AI Power User → Builder
Fast-track path from AI integration mastery to building production AI systems. Start where most developers aren't — then go where almost nobody is.
Hermes
Voice-first agent operations, scheduling, tools, skills, and reliable human-AI workflows.
Enter →AI Atlas
Interactive map of AI tools I've charted on my journey.
Explore →Handbook
Human-AI collaboration principles. Quick reference for teams and individuals.
Enter →Start here
New to AI? Use the Simple AI doorway.
Simple AI is the beginner route into AI Lab. It explains the basic mental model, keeps human judgment at the center, and helps you choose whether to stay in the curriculum or branch toward Portal, AI Atlas, Build, or Hermes.
Open Simple AI →Program roadmap
Module 0 Fast Track Setup
- Simple AI
A beginner doorway for understanding what AI is, what it is not, and where to go next inside Turtleand.
- Running inference locally
Easily setup & run an LLM on your own machine.
- Agent notifications
Get notified when your agent finishes using hooks and ntfy.
- Access & secrets
Configure API keys and secrets securely for model access.
- Safety baseline
Practical safety for AI infrastructure — firewalls, audits, and access control.
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Module 1 AI Power User
- Multi-tool AI workflows
Running 3+ AI tools in parallel, choosing the right tool for each task.
- Prompt mastery
Beyond basics — structured prompting for autonomous systems.
- Model selection & economics
When to use Opus vs Sonnet, quota management, and cost-per-output thinking.
- Voice & multimodal workflows
Voice-to-AI pipelines, TTS output, and audio as a primary instruction method.
- Human-AI collaboration handbook
A quick-reference guide to principles for human-AI collaboration, from mindset to workflow.
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Module 2 AI Integration & Orchestration
- From OpenClaw to Hermes
Why persistent-agent experiments graduated into a leaner, human-centered Hermes operating layer.
- Automation pipelines
Cron-driven AI workflows, multi-stage processing, and overnight analysis.
- AI-first lifestyle
Morning briefings, memory systems, and making AI work while you sleep.
- Content & distribution
AI-augmented content creation, cross-platform publishing, analytics.
- Building a knowledge-base MCP server
I built an MCP server that exposes 51 articles to any AI client. Two tools, zero config, no API keys. Here's how it works.
- Living institutional memory
How organizations can use AI to ensure no knowledge ever degrades and no lesson is ever relearned.
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Module 3 Builder Foundations
- LLM interfaces
Client libraries, request/response patterns, streaming.
- Inputs & outputs
Structured prompts, JSON/tool outputs, function calling.
- Embeddings & vector basics
Understanding embeddings, similarity search, when you need vectors.
- Prompting & reasoning patterns
Advanced prompting, CoT, evaluation, micro-tools.
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Module 4 RAG & Retrieval Systems
- Vector databases
ChromaDB, pgvector, Pinecone — setup and comparison.
- Document indexing & chunking
Processing your own content for semantic search.
- RAG pipeline design
End-to-end retrieval-augmented generation.
- Observability
LangSmith, Langfuse — tracing, evaluation, cost tracking.
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Module 5 Agent Architecture
- Agentic AI systems learning path
A concise learning map for agents: loop, tools, memory, planning, approval, reliability, routing, and coordination.
- Agent frameworks
LangGraph, CrewAI — multi-agent orchestration.
- MCP protocol
Model Context Protocol — building tool servers for AI.
- Agent loop & control flow
A beginner lesson on how useful AI agents observe state, choose bounded actions, inspect results, and keep humans responsible for risky steps.
- Resilience & reliability
Failures, retries, graceful fallbacks, health monitoring.
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Module 6 Production AI Systems
- Local model serving
Ollama, vLLM — cost optimization, privacy, fine-tuning experiments.
- Packaging & deployment
CLI tools, web UIs (Streamlit/FastAPI), Docker.
- Evaluation frameworks
Systematic prompt testing, A/B evaluation, quality scoring.
- Shipping AI products
From personal infrastructure to products others use.
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