Chapter 02 · AI and agents

Hardware.
Software.
Infrastructure.
One operator.

BytesNation is a one-person tech lab where hardware meets software meets infrastructure. Everything here is built by hand, broken on purpose, documented in the open, and shared so the next person does not start from zero.

Read the field manuals → Meet Capstan

Illustrative map of the kinds of things in this lab. Not a live view.

agent paths lab paths link

Write-ups 19
Dictionary terms 161
BNLC pages 15
Tools in the stack 51

Chapter 02

AI and agents,
same lab.

Not a separate era. The same hands-on method, pointed at agents: build it, break it, write down what held. Capstan is the product. Claude Code is the work it comes from.

BytesNation product

Capstan. A crew for your next Claude Code project.

Capstan is a BytesNation product: part of the personal brand, AI teachings, and the gated test-first methodology used to build Yipadoo and other projects. Same one-person lab. AI and agents are the next chapter.

01Concept
02Plan
03Build and review
04Deliver
Documented examplenot a live run/capstan:effort add rate limiting to the public API

Gate 1   Concept locked. Right thing?
Gate 2   Plan locked. Right shape?
Gate 3   Ready to deliver. You decide.
Install from GitHub See the process

Free plugin · MIT licensed · Your Claude usage applies

Claude Code lab

Agentic Claude Code: How Agents, Hooks, and Orchestration Actually Work

The full workflow, from one prompt to a coordinated crew.

 Field manual

Claude Code Hooks: The Field Manual You Actually Need

Control points around Claude Code. Written from the lab.

 Homelab

Your Homelab Has a Brain Now. Here Is How to Wire It.

How this lab wired MCP into the rack.

Latest

Field manuals

All 19 write-ups →
Infrastructure

Building a Proxmox Cluster on Beelink Mini PCs

Field manual → Field notes

Building a Zero-Trust Homelab with YubiKey PIV

Security → Field notes

Proxmox VE Node Hardening: SSH Lockdown and Non-Root Admin Access

Security → AI

Prompt Engineering Is Not Magic. It Is Instruction Writing.

Field manual → Security

Network Firewalls vs. Web Application Firewalls: What Each One Actually Defends

Explainer →

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Origin story I Hex Edited Diablo II Saves. Now I Run Networks. Field manual Homebrew for macOS: The Field Manual Field manual Prompt Engineering Is Not Magic. It Is Instruction Writing.

The thesis

BytesNation is a one-person tech lab where hardware meets software meets infrastructure. Everything here is built by hand, broken on purpose, documented in the open, and shared so the next person does not start from zero.
01 Hardware

Racks, mini PCs, keys, and the failure modes that only show up on real gear.
02 Software

Agents, tooling, and the code that holds a lab together.
03 Infrastructure

Networks, zero trust, and the boring parts that keep it up.
04 Shared

Every build ends as a field manual the next person can follow.