I was today years old when I realized I did not have some of the most important files that you need in the folder structure that Jake teaches. During today's video call with the VIP group, he went on a deep-dive rabbit trail about the ICM folder methodology that he teaches in his foundations course (free). As he was discussing it, I went to check what my root folder looked like and I did not have a Claude.md or context.md file!!! My productivity skyrocketed ever since I implemented his folder strategy over a month ago, but little did I know that I hadn't even implemented it correctly. 🤯 🤯 🤯 This goes to show that massive action beats over planning every time!

I realized I have a bad habit of dropping abbreviations figuring the audience gets it. IYKYK kind of BS. I dropped IWKYM in a conversation with a friend who hasn't read "Dungeon Crawler Carl" and she called me out with a WTF. This group is getting large and people are coming at this (AI, large language models, programming, etc.) with varying degrees of comfort and familiarity. Feeling like I've coded since the stoneage, I grew up with this stuff. From vacuum-tube tape-drive building-sized mainframes to tiny little nano computers, I've been lucky enough to have some hand in things at a lot of layers. I see several posts where people are feeling discouraged when they hit a wall. They aim high and are frustrated when it lands low. Don't compare yourself against the rushing torrent of build posts (especially the successful build releases). You don't see the hours, weeks, months, of struggle - frustrations - and dead-ends hit to get past the pain and into the happy spot where things work (at least for a little while until they break and we go back to the basic(s)). So share your stupid here. Be vulnerable. Let others know the struggle is real and wide. Whether a total new player on the field or the top-tier champion, we all hit the wall. I put this under "General discussion" as it's less about looking for an answer and more just venting. I've learned that one late in life (ask my partner if she wants me to listen or problem solve when I notice she's unhappy about something... much better convo :)

@Aaron Quiroz been crushing it as our Community Triage Lead. Inbound across Instagram, Skool, and Discord has gotten genuinely out of hand, and Aaron stepped in and built real order out of the chaos. He's fast, he's thoughtful, and he actually reads what you send before responding. That matters Going forward, if you're trying to reach me about work, partnerships, projects, or anything that needs a real conversation, please send it to Aaron first. He has visibility into my calendar and priorities, and he'll get things routed correctly. If it needs me, I'll be there. If someone else on the team can handle it faster, even better. I'm still around and still reading. This just makes sure your message actually gets seen and answered instead of buried under hundreds of others. Thanks for rolling with the change. And seriously, thank you Aaron.

if you know what slash commands are this post isnt for you --- when i say "you're not lazy enough" i mean this lovingly, baby bird you're doing unpaid labor community service for anthropics repeating a prompt is proof you found something reusable so use it. slash commands are how you get good by being lazy once you get a taste of what slash commands can do you're gonna go full humpback chunk on them, i promise. WHATS A SLASH COMMAND? - a command you save in your docs/ folder that you can call at anytime. - anytime you notice yourself prompting the same thing to an agent, copy it to docs/ and name it something short-n-sweet - use it WHEN TO USE A SLASH COMMAND? YOU KEEP MAKING BUDDY WEAR THE SAME HAT You keep giving him an _identity_ like "you're a workspace auditor with..." then keep re-asking him to look for layer confusion, bloated docs, stale shit any rules u thought u added but didnt - all that stuff. Now it's /audit-context YOU KEEP ASKING LOOK BEFORE TOUCH if you keep saying "look around first before touching anything." "find the root docs, context files, major folders, active work, stable refs, and weird routing instructions" blah blah blah blah save ur fingers papa that's /map and move on. YOU KEEP SAYING DO NOT EDIT YET if your always sayin shit like "don't edit yet, just look, this is a read task only" you just need to send your little buddy on a /recon mission. u needed some space after the fifteenth shit iteration, we've all been there king. YOU KEEP ASKING FOR THE SAME PLAN if you keep asking "what should we change and why?" /propose-cleanup make it explain the smallest, safest fix, what files would change, what it prevents, and what it absolutely will not touch. this is when you need a clipboard instead of a chainsaw YOU KEEP REPEATING THE SAME PERMISSION RULES if you have to tell him over and over to only touch things you approve, just make it /apply-approved, outline the exact plan, what to touch and not touch, to stop if its ambiguous, report every file touch.

💰 $325 CASH PRIZE 💰 That's a full year of Premium. Win this and your membership pays for itself. 📋 THE CHALLENGE You just got hired again. Different client this time. Meet Sarah, a freelance copywriter who's drowning in context-switching. 📎 Download the full client brief attached to this post. Short version: She works with three types of clients (SaaS founders, ecommerce brands, local service businesses) and starts from scratch every project. She doesn't need another tool. She needs a system. Your job is to build her a folder-based AI specialist she can drop into any Claude project. The folder IS the deliverable. 🗂️ THIS WEEK YOU LEARN ICM Up until now, comps have been "build a thing." This week you utilize the methodology taught throughout the community. 🧠 Folders as architecture. That's it. That's the whole concept this week. Your specialist is a folder with five things: - 📄 identity.md (who they are) - 📐 rules.md (how they respond) - 💬 examples.md (what good looks like) - 📚 reference/ (source material) - 📖 README.md (how to use it) Drop the folder into a Claude project. Claude becomes the specialist. Reusable. Shareable. Portable. 🎯 PICK YOUR SPECIALIST Don't pick copywriting. That's Sarah's example. Pick something YOU would actually use. A few sparks to get you thinking: - A salary negotiation coach - A meal planner that knows your dietary restrictions - A code reviewer for your stack - A real estate market analyst for your city - A technical recruiter screener - A grant writer for nonprofits in your space The more specific, the better. "Marketing expert" is not a specialist. "B2B email expert for enterprise SaaS targeting CFOs" is. 💼 WHY THIS ONE LANDS ON YOUR RESUME Real talk. Winning a comp in a Skool community doesn't get you a job by itself. But shipping a working folder-based AI specialist with a clean README and a public repo? That's a portfolio piece.