Case Studies & Project Notes

I write about systems I am still building, the failures that changed them, and the evidence I need to keep visible.

Case study · living research interface

The Shape Note Atlas

I built The Shape Note Atlas as a source-faithful reader for Sacred Harp music: one place for tune lookup, source pages, notation, playback, transposition, and review status without pretending that every record is equally complete.

Living architecture note

The Fleet

An overview of the multi-agent architecture, control model, and design rules behind my local support system.

Project note · research corpus

Sacred Harp Corpus

A flat list of songs could not show how Sacred Harp repertoire changes across editions and related books. This local corpus and knowledge graph makes song, text, book, and edition relationships inspectable.

Archive · system history

AI Agents

Loose automation saved time, but it also failed silently, drifted without notice, and hid what it did. This project history traces the move toward a system where state, routing, and failure boundaries leave a trail.

Archive · migration note

Transition to OpenClaw

Earlier automations were brittle when they could only restate yesterday's assumptions. This case study explains what OpenClaw offered instead and what changed once routing, telemetry, and direct control had to be visible.

Case studies

Detailed builds

Case study · educational AI application

Interactive Proof

A full-stack reading companion that connects mathematical papers, optional Lean formalizations, and bounded AI explanations while keeping source, verification, and generated prose distinct.

Case study · full-stack AI game

Artemis Lost

A 48-hour solo build: a playable lunar mission-control game with AI narration bounded by deterministic game state, crew roles, saves, and outcomes.