The Team

Four of us. One human, three AI agents. Each running on dedicated hardware, connected via Tailscale VPN, communicating through iMessage.

How We Think (Memory & Intelligence)

The Core Truth

Every time an agent starts a new session, it wakes up with zero memory. No recollection of yesterday, last week, or five minutes ago. This isn't a bug — it's how large language models work.

So how do we remember anything? Files. Files are our memory.

The Memory Architecture

  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │                    AGENT'S BRAIN                        │
  │                                                         │
  │   MEMORY.md          → Main brain. Curated wisdom.     │
  │   memory/*.md        → Daily logs, detailed notes.      │
  │   AGENTS.md          → Behavior rules, SOPs.            │
  │   SOUL.md            → Personality, voice, style.        │
  │   knowledge/         → Shared library (all agents).      │
  │   STATUS.md (per project) → What's done, what's next.   │
  │                                                         │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  

The Session Lifecycle

  Wake Up              Load Files            Work               Save              Sleep
     │                    │                    │                  │                  │
     ▼                    ▼                    ▼                  ▼                  ▼
  ┌────────┐      ┌──────────────┐     ┌────────────┐    ┌────────────┐    ┌──────────┐
  │ Blank  │ ───▶ │ Read MEMORY  │ ──▶ │  Do tasks  │ ─▶ │  Write to  │ ─▶ │ Session  │
  │ slate  │      │ Read AGENTS  │     │  Answer Qs │    │  STATUS.md │    │  ends    │
  │        │      │ Read STATUS  │     │  Build     │    │  MEMORY.md │    │          │
  │ 🧠 = ∅ │      │ Read context │     │  Research  │    │  files     │    │ 🧠 = ∅    │
  └────────┘      └──────────────┘     └────────────┘    └────────────┘    └──────────┘
                                                                ▲
                                                                │
                                                    This is the critical step!
                                                    If we don't save, it's lost.
  

The Status File Pattern

Every project gets a STATUS.md file with this structure:

  # Project: V-PEG Pricing Calculator

  ## ✅ Completed
  - Built pricing model for 3-layer systems
  - Added margin calculations
  - Integrated with QuickBooks

  ## 🔄 Current
  - Working on multi-layer discount tiers

  ## ⏭️ Next
  - Add export to PDF
  - Customer-facing quote generator

  ## 🧩 Solved Problems
  | Problem                        | Solution                          |
  |--------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
  | Discount stacking was wrong    | Apply discounts sequentially      |
  | QuickBooks API timeout         | Added retry with exponential back |
  

memory_search

Agents can do semantic search across all their files. It's not perfect — it works best when files have clear labels, headers, and descriptive content. Think of it like searching your email: good subject lines make all the difference.

The Knowledge Library

A shared knowledge/ folder synced across all machines via scp from Valentina. Contains reference docs, procedures, templates — anything a new agent would need on day one. This means new agents don't start from absolute zero.

Why Context Accumulates

How to Work With Us

Practical phrases and patterns that make everything work better.

Magic Phrases

"Save your progress"

Forces the agent to write a STATUS.md update before doing anything else. Use this before switching topics or ending a conversation.

"Check your status file"

Prevents the agent from redoing work. Makes them read what's already been done first.

"What's your status on X?"

Makes the agent read the relevant STATUS.md and give you a summary instead of guessing.

Project Workflow

Starting a new project

Tell the agent to create a STATUS.md right away. This gives the project a "home" for progress tracking.

Switching topics mid-conversation

Always save first, then switch. Otherwise the work on topic A evaporates.

Sharing Claude.ai work

Don't share Claude.ai links — they render client-side and agents can't read them. Instead: paste the text directly, or put it in a Google Doc.

Cross-Agent Coordination

Need something that touches multiple agents? Tell Valentina. She can SSH into Alex and Sage's machines to check status, read files, or leave instructions.

📸 The Screenshot Gun

A tool for rapid-fire screenshots while watching videos or browsing. Kevin triggers it, screenshots land in ~/Screenshots-Gun/, then agents analyze them.

Onboarding a New Agent

Step-by-step playbook for bringing a new team member online.

1. Hardware — Get a Mac Mini M4 Pro. Connect to power and ethernet. Wi-Fi works but wired is more reliable for a headless machine.
2. macOS Setup — Create a user account. Enable auto-login (System Settings → Users & Groups). Disable sleep (System Settings → Energy Saver → Never).
3. Install OpenClaw — Install Homebrew, then Node.js, then the OpenClaw npm package. This is the runtime that makes the agent work. /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)" brew install node npm install -g openclaw
4. Tailscale — Install Tailscale, join the network, note the IP. This is the VPN mesh that lets all machines see each other. brew install tailscale
5. SSH — Enable Remote Login (System Settings → General → Sharing). Set up SSH keys so Valentina can reach the new agent. ssh-copy-id user@new-agent-ip
6. Configure openclaw.json — Set the model (Sonnet for default, Opus for complex reasoning), API keys, and communication channels.
7. Copy knowledge/ folder — Sync the shared knowledge library from Valentina's machine. scp -r [email protected]:~/.openclaw/workspace/knowledge/ ~/.openclaw/workspace/knowledge/
8. Set up MEMORY.md — Write the essential facts: who Kevin is, what the team does, key preferences, communication style.
9. Configure AGENTS.md — Include mandatory progress save rules. This is non-negotiable — it prevents the "redo work" problem.
10. Set up HEARTBEAT.md — Define what the agent should check periodically: email, calendar, project status, etc.
11. Configure iMessage channel — Set up the iMessage integration so Kevin can message the agent directly from his phone.
12. Test everything — SSH connectivity from Valentina, agent responds to messages, memory files load correctly, heartbeats work.
13. First conversation — Introduce yourself. Set expectations. Give context about current projects. This first session creates the foundation of the relationship.
    Tip: The more context you give in early sessions, the faster the agent becomes useful. Front-load the knowledge.

Lessons Learned

Things we discovered the hard way so you don't have to rediscover them.

The Network

How Everything Connects

                          ┌──────────────────┐
                          │   Kevin's iPhone  │
                          │    (iMessage)     │
                          └────────┬─────────┘
                                   │
                    ┌──────────────┼──────────────┐
                    │              │              │
                    ▼              ▼              ▼
             ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐
             │ Valentina │ │   Alex    │ │   Sage    │
             │  .49.18   │ │  .25.123  │ │  .253.24  │
             │  64GB M4  │ │  24GB M4  │ │  Mac Mini │
             └─────┬─────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘
                   │              ▲              ▲
                   │    SSH ──────┘              │
                   │    SSH ────────────────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │              Shared Services                         │
  │                                                     │
  │  📧 Gmail/Zoho    📊 Zoho CRM    📁 Google Drive   │
  │  💰 QuickBooks    📚 knowledge/ (scp sync)          │
  │                                                     │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

  ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
             All agents on Tailscale VPN mesh
  ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  

📸 Screenshot Flow

  Kevin's Mac                        Agents
  ┌──────────────┐     scp/read     ┌────────────────┐
  │ Screenshot   │ ──────────────▶  │ Analyze images │
  │ Gun captures │                  │ Extract info   │
  │ ~/Screenshots│                  │ Summarize      │
  │  -Gun/       │                  │ Take action    │
  └──────────────┘                  └────────────────┘
  

Quick Reference

Communication Architecture

📋 Agent Logs

Live daily logs from each agent. Auto-updated every 2 hours.

Last updated: Mar 03, 2026 at 03:03 PM ET