⌘ Guide · Build
Build
Every instrument in this workshop has the same six parts. Learn them once, and you can build anything on the shelf — or something that is not on it. The parts are purpose, inputs and outputs, the smallest build, the test, the record and the close.
The anatomy
Purpose
One sentence. If it needs two, split it. The purpose decides the test.
Inputs and outputs
What goes in, what comes out. If the output cannot be held, the instrument is a mood.
The smallest build
One page, one script, one card. Build the version you can finish today.
The test
One week, one record, one change. Write the expectation before the result.
The record
A plain text log is enough (one JSON object per line): timestamp, actor, action, result.
The close
A date, a condition for stopping it, and a physical or digital gesture. Close on the date.
Patterns
The technical side. A pattern is the structure the instrument runs on — a queue, a schedule, a canvas. Pick one; a second pattern is a second instrument.
A program that runs in the background without a user.
A task that runs at fixed times or intervals.
Code that waits for a signal and reacts.
A buffer that holds messages until a worker takes them.
A one-way condensation of an input into a short value.
A source of unpredictable values.
A system with named states and allowed transitions.
A fast store of recent or repeated results.
A boundary that admits some traffic and refuses the rest.
Named objects in nested containers.
A live channel between two processes.
Persistent key-value data tied to a browser.
A prompt that interrupts attention.
A structure that maps words to records.
A history of changes with named points.
A sequence of transformations from source to artefact.
An isolated space where a process can fail safely.
An append-only record of events.
A promise about what a system accepts and returns.
A reading of the physical world.
A text instruction to a generative model.
A drawing surface for generated images.
A two-way live channel.
A deliberate ask before access is granted.
Forms
The symbolic side. A form is what a person holds or sees — a sigil, a servitor sheet, a card, an oracle. The form decides the experience.
Turns a phrase and an aspect into a glyph and a charge card.
A constructed agent with a task, a feeding method and a kill condition.
A question in, a reading out, with a record of the draw.
A screen or space arranged for attention and offering.
A boundary, permission gate or banishing.
A repeatable image-maker for shareable sigils.
A record of constructs, feedings and closings.
A background process that tends a working.
A written agreement that binds a group construct.
A live view of the state of a working.
A timer or calendar keyed to planetary time.
A durable store and a closing ritual for a working.
A one-sitting build
- Choose an aspect from the correspondences, or let the Workshop draw one.
- Write the purpose as one sentence.
- Choose one pattern and one form. Write the parts list.
- Build the smallest version. Stop when it runs once.
- Test it for a week and record the expectation and the result.
- Write the close. If it did not work, change one part and build the next version.
Make it yours
Every instrument entry has a build, a code sample and a variation. The tools are small on purpose: copy the Forge, change the aspect set, replace the drawing loop, add a pattern to the Workshop. If it is useful to someone else, the docs are the invitation.