I wanted to share that I have completed my first build from concept to demo. I created a “core” for project managers to use that automatically creates a dashboard and status reports for ongoing projects. I have a Gatekeeper, Orchestrator, Harvester, Communicator, and Dashboard. It was a labor of love and I am proud of my accomplishment. Now that I have the foundation, I will start building additional features that provide value to the end user. However, there was one lesson about folders that I had to learn the hard way. I had to make sure my code was searching and executing on the correct layer.

You built your first folder. Vote below, then drop a screenshot in the comments so we can see what you came up with.

Every few months, a new AI orchestration framework drops. More dashboards. More abstractions. More complexity. You wire up a simple workflow… and spend hours debugging it. Here’s the truth: most AI workflows don’t need “smart” orchestration. They need structure. A simpler approach already exists: Jake's folder architecture. Inspired by Doug McIlroy and Unix pipelines: Do one thing well Use plain text Make steps work together The idea: Folder = Pipeline Each step is a folder: instructions.md → what to do output.md → result Flow: AI runs → human reviews → move to next step That’s it. No frameworks. No hidden state. Example: /01-research → /02-draft → /03-review → /04-publish Why it works: Clear input/output at every step Human becomes the control layer Easy to debug, edit, and stop Works with any AI tool Upgrade it with one small addition: Add status.md RESULT: SUCCESS | WARN | FAIL Now every step is measurable, not guesswork. Rules that make it powerful: • One folder, one task • Plain text only • Always include a stop instruction • Review before moving forward • Version your pipeline like code When to use it: When accuracy matters more than speed When human review adds value When you want clarity, not abstraction The Unix pipeline is 50+ years old and still runs the internet. Your AI workflow doesn’t need more tools. It needs better structure. Thanks to @Jake Van Clief for this workflow.

1. Watch the intro video and introduce yourself in the intro post here 2. Start with The Foundation (free course). Concepts, folder architecture, prompting framework. Everything else builds on this. 3. Check in at the bottom of each lesson. Polls, discussion posts, other members working through the same stuff. Use them. 4. When you're ready to build real things, move to Implementation Playbooks (Level 2). When you're ready to build your own tools, Building Your Stack (Level 3). 5. Post your work. Ask questions. Help others when you can. What are you here to build?