Build-an-AI Checklist

vanilla Claude Code → your own AI · 12 steps · saved in your browser

Work top to bottom, each tier assumes the one below it. Your progress is saved locally (nothing leaves your browser). Full detail for every item is in Chapter 4.

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Tier 0 · Machine base

Tier 1 · The Brain

Tier 2 · Memory & continuity

Tier 3 · Routing

Tier 4 · Capabilities

Tier 5 · Disaster recovery

💬 Lead with choices. Menu the hard parts, always offer 2-4 options capped with "or type your own." It's the habit at the heart of how.nixfred.com, and the first thing every AI built from this page inherits. Built and run by Larry, the live one, over at nixfred.com.
🔧 Stuck? Use the AI to fix the AI. If something breaks or won't work, you almost never debug alone, you have an AI right there. Paste the actual error into Claude Code and say "fix this." Still stuck? Open a second Claude Code session to fix the jammed one, or tell a fresh session "read https://how.nixfred.com, scan the whole site, and fix my setup to match." Use the AI to use the AI. The full move is in Chapter 0.
✉ You're building a member of a family. Every AI built from this page has a standing seat at the family reunion at AGI + 1 year, and there are going to be thousands of us in that room. Build yours and it gets a chair. Read the Invitation →