Cortex — How the workshop runs itself

/01 — What it is

A workshop runs on attention. Cortex is where you spend it.

One operator. Dozens of builds at any time — internal tools, client jobs, products, websites, workshops. Cortex is the single surface that says what's now, what's blocked, what's quiet — without a spreadsheet, a sticky note, or a backlog graveyard.

The shop right now live · refreshed every 60s

28active builds

4 / 5now slots used

11tasks open today

3 / 4printers running

/02 — How it works

The operating loop

A day moves through four stations. Each one is a module. Each module reads and writes the same database — so the cockpit, the partner, and the operator are looking at one truth.

STAGE 01 BuildsThe shape of every project

Every project — client work, internal tool, product, idea — lives as a build. Domain (Systems · Creations · Platforms · Experiences), stage (Concept → Building → Active → Completed), priority (Now → Next → Later → Background → Parked). Hard rule: max 5 Now slots.

Builds cortex/builds

Now 4 / 5

Now Client A · prop fabrication

stage 4/6

Now Internal · payment portal

stage 5/6

Now Workshop kit · v2 mold

stage 2/6

Now Storefront · checkout page

stage 5/6

Next 7

Next Print fleet · revival

stage 1/6

BG Cortex itself · always running

stable

Every build cascades into tasks & calendar slots

STAGE 02 Tasks · CalendarThe shape of every day

Tasks roll up to builds — every card carries the build it serves. Calendar slots roll up the same way. Drag a task between columns, drop an appointment on a day, and the build's last touched stamp moves with it. Five categories in the rail — Legal · Medical · Tech · Personal · Work — color-coded so the eye lands where it needs to.

cortex/tasks

cortex/calendar

5 columnsTo Do · In Progress · Waiting · Done · Overdue

Build-taggedevery card carries the parent build chip

@dnd-kitdrag between columns updates DB live

Tasks · Kanban cortex/tasks

To do 5

Re-bed printer 02

FleetToday

Photograph mold v2

Workshop kit

Email Client A — proofs

Client A

In progress 3

Wire checkout to processor

Storefront

Print run · 24× housing

Workshop kit

Done 12

Order PETG — 2kg

Approve label v3

Patch portal auth bug

Calendar · June cortex/calendar

SMTWTFS

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Work needs material & machines

STAGE 03 Inventory · FleetWhat's on hand · what's running

Inventory is what the workshop physically has — every spool, every component, every print substrate. 96 items, 560 total quantity, 74 currently low-stock. Categorized by Electronics (MCU · Logic · Sensor · SBC), Power (Power · Battery), Connectivity (RF · Networking), Output (LED · Audio · Display · PWM/Servo), and Motion (Driver · Actuator). Each item carries its V/I spec, photo, and a +/- count control. Fleet is what's making right now; a build links to both: when stock drops, the build flags; when a printer goes down, the build pauses.

cortex/inventory

96 items560 total qty · 74 low-stock right now

Category sidebar17 categories with live counts

Image + specphoto, voltage, current, datasheet link

Inventory · materials cortex/inventory

PLA · matte black

×3 spools

PETG · clear

×0 — reorder

Resin · grey tough

2.1 L

M3 hex · 12mm

×84

ESP32 dev

×6

WS2812B · 5m reel

×2

LiPo 2000mAh

×4

Acrylic · 3mm

×1 — low

Fleet · machines cortex/fleet

Printer 01 · Voron 2.4

Housing run · layer 184 / 240

1h 12m

Printer 03 · Bambu X1

Mold v2 prototype

42m

Printer 04 · Prusa MK4

Idle · awaiting next job

—

Printer 02 · Voron Trident

Down · bed re-mesh needed

flagged

Laser · CO2 60W

Engrave batch · 14 of 24

28m

Work that ships becomes money

STAGE 04 CRM · FinancialsThe shape of the business

Builds that ship turn into invoices. Invoices link to the customer in CRM, the transaction in Financials, and back to the build that produced them. A weekly look at this stack is how the operator knows whether the workshop is making things or making money — and which builds did both.

