So what was everybody’s use case, or project you tried solving with Jake’s process? Or those like me that need a simple thing todo to work through it and practice. How did you learn this? What was your a-ha moment?

For if you've been lurking here and feel like you're missing half the conversation... --- 1️⃣ ICM (Interpreted Context Methodology) 💬 "I set up the ICM workspace once with numbered stages. Claude Code reads the folder, knows exactly what to do at each step, and I only review the output at each handoff." Jake Van Clief's framework for structuring AI agent workflows using folder-based architecture. ICM treats the filesystem itself as the orchestration layer — workflows are broken into numbered stage folders (e.g. 01_research, 02_drafting), each with a CONTEXT.md file that defines what inputs the agent receives, what it should do, and what output it should produce. Designed primarily for use with Claude Code rather than the Claude.ai chat interface. The methodology is model-agnostic and eliminates the need for complex coordination code by using plain text files and folder structure as the state machine. --- 2️⃣ Agent The most overloaded word in AI right now. Technically: a Claude session or piece of software that can take actions, not just respond. In this community it gets used loosely — anything from a folder-based specialist you consult manually to a fully autonomous system reading emails and triggering workflows without human input. When someone says "I'm building an agent," it's worth asking which kind they mean. 💬 "My agent reads the leads inbox hourly and drafts responses autonomously" is a very different build from "my specialist is a folder I open when I need it." --- 3️⃣ Agentic The adjective form of agent — but more specific. An agentic workflow is one where Claude takes a sequence of actions, observes the results, and acts again without waiting for human approval at each step. A single Q&A is not agentic. A system that reads an inbox, decides what to do, drafts a reply, and sends it is. The more agentic your build, the more important your rules.md becomes — autonomous action with bad constraints causes autonomous problems.