Layer IV · THE FORGE
Building with AI
Shipping AI features other people can rely on: APIs, retrieval, and evals that prove it works.
Broad
2 guides- Nº 023 Build a knowledge base your team can ask 7 min
Retrieval augmented generation in plain terms: put the relevant facts in front of the question. How to feed the chat, docs, and code your team already uses into a knowledge base anyone can ask, and why weighting beats volume.
- Nº 049 Move design work into Claude Design 7 min
Claude Design asks the questions a designer would, keeps your colors and fonts in a design system your whole team reuses, and fixes whatever a teammate circles in a comment. When it beats a plain chat, and the path from brand system to finished asset.
Practitioner
2 guides- Nº 019 The design concept does the work 9 min
The prompt and the reusable skill file behind the about page on this site, with the reason each part earns its place.
- Nº 035 Score your agent on known good answers 6 min
One successful run proves an agent worked once. Collect real examples with answers a person already judged good, grade each run with a script or a judging model, and rerun the set after every change so you know whether it helped.
Deep
none yetNo guides at this level yet.
Field notes on this layer
Building with AI means shipping features other people rely on, which is a different job from getting a demo to work once. This layer covers the parts that survive contact with users: API discipline, retrieval, evals, and design decisions that a page can actually defend.
The building shelf opens with design because that is where most AI-assisted work visibly fails. One guide, 9 minutes, and a method that generalizes; API, retrieval, and eval guides join the shelf as they clear editorial review, since 100% of the catalogue passes through a human editor first.
| Level | Guides | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Broad | 2 | 14 minutes |
| Practitioner | 2 | 15 minutes |
| Deep | 0 | 0 minutes |
| Whole layer | 4 | 29 minutes |
Quotes from the guides
“Slop is what a page looks like when nothing decided it.”
The design concept does the work
“One repo learns; the next should not start dumb.”
Every new repo starts with your lessons
“Installing a skill means installing someone’s judgment.”
Expertise you can install
Primary sources this layer teaches from
FAQ · the Building with AI layer
What does the Building with AI layer cover?
Shipping AI features other people can rely on: APIs, retrieval, and evals that prove it works. Guides are ordered Broad, then Practitioner, then Deep, and each one lists its prerequisites.
How long does this layer take to read?
The layer currently holds 4 guides, about 29 minutes of reading in total. Each guide also ends with a short exercise you can run the same day.
Do I need to read the guides in order?
No. Levels run Broad to Deep and prerequisites are marked on every guide, so you can enter anywhere and follow the marked links back when a guide assumes something you have not read.