Case study · AI education · Build guides
Lets Build a Bot Stop reading about AI. Go build something.
Build sheets for AI agents, scrapers and desk robots: each one a finished thing you make end to end, with its real running cost.
01 — The brief
The problem it solves
Most AI tutorials stop at the demo, and almost none end with something still running a month later. Readers learn about AI without ever owning a working agent.
The brief: build sheets, not blog posts — every project a finished thing with complete code, honest parts and running costs, built around one principle: pay for judgment, never for execution. The model works it out once; your code runs it for nothing.
02 — What we built
Features that do real work.
Build sheets
What you'll have at the end, a parts table with price ranges, every step, complete code, warnings before the risky steps, and the running cost.
Five tracks
Agents that work, AI in things, scrapers and crawlers, real robots, and programming with AI — filterable by level and time.
The Practical AI Builder
A free six-lesson course with checks after each lesson and an honest certificate — issued by the site, not an accredited body. No signup; progress stays in the browser.
Cost calculator
Compares calling a model on every run with filtering in code first, using model prices checked against the vendors' pricing pages.
Start here and My path
A four-question quiz that sets a build order, saved in the browser.
Toolbox
Opinionated picks for models, frameworks, boards and hosting — including what to ignore.
03 — How it's put together
Structure
Projects, guides, the course and the toolbox, with every build sheet tied to a track. A “have us build it” route turns readers who would rather not build into scoped, fixed-quote projects for Click Shift.
Under the hood
- Lightweight static pages with content-hashed assets
- Schema: HowTo with tools, total time and estimated cost on build sheets; Course on the course; Article on guides; ProfilePage for the author
- Light and dark modes plus a text-size control; forms through Netlify Forms with spam protection
Details that matter
- Running cost is stated on every project, not just build time
- “Fetch, judge, deliver” — one recurring shape that makes each build teach the next
- No ads and no affiliate links; the site says it will flag any link that ever earns money
Teaching as lead generation done right: give away the complete build, and the people who would rather not build it themselves already know exactly what they're asking for.
Want a build
like this one?
Tell us what you're launching. We'll tell you honestly what it needs — and what it doesn't.