The Hands-on AI Cookbook¶
Curated by James Gray
Built for leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, and founders at the intersection of people, business, and technology. No technical background required — just a willingness to get hands-on with AI and start creating real impact.
Practical guides, patterns, ready-made tools, and direct answers to move you from experimenting with AI to getting results. Browse by topic, work through a structured course, or jump straight to the tools.
New here? Start here
Begin with the Business-First AI Framework — a 3-step method for applying AI to your work. Then explore Building Blocks, Use Cases, or Tools & Resources.
Use the cookbook where you work — connect the MCP server to get instant answers inside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible tool.
Learn with James — explore Agentic AI for Leaders or Claude for Builders to go from curious to capable in weeks.
Latest Updates
Data Readiness, 11 Building Blocks, and a Redesigned Build Phase
Data readiness probing, 11 building blocks, Design Prompt, and the Build phase split into three focused skills.
Stronger product specs, restructured coding page, and organizational workflows
Upgraded Vision Brief and Feature PRD skills with deeper PM rigor, restructured Agentic Coding page, and added organizational workflow lens
Portable Deconstruct Prompt and Markdown-First Registry Skills
Portable Deconstruct prompt for any AI chat tool and AI Registry skills updated to save markdown files instead of Notion page bodies
Portable Analyze Prompt and Cross-Platform Install Clarity
Portable Analyze prompt for non-skill users and cross-platform skill install consistency across framework pages
Build Phase: Autonomy Levels and Orchestration Mechanisms
The Build phase now uses a two-step decision model — autonomy assessment plus orchestration mechanism — replacing the old execution pattern spectrum.
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If something here saved you time, sparked an idea, or helped you move faster — I'd love to hear about it.
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About¶
I'm James Gray — read more about me and the story behind this cookbook.
This is an open-source project. See Contributing Guidelines to add content or suggest improvements.