A book by Michael Zelbel
Teach It Once
Make AI your mission control for life and business
Build an AI assistant that knows your background, does the jobs you keep repeating and has work ready when you come back. In small steps, on your own computer, in plain files you can read and correct.
- Chapters
- 38
- Parts
- 6
- Companion kit
- Free
What it builds
Every chapter ends with something that works, so you can stop after any of them and keep what you have.
The hub is a folder of plain text files: notes about you, instructions for the assistant, finished work. The assistant reads them before it helps you. You can open every one of them, and you can change any of them.
The replies quoted in the book come from real runs. Where something does not work, the book says so. And it tells you to judge each job after a few real days of use, because how the morning brief works over your breakfast says more than anyone's enthusiasm for it.
The route
Four legs, and you can stop after any of them
- 01Chapter 1
No installation at all
You open ChatGPT or Claude, whichever you already use, and ask what it knows about you. You correct the answer and save it as a file. One sitting, and nothing can break.
- 02Chapter 2
The assistant moves in with you
You install Hermes, a free app, on your own computer, together with a folder called the hub. It holds plain text files that the assistant reads before it helps you, and you can open and correct every one of them yourself.
- 03Parts II to V
Most of the book happens on that computer
You give it your people, your projects and your writing style. You teach it the jobs you repeat, so you explain each one once. You set limits and backups. Then jobs start on a schedule: a morning brief, research that stays on a question for weeks, reminders that follow a deadline until the work is done.
- 04Part VI
Later, if you want, a second home
Close a laptop and its scheduled jobs stop. The same hub can live on a small rented server that stays awake all night and that you reach from your phone. Rent it when you have jobs worth running while you sleep.
Inside
Six parts. Take the ones you have a use for.
Part VI holds the extras: a notebook your assistant keeps, an email address for your hub, a hub that makes phone calls, one that finishes your videos. Chapter 4 is only for people who write code.
IStart Your Hub4 chapters
- 01Start Your AI Briefing With What It Already Knows
- 02Install Hermes and Create Your Hub
- 03Organize the Files Your AI Uses
- 04Use Your Hub for Coding Projects (Optional)
IIGive AI Useful Background7 chapters
- 05The People Who Matter
- 06Projects and Priorities
- 07Give the Hub a Goal, Then Let It Work
- 08Teach AI Your Writing Style
- 09Tell the Hub Once, Let It Remember
- 10Let the Hub Keep Up With Your Life
- 11Correct AI Without the Argument
IIITeach AI Repeated Jobs5 chapters
- 12Save a Repeated Job as an AI Skill
- 13Make an AI Skill Work Your Way
- 14Skills for Email, Planning and Decisions
- 15Create Skills for Your Own Work
- 16Check That Your AI Skills Work
IVSet Limits and Check the Work4 chapters
- 17Set Limits on What AI May Do
- 18Back Up Your Hub and Undo Mistakes
- 19Check Where Your Private Information Goes
- 20Check AI's Answers Before You Act
VHave Work Ready When You Return7 chapters
- 21Prepare a Job to Run on a Schedule
- 22The Morning Brief
- 23Let AI Investigate a Question While You Are Away
- 24Set Up an Automatic Weekly Review
- 25Get Alerts When a Page or Product Changes
- 26Keep Researching a Question Over Time
- 27Track Deadlines Until the Work Is Done
VIAdd What You Need11 chapters
- 28Give Your Hub a Notebook
- 29Give Your Hub Its Own Email Address
- 30Let Your Hub Read Your Mail
- 31Use the Same Hub on Another Computer
- 32Install Your Hub on a Linux Server
- 33Use Your Server From the Desktop App
- 34Let Your Hub Make a Phone Call for You
- 35Let Your Hub Finish Your Videos
- 36Try Your Hub With Another AI Assistant
- 37Reach and Share Your Saved Prompts Online
- 38Keep the Jobs That Give You Time Back
About money
ChatGPT's free plan is enough to begin.
The assistant needs an AI service to produce its answers, and the book uses ChatGPT. Scheduled jobs draw on that same account, so daily use may need a paid plan later. Hermes, the app that runs your hub, is free, and so is the companion kit with every template, prompt and practice file.
Links from the book
Holding the book? Type the short address.
Every address the book prints starts here. If a file ever moves, these keep pointing at the right place.
teachitonce.com/promptsEvery prompt in the book, ready to copyThe Copy prompt link under each boxteachitonce.com/companionThe companion kit, matching this editionChapter 2, Appendix Ateachitonce.com/installHub installer for Mac and LinuxChapters 2, 28 and 31teachitonce.com/windowsHub installer for WindowsChapters 2 and 31teachitonce.com/serverInstall your hub on a Linux serverChapter 32teachitonce.com/doorReach your server from the desktop appChapter 33teachitonce.com/phoneLet your hub make a phone callChapter 34teachitonce.com/kitThe companion kit's source, free and publicAppendix A
Explain it once.
Keep it for good.
Get Teach It Once on LeanpubPDF and EPUB. The book is still being finished on Leanpub, and every reader gets each new version free.