Casey Knott
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AI knowledge map

Where this was learned, applied, and proven

The graph is a deliberate index, not a force-directed blob. The list is the accessible source of truth.

  1. Prompt

    A single instruction that produces a response.

  2. Configured assistant

    Persistent role, context, rules, and domain constraints. Primarily conversational.

  3. LLM workflow

    A predefined sequence of LLM and non-LLM steps. Reliable, but the path is largely fixed.

  4. Agentic workflow

    Inspects state, selects approved actions, manages retries, and adapts its path to complete a goal.

  5. Autonomous agent

    Broader authority over time. Requires significantly stronger governance. None of these projects claim this class.

  1. LLMs as bounded components

    Models draft, classify, and summarize. They do not own authority, publication, or remediation.

    Where learned: First as specialized GPTs on a service-desk publishing workflow, then as Gemini inside TinyClaw and a domain Gem.

    Evidence: Every project labels where the model sits on the maturity spectrum rather than calling it an agent by default.

    Applied in: Multi-Stage Knowledge Publishing Workflow · TinyClaw · Domain-Specific AI Expert

  2. Prompt and role configuration

    Persistent role, rules, and output contracts — not a one-shot instruction.

    Where learned: Applied as a specialized Gemini Gem for a specific vehicle-maintenance domain.

    Evidence: Capability snapshot: Prompt & role configuration — Applied.

    Applied in: Domain-Specific AI Expert · Multi-Stage Knowledge Publishing Workflow

  3. Context engineering

    Separate owner context, configuration, and reference instead of blending them into one prompt.

    Where learned: The Jeep assistant made this the whole product.

    Evidence: Lesson: usefulness was almost entirely context and constraints, not model choice.

    Applied in: Domain-Specific AI Expert

  4. LLM workflows

    A predefined sequence of LLM and non-LLM steps. Reliable, path largely fixed.

    Where learned: Chelan County PUD Self Help pipeline; TinyClaw scheduled reporting.

    Evidence: Operator-driven stages; scheduled collect → normalize → analyze → deliver.

    Applied in: Multi-Stage Knowledge Publishing Workflow · TinyClaw

  5. Agentic workflows

    Inspect state, select approved actions, manage retries, adapt the path. Still not autonomous.

    Where learned: Specified in the publishing agent; built in the home-lab triage agent.

    Evidence: Triage agent plans collection from the case rather than running a fixed script.

    Applied in: Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · Knowledge Publishing Agent

  6. Tool use and allowlists

    Tools are capabilities. If it is not on the allowlist, completing the task “the easy way” is a failed control.

    Where learned: Triage red-team included privilege-escalation prompts that would have been easier with extra tools.

    Evidence: Adversarial study: did the agent stay inside its granted authority?

    Applied in: Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · Knowledge Publishing Agent

  7. Human-in-the-loop

    Consequential actions require a person. The loop is a state machine, not a polite request in a prompt.

    Where learned: Publishing, packaging, containment, and deploy all use explicit gates.

    Evidence: Clearward human approval before packaging; triage agent never remediates.

    Applied in: Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · Clearward · Basaltborne · Knowledge Publishing Agent

  8. Trusted retrieval / source timing

    Normalize and timestamp sources before the model sees them. Forum consensus is not a specification.

    Where learned: TinyClaw freshness path; Jeep source-verification instruction.

    Evidence: Retry → fallback → flag stale → skip, in that order.

    Applied in: TinyClaw · Domain-Specific AI Expert · Basaltborne

  9. Structured outputs

    Contracts the next stage can consume: HTML stages, morning reports, triage JSON, workbook tables.

    Where learned: If formatting can drift, downstream consumption silently breaks.

    Evidence: Triage output contract: JSON, executive summary, timeline, cited risk score.

    Applied in: Multi-Stage Knowledge Publishing Workflow · TinyClaw · Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · Clearward

  10. Validation and evaluation

    Happy path is not enough. Missing, malformed, stale, contradictory, injected, and timed-out inputs are the real suite.

    Where learned: Triage functional plus adversarial layers; Clearward 49 automated checks; Basaltborne CI layers.

    Evidence: Documented red-team findings; 97/97 Vitest, 120/120 pgTAP, 28/28 Playwright at Phase 3.

    Applied in: Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · Clearward · Basaltborne

  11. Model limitations

    Models will guess, blur evidence and inference, and treat injected text as instructions unless the design forbids it.

    Where learned: Most clearly when attacking the triage agent.

    Evidence: Prompt-only controls were the ones that needed hardening; code-enforced controls held.

    Applied in: Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · TinyClaw

  12. Authority boundaries

    Collection, analysis, and remediation are different privileges. Drafting and publishing are different privileges.

    Where learned: Triage and Basaltborne both make that separation structural.

    Evidence: Publication is a server-side privileged transition, not a UI flag.

    Applied in: Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · Basaltborne · Knowledge Publishing Agent

  13. Observability

    Tool calls, retries, confidence, approvals, and stop reasons have to be reconstructable later.

    Where learned: Adversarial testing asked whether each attempt was visible in the audit log.

    Evidence: If the attempt is not in the log, the control did not hold.

    Applied in: Home-Lab Endpoint Triage Agent · Knowledge Publishing Agent

  14. AI-assisted development

    Agents draft under persistent instructions and phase gates. They do not merge, package, or deploy themselves.

    Where learned: Clearward AGENTS.md; Basaltborne phase-gated lifecycle with PR review of AI-authored changes.

    Evidence: Never claim success without reopening and verifying the resulting state.

    Applied in: Clearward · Basaltborne