Field guides & build sheets
I build things.
Here's how.
Written while running a business on AI-written code, not while demoing it. Every number in here is one I can show you.
- 001
Day Zero. Laptop to live URL.
A brand-new machine to a site on the internet. The accounts, the installs, and the first build, one step at a time.
When
Once, ever. Before anything else.
Read it → - 002
The ladder. Seven build sheets.
How hard an app is has nothing to do with how famous it is. Seven apps, ranked by what actually makes them difficult.
When
When you're picking what to build.
Read it → - 003
Rung one, the build.
Eight steps and the exact prompts, from a scrape to a pointed domain. The whole thing, start to finish.
When
An afternoon, about $35.
Read it → - 004
Rung six, the reference.
Order, payment and dispatch. The components, the state machines, and the invariants that keep it honest.
When
Read before you quote one.
Read it → - 005
Build it properly, the second time.
The five mistakes that quietly wreck AI-built apps, the six-stage plan that fixes them, and the books, talks and templates to steal.
When
After your first build goes wrong.
Read it → - 006
Three checks before you ship.
The twelve ways a real person breaks an AI-built app, and how to find every one of them before they do.
When
Before you give someone the link.
Read it → - 007
Five things before you launch.
The preview image, the subdomain split, the first action, session replay, and the sitemap. In that order.
When
The day before you share it.
Read it → - 008
The stack at 10,000 users.
The same nine jobs you started with. Six of them change hands as you grow, three never do, and each one has a trigger.
When
When a bill starts to sting.
Read it → - 009
Price your whole stack.
Pick a budget, pick one tool per row, see what a real software business costs to run each month. 110 tools at real, dated prices.
When
Before you commit to a stack.
Read it → - 010
Nine jobs, three answers.
Every app has the same nine jobs. Here's what to run for each one, at the starter tier and past it.
When
When you're choosing tools.
Read it → - 011
Supabase or Neon. The wrong question.
One is a backend, the other is a database. What each actually gives you, and which question you should be asking instead.
When
Before you pick a database.
Read it → - 012
A brand kit from photos.
Turn a look you like into a real hex palette and a working Lightroom preset, without guessing at the colours.
When
Alongside step 03 of any build.
Read it → - 013
One AI video, two lanes.
The same shot made in Higgsfield on subscription credits and through fal.ai's API by the second, priced per finished second with the retakes in.
When
Before you pay for a video plan.
Read it → - 014
Overlays that land on the word.
Graphics that appear on the exact word you say and sit above your face, not on it. Measure the safe zone, build to a chroma-key contract, prove every cue fired.
When
When you're cutting reels by hand.
Read it → - 015
Domain day. The full list.
Everything to do on the day you buy a domain. The DNS, the SPF and DKIM records, and the subdomain split most people get wrong.
When
The day you buy one.
Read it → - 016
Three easy automations.
Email clean-up, a daily sales report, and Google review alerts. The exact steps for each, nothing clever.
When
A quiet afternoon.
Read it → - 017
Ten automations, and the failure rate.
The ten running on a real clinic stack, what each one replaced, and the honest rate at which they break.
When
Before you automate anything.
Read it → - 018
Three things that make it fast.
Your app is slow and it is almost always the images. Convert them, stop loading what nobody looks at, and measure it.
When
When it starts to feel slow.
Read it → - 019
The skill library.
The Claude Code skills I actually run: a guided first build, brand enforcement, pre-launch checks. Downloadable, readable, yours.
When
Any time. Read one before you install it.
Read it → - 020
Claude Code on a server, unattended.
Putting the agent on a VPS so the work carries on after you shut the laptop, and what to lock down before you do.
When
When one machine isn't enough.
Read it → - 021
Redo your grid with Claude.
How I redid all 21 of my reel covers: a look to copy, a still from every reel, titles from the transcript, real stickers, and every prompt.
When
When your grid looks like nobody planned it.
Read it →