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Case study · personal build · 2026

Personal AI Chief of Staff

Most of my day is context: what was decided in which thread, what a stakeholder asked for last week, where a number came from. I set up Claude as a chief of staff that holds that context for me: my projects, a knowledge folder it reads and maintains, skills for the work I repeat, and connectors to the tools I use. It works when I ask, and it asks before touching anything outside the conversation.

7 connectors, on demandClaude automation
ClaudeClaudeModel Context ProtocolModel Context ProtocolSlackSlackGmailGmailGoogle CalendarGoogle CalendarGoogle DriveGoogle DriveTableauTableauClickUpClickUpChromeChrome
My roleDesigned the setup, the knowledge rules and the skills.
When2026, in daily use
Built withClaude (desktop app with projects), MCP connectors, custom skills, a knowledge folder on disk
StatusIn daily use. It is the on-demand counterpart of the local agent, which runs on a schedule.
7
connected tools
5+
custom skills for recurring work
0
actions outside the chat without an explicit yes
1
knowledge folder, read at the start of every session

The setup

ASKCONTEXTTHINKTOOLSOUTnew factsMea question or a taskKnowledge folderfacts, preferences,decisions, read at thestart of every sessionProject instructionswhat this project is andhow I workClaudeplans, researches,draftsMCP connectorsSlack, Gmail, Calendar,Drive, Tableau, ClickUp,ChromeCustom skillsrecurring work packagedonceOutputan answer, a file, adraft; nothing sentwithout my OK
The knowledge folder is what makes it useful across sessions: every session starts by reading it and ends by writing what was learned.

The connectors are what let it answer with my real context instead of in general terms:

SlackSlackGmailGmailGoogle CalendarGoogle CalendarGoogle DriveGoogle DriveTableauTableauClickUpClickUpChromeChromeModel Context ProtocolModel Context Protocol

A knowledge folder with rules

A chat forgets. A folder does not. The knowledge folder holds stable facts about my role and projects, how I like things done, recurring workflows and a list of things never to do. The rules around it matter more than the content:

RuleWhat it means
Read everything firstEvery session starts by reading the whole knowledge folder and giving a short briefing.
Write what is learnedNew facts go to the right file during the conversation, with a one-line report at the end of each change.
Never overwrite a contradictionIf a new fact contradicts a stored one, it asks which is right instead of replacing it.
Never deleteAnything obsolete is moved to an archive folder with a date, never removed.
Ask before acting outwardSending a message, submitting a form or changing anything in a connected tool needs an explicit yes, every time.

Skills for the work I repeat

When I notice I am explaining the same procedure twice, it becomes a skill: a folder with the instructions, the checks and any scripts, loaded only when the task needs it.

SkillWhat it does
Events forecastWeekly and monthly events for 13 regions, delivered as a workbook · case study
Weekly WhatsApp dashboardRebuilds the guest-rides dashboard from a sheet and Tableau and writes the Slack summary · case study
Internal hub builderHow to publish an internal HTML tool with live data, alerts and restricted access
Brand-styled documentsDecks, documents, sheets and PDFs in the company style from a plain brief
Morning briefWhat matters today across the connected tools, as a page · case study

What I use it for

  • Before a meeting: the last threads with those people, the open decisions and the numbers they will ask about.
  • After a meeting: the notes turned into tasks, and the facts that changed written back to the knowledge folder.
  • Documentation: the READMEs and handover documents for my projects start here, and I edit them.
  • Research: reading a dashboard, a set of documents or a Slack history and giving me the answer with its sources.

What I learned

  • Most of the value is in the context you give it and the rules you set, not in the model.
  • Asking before acting outward costs a second and prevents the one mistake you cannot undo.