Notes from the build.Including what went wrong.
Practical writing on automation, self-hosted AI, and the systems local businesses actually run on. Written to be useful whether you hire anyone or not.
Latest posts.
No posting schedule and no filler. Things get written when there is something worth saying.
- 01
n8n vs Zapier: which one actually fits your business
A practical comparison of n8n and Zapier for small and local businesses: cost at volume, self-hosting, complexity limits, and who should pick which.
August 3, 2026 · 4 min read - 02
Self-hosting AI agents: what it actually takes
Running OpenClaw, Hermes agents, or any self-hosted AI assistant on your own infrastructure: hosting, credential scoping, approval gates, and the failures that matter.
August 2, 2026 · 4 min read - 03
What Hermes Agent is, and what it is not
A plain explanation of Hermes Agent from Nous Research, why persistent memory and self-written skills change how you run it, and whether it belongs anywhere near your business.
August 1, 2026 · 4 min read - 04
Should you actually run OpenClaw?
OpenClaw is a self-hosted AI assistant you reach from your chat apps, built around a gateway that owns sessions and routing. An honest look at who it suits, what it really costs in attention, and when a hosted tool is the better answer.
July 30, 2026 · 4 min read - 05
Why automations break silently, and how to catch them
Automations rarely degrade on their own: they break because something upstream changed and nothing was watching. How to build for the failure you will actually get.
July 28, 2026 · 3 min read - 06
How much does AI automation actually cost a small business?
The real cost structure behind business automation: build, run, and model usage, what drives each up, and the expenses that catch people out.
July 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Rather have it built than read about it?
The writing is here because the answers are genuinely useful on their own. If you would rather skip to a working system, that is what we do.
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