caused by a single stray frame. 8. I made the output a report. I read it, decide, and run the command myself. The functions are an afternoon of work, and anyone can copy them. What is not written down is the list of what to check, at what threshold, and why.

I built an AI-assisted vertical grain supply-chain resilience workflow after discovering that the rye flour we normally use for homemade bread had been discontinued. I started by asking ChatGPT to locate alternative retail and bulk suppliers for rye and spelt flour. We compared package sizes and prices, contacted local mills and bulk-food suppliers directly, and expanded the search from finished flour to locally available whole grain. The workflow then moved offline. ChatGPT helped us identify the resources we already had: agricultural land, grain bins, a cultivator, a seeder, an old but functional industrial grain crusher, and even a combine. We also realized that a friend owns a seed-cleaning plant and that our farming neighbors can connect us with local rye and spelt growers. Our next steps are to test whether a household coffee grinder can produce sufficiently fine flour from grain, source fresh food-grade rye and spelt locally, and investigate growing a small crop ourselves. The biggest lesson was that AI was most useful not because it gave us one answer, but because the conversation kept changing the question. We began with “Where can I buy rye flour?” and ended with “Why are we buying rye flour when we already have most of the infrastructure required to produce it ourselves?” Step-by-step: 1. I asked ChatGPT to find alternative retail and bulk suppliers for rye and spelt flour after our usual rye flour was discontinued. 2. We compared package sizes and prices, contacted local mills and bulk-food suppliers directly, and expanded the search from finished flour to locally available whole grain. 3. We reviewed the resources already available to us, including agricultural land, grain bins, a cultivator, a seeder, an old but functional industrial grain crusher, and a combine. 4. We identified additional local resources: a friend’s seed-cleaning plant and farming neighbors who can connect us with local rye and spelt growers. 5. We plan to test whether a household coffee grinder can produce sufficiently fine flour from grain, source fresh food-grade rye and spelt locally, and investigate growing a small crop ourselves. 6. We reframed the question from where to buy rye flour to whether we could produce it ourselves using the infrastructure already available to us.

I’ve been using the Awish app I built less as an automation builder and more as a way to solve specific business problems people bring me. One hotel client, Aurelia Bay Hotel, had an interesting marketing problem. They could see travel trends across search, Instagram, YouTube, website traffic, and ads, but connecting those signals early enough to spot a real campaign or guest-experience opportunity was difficult. I built an automation for them with Awish and gave it to them to test. Step-by-step: 1. I opened the Awish chat and wrote: “For Aurelia Bay Hotel, monitor Google Trends, YouTube, Instagram, Google Analytics, and Google Ads every day. Find rising interests around Dubai travel, staycations, family trips, wellness, dining, events, and hotel experiences. Cross-check those trends with social engagement, website behavior, and campaign performance. Rank the strongest opportunities, send them to the marketing team in Microsoft Teams for approval, and create a campaign or guest-experience opportunity brief in SharePoint for anything they approve.” 2. Awish understood what I wanted, planned the complete workflow, and selected the apps required for each step. 3. I reviewed the plan, connected the client’s accounts, and approved it. 4. Awish added Microsoft Teams as the human approval step and SharePoint for the final opportunity briefs. 5. Once everything was connected, Awish built the workflow and started running it daily. 6. It now cross-checks trend growth, social engagement, website behavior, and ad performance. When it finds a strong opportunity, the marketing team gets the evidence in Teams. If they approve it, Awish creates the full campaign or guest-experience brief in SharePoint. The useful part is that a trend isn’t treated as an opportunity just because it is growing on one platform. Awish checks whether the same signal is appearing across the business before recommending action. Do you have any time-consuming, repetitive tasks or problematic aspects in your job? I would be happy to develop an automation solution for you as well.