Posts and notes from Bil Arikan on learning, AI, and getting systems, people, and data to work together.https://bil.arikan.ca/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-case-study-scattered-documents-to-a-pilot/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-case-study-scattered-documents-to-a-pilot/What an applied-AI team can build for a sales organization : a prototype enablement agent, what went wrong along the way, and a starter kit for the next team.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMTcase-studyai-agentssales-enablementknowledge-managementlearning-designAgent-Ready Knowledgehttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-putting-an-agent-next-to-a-sales-rep/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-putting-an-agent-next-to-a-sales-rep/The harness, data model, security and privacy points, and cost of a real-time sales assistant built with Google ADK, and the break-even it has to clear.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 04:00:00 GMTai-agentsgoogle-adkarchitecturesecurityeconomicssales-enablementAgent-Ready Knowledgehttps://bil.arikan.ca/notes/llms-reward-expertise/https://bil.arikan.ca/notes/llms-reward-expertise/The ceiling on what you get out of an LLM is set by your own domain expertise, not your prompting technique.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:00:00 GMTaillmsexpertisehttps://bil.arikan.ca/notes/fallacies-of-distributed-computing/https://bil.arikan.ca/notes/fallacies-of-distributed-computing/Two decades on, the eight fallacies of distributed computing still show up as buried assumptions in how systems get designed.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMTdistributed-systemsnetworkinghttps://bil.arikan.ca/notes/making-music-with-code-strudel/https://bil.arikan.ca/notes/making-music-with-code-strudel/Strudel is a JavaScript port of Tidal Cycles for live-coding music right in the browser.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:00:00 GMTmusiclive-codinghttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-narrated-demos-into-agentic-knowledge/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-narrated-demos-into-agentic-knowledge/Instead of asking a team to watch recordings they will forget tomorrow, I turned two narrated demos into knowledge an agent serves at the moment of need.Sat, 26 Sep 2026 04:00:00 GMTai-agentsknowledge-capturesales-enablementlearning-designai-experimentsAgent-Ready Knowledgehttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-nobody-has-at-the-moment-of-need/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-nobody-has-at-the-moment-of-need/Tips, documents, onboarding and on-the-job training each cover part of a task. Most enablement still misses the moment of work.Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMTlearning-designperformance-supportsales-enablementknowledge-managementlearning-architectureAgent-Ready Knowledgehttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-vector-graph-or-curated-wiki/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-vector-graph-or-curated-wiki/I came to curated knowledge from vector search and direct documents. Here is how I would choose between them for a purpose-built agent.Fri, 14 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMTragokfllm-wikiai-agentsknowledge-managementAgent-Ready Knowledgehttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-llm-wiki-and-open-knowledge-format-introduction/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/agent-ready-knowledge-llm-wiki-and-open-knowledge-format-introduction/A plain-language introduction to the LLM Wiki pattern and the Open Knowledge Format, and how a small agent can use a folder of Markdown files as its knowledge.Sat, 01 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMTokfllm-wikiai-agentsknowledge-managementmarkdowngoogle-adkAgent-Ready Knowledgehttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/what-ai-builders-inside-large-orgs-actually-deal-with/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/what-ai-builders-inside-large-orgs-actually-deal-with/Building AI prototypes inside a large enterprise is a political challenge as much as a technical one, and the patterns that sideline good ideas are predictable.Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-builderintrapreneurshipenterprise-aiprototypingorg-dynamicsinnovationlearning-technologistperspectiveshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/code-as-video/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/code-as-video/A running experiment in treating learning and product video like code: versioned, reproducible, and re-rendered on demand with an agent in the loop.Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMTcode-as-videoeditframevideo-productionai-agentslearning-and-developmentinstructional-designexperimentsworkflowhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-the-full-stack-reviewed/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-the-full-stack-reviewed/An early, honest review of the finished local stack: how close it gets to Claude Cowork and Claude Code, and where it falls short.Sun, 31 May 2026 20:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab/The map of the Proxmox AI Lab: local inference on two GPUs, a coding agent, and a gateway reachable from my phone, with no cloud AI in the loop.Sun, 31 May 2026 13:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-connecting-telegram-to-your-local-ai/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-connecting-telegram-to-your-local-ai/Pairing a Telegram bot with OpenClaw, and the static IP change that silently killed the connection.Sat, 30 May 2026 05:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labopenclawtelegramProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-bridging-openclaw-and-pi/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-bridging-openclaw-and-pi/Wiring OpenClaw and Pi together across containers with a small HTTP bridge, single-flight queueing, and a shared-secret token.Fri, 29 May 2026 05:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labpiopenclawcoding-agentProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-setting-up-openclaw/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-setting-up-openclaw/What an AI gateway actually does, why I picked OpenClaw, and setting it up as the layer that makes local models reachable from my phone.Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labopenclawtelegramsignalProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-setting-up-pi-coding-agent/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-setting-up-pi-coding-agent/Setting up Pi as a local coding agent against a 27B model on llama-server, from a fresh container to a passing smoke test.Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labpicoding-agentProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-inference-on-two-gpus/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-inference-on-two-gpus/Why llama.cpp beat Ollama for this hardware, and building two llama-server containers: one on CUDA, one on ROCm.Tue, 26 May 2026 05:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-minecraft-server/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-minecraft-server/A PaperMC Minecraft server in an LXC container on Proxmox for LAN play between two laptops, gotchas included.Mon, 25 May 2026 05:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labminecraftProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-proxmox-cluster-design-and-setup/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-proxmox-cluster-design-and-setup/The design decisions and hands-on build of a 3-node Proxmox cluster for local AI inference, homelab services, and a phone-reachable agent stack.Sun, 24 May 2026 05:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-why-local-ai-lab/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/local-ai-lab-why-local-ai-lab/After a year of leaning on cloud AI for everything, why a local, always-on AI stack is the next step.Thu, 21 May 2026 13:30:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabai-infraproxmox-ai-labProxmox AI Labhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/custom-atproto-handle/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/custom-atproto-handle/How I moved from @bilarikan.bsky.social to @bil.arikan.ca on Bluesky and Tangled, including the two attempts that failed.Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTatprotoblueskytangleddnshugoindiewebexperimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/claude-for-small-business-two-edges/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/claude-for-small-business-two-edges/Claude for Small Business makes being a connector inside Claude essential for SMB software, and puts those same products a step closer to being replaced.Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaudeanthropicclaude-for-small-businessclaude-coworkagentic-workflowsconnectorspluginsskillsmcpsmbplatform-strategylearning-technologistperspectiveshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/code-as-video-landscape-for-learning-content/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/code-as-video-landscape-for-learning-content/A map of the code-as-video field, from Manim and Remotion to Sora, sorted from deterministic to generative by what each tier offers learning content.Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcode-as-videoeditframehyperframesmanimmotion-canvasremotionrevideolearning-and-developmentinstructional-designai-agentslandscapeperspectiveshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/code-as-video-with-editframe/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/code-as-video-with-editframe/An agent reads Akaunting's codebase and produces a 71-second walkthrough, which changes how Learning Program Owners, Designers, and Developers split the work.Thu, 07 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTeditframevideo-productioncode-as-videoai-agentslearning-and-developmentinstructional-designakauntingexperimentsworkflowhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/video-production-to-dev-workflow-editframe-test-drive/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/video-production-to-dev-workflow-editframe-test-drive/A first experiment in treating video like code: scaffolding an Editframe project, iterating with an AI agent, and rendering a hello-world MP4.Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTeditframevideo-productioncode-as-videoai-agentscursorclaude-codeexperimentsworkflowhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/nine-levels-of-personal-ai-maturity/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/nine-levels-of-personal-ai-maturity/A nine-level model of personal AI maturity, and why most rollouts stall at the cliff between using AI and building with it.Sun, 03 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiagentic-ailearning-architecturel-and-dmaturity-modelpersonal-aiorchestrationlearning-technologyhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/from-blocked-to-built/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/from-blocked-to-built/The decomposition approach that took a months-stalled training adaptation project to a stakeholder-validated proposal in seven days.Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiinstructional-designprompt-engineeringhuman-ai-collaborationlearning-designexperimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/git-worktrees-claude-code/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/git-worktrees-claude-code/Claude Code's changes were on GitHub but not in my local files, because it works in a git worktree by default.Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:00:00 GMTgitclaude-codeworkflowknowledge-managementhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/claude-skills-copilot-mapping/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/claude-skills-copilot-mapping/A workflow that takes an hour in Claude takes three to five in Copilot, and mapping Claude's skill system onto M365 shows the gap is architectural.Sat, 18 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTaiclaudecopilotagentsworkflowexperimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/android-vault-sync-termux/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/android-vault-sync-termux/GitSync broke the git index every time I added a new note on Android, so I replaced it with Termux.Sat, 18 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMTobsidiangitgithubandroidtermuxknowledge-managementworkflowhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/in-app-live-assistant-part-2-building-the/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/in-app-live-assistant-part-2-building-the/A custom web client that swaps the ADK camera feed for screen capture, so the agent watches the application instead of the user.Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMTgoogle-adkvertex-aigeminijavascriptscreen-sharingwebsocketmultimodalai-agentsai-experimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/translations-localizations-decomposition/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/translations-localizations-decomposition/Arguing over translation versus localisation misses the point; thinking in layers of context maps cleanly onto a multi-agent architecture.Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTlocalisationtranslationai-agentscopilot-studiolearning-designinstructional-designmulti-agentai-experimentslearning-architecturehttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/building-a-localisation-agent-in-copilot-studio/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/building-a-localisation-agent-in-copilot-studio/Instead of buying an expensive translation tool, I built an orchestrated localisation agent in Copilot Studio that never leaves the Microsoft 365 tenant.Wed, 18 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMTcopilot-studioai-agentslocalisationmicrosoft-365anthropicai-experimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/in-app-live-assistant-part-1-google-adk-bidirectional-streaming-demo/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/in-app-live-assistant-part-1-google-adk-bidirectional-streaming-demo/Getting Google's ADK bidirectional streaming demo running locally with mic, camera, and voice, as the foundation for a live in-app assistant.Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMTgoogle-adkbidirectional-streamingvertex-aigeminipythonmultimodalai-agentsai-experimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/google-quietly-building-agentic-web/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/google-quietly-building-agentic-web/While OpenAI and Anthropic fought over a Pentagon deal, Google shipped WebMCP, UCP, and A2A, the protocol stack for how agents will use the web.Fri, 06 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMTai-agentsagentic-webgoogleprotocolswebmcpcommercea2aai-experimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/obsidian-private-github-sync/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/obsidian-private-github-sync/Syncing an Obsidian vault to a private GitHub repo with the Obsidian Git plugin on macOS, with a short Windows addendum.Sun, 22 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMTobsidiangitgithubmacosknowledge-managementworkflowhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/future-ready-learning-content/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/future-ready-learning-content/A working model for designing learning content that supports both human understanding and agent retrieval.Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMTlearning-designai-agentsknowledge-managementmarkdownlearning-architecturehttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/live-in-app-assistant/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/live-in-app-assistant/An open-source kit for a real-time in-app assistant that listens to voice, sees the screen, and guides users step by step.Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMTopen-sourceai-agentsmultimodalstreamingvoicescreen-sharingxapilearning-measurementhttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/live-streaming-in-app-assistant/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/live-streaming-in-app-assistant/Working notes from recreating a voice-and-screen assistant: one path failed on authentication, the next produced a working streaming prototype.Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMTai-agentsmultimodalstreamingvoiceprototypingcustomer-supportai-experimentshttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/site-migration/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/site-migration/How bil.arikan.ca moved from Astro to Hugo with the Congo theme, including the GitHub Pages deployment changes.Wed, 11 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMThugoastromigrationgithub-pagescongohttps://bil.arikan.ca/posts/welcome-to-hugo/https://bil.arikan.ca/posts/welcome-to-hugo/Why this site exists: a place to practice learning design, knowledge systems, and pair-programming with AI agents in public.Wed, 11 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMThugocongolearningknowledge-managementai-agentspair-programmingwebsite