The Build Order

Start Here

This is the whole build on one page — eleven steps. Work top to bottom. Do not move on until the checkpoint passes — every later step assumes the earlier one is solid.

#	Step	Checkpoint — do not proceed until
1	Name it, and give it a voice	The household has agreed a name and a tone, in writing
2	Create its own accounts	It has its own mailbox and its own machine account. Nothing is shared with a person
3	Set up its computer	The machine never sleeps, auto-logs in, and you can reach it remotely
4	Connect calendar, reminders, contacts	You can ask it what is on the calendar and get the right answer
5	Connect email and tasks	It can read its own mailbox and add a task
6	Set the permission layers	A restricted person cannot reach private things, and you have proven it
7	Write the job description	It has stated responsibilities, not just capabilities
8	Connect the channels	Every household member can reach it, and it answers only when addressed in groups
9	Memory and the wiki	It remembers a fact you told it yesterday, and you can read the file it wrote
10	Backups and watchdogs	A backup ran, you restored it once on purpose, and a check would tell you if a job died
11	Split the work across a team	Each lane has its own identity and limits, handovers go through a written card, and you can read what every agent did

How to use this page

Do one step per sitting. They are not long, and doing them tired is how you end up with two identities and a confused calendar.

Verify by reading back, not by watching. The temptation is to believe it worked because something appeared. Check the actual state — open the calendar, look in the mailbox, confirm the file. “It said it did it” is not a checkpoint.

Write down what you changed. Every step, one line. You will need it the first time something breaks, and you will not remember.

The first week afterwards

Getting it working is step 10. Getting it good is the week after.

Day	Focus
1–2	Watch only. Let it get things wrong. You are learning how it misreads you
3–4	Fix the loudest problem, one change a day
5–6	Add the proactive work — the first scheduled job
7	Write the job description again, now that you know what it actually is

If you only do three things

1. Step 2 — its own accounts. Everything depends on the separation.
2. Step 6 — the permission layers. This is what makes it safe to leave running.
3. Step 10 — backups and a watchdog. Not glamorous; the difference between a project and a toy.