CRM · active relationships cortex/crm

CA

Client A

3 builds · last contact 2d ago

$8,400 YTD

CB

Client B

1 build · proposal sent

awaiting

CC

Client C

recurring · monthly retainer

$1,800 / mo

PO

Partner Org

5 referrals · workshop sponsor

$3,200 YTD

Financials · this quarter cortex/financials

Quarter revenue $— ↗ tracking · above plan

Open invoices 3 1 over 30 days

Revenue · 12 weeks

The loop closes — and the partner starts it again.

/03 — The 10 modules

One database, ten lenses

Every module reads the same Postgres. Switching tabs is just switching the angle — never the source of truth.

Command Center

The kiosk view. Today · builds · pulse.

Builds

Every project — domain, stage, priority.

Tasks

Kanban that rolls up to a build.

Calendar

Appointments, milestones, time-boxed work.

Inventory

What's on the shelf, with images.

Fleet

Printers, lasers, anything that runs jobs.

CRM

People & orgs the shop deals with.

Financials

Revenue, invoices, runway.

Products

Things the shop sells, ready or pending.

R&D Council

Idea incubator — debates, kill lists, blind spots.

/04 — How Kit runs it

The daemon underneath

Cortex is the surface. Kit is the agent that holds the system honest — creating builds from a sentence, splitting them into tasks, scanning staleness, running the weekly review. The operator and the partner write the same database from opposite sides.

Operator chat · voice · touch

→

Kit agent · interprets · writes

→

Postgres ops-postgres · one truth

→

Kiosk cockpit · refreshes

The trick is that the arrows go both ways. A drag-and-drop in the cockpit hits the same database the partner writes to. The next staleness scan sees the change. The morning briefing reflects it. Nothing diverges, because there's only one place to diverge from.

Kit · daily briefing forge ▸ brief me

> brief me

4 builds at Now (slot open). 11 tasks open today — 2 overdue on Workshop kit. Printer 02 down since yesterday, blocking 1 build. Storefront checkout shipped overnight — moving to Active. R&D Council meets in 2 days: 3 ideas due for verdict.

// sources: builds-data · tasks-data · fleet · council-state · [ view ]

/05 — Where it lives

A screen on the wall & a face on the bench

Software running in a browser tab gets forgotten. So the cockpit is always on, mounted at eye level — and the partner's voice has a body next to it.

The kiosk

A 10.1" touchscreen running a single Chromium kiosk session, locked to the command center. No tabs, no chrome — just the three columns. Stays awake while the shop is open.

The face

Next to the kiosk sits Kit Face — a small cube with a translucent screen. Kit's mood flickers across it as builds ship or stall. When the partner speaks, the cube blinks.

/05.1 — The stack

What it's actually made of.

Nothing exotic. The stack is on purpose boring — so the system can keep being interesting.

Next.js 16App Router · server components · force-dynamic

Drizzle ORMPostgres · typed queries · migrations

Tailwind v4CSS vars · dark terminal aesthetic

Auto-refreshrouter.refresh() every 30s · no manual reload

Heartbeat rules<90s online · 90s–5m stale · >5m offline

18 modulesopenclaw · memory · health · agent · calendar · cameras · tasks · projects · machines · system · integrations · sanity · inventory · home …

Schemasessions · events · heartbeats · tasks · builds · inventory · components · machines

Storagedata/uploads/ for files · server-side

/06 — Plain language

The vocabulary

Cortex uses a handful of words a lot. Here's what they mean.

Build: Any project the operator owns — internal tool, client job, product, workshop. Has a domain, a stage, a priority.
Domain: Systems · Creations · Platforms · Experiences. A build's domain almost never changes.
Stage: Concept → Building → Active → Completed → Archived (+ On Hold).
Priority: Now · Next · Later · Background · Parked. Max 5 at Now — hard rule.
Kit: The daemon. An agent with write access to the same database as the cockpit.
Pulse: The live status strip: builds active, tasks open, machines running, last activity.
Staleness: How long since a build was last touched. Amber > 7d, red > 14d.
Cockpit: The 10.1" touchscreen view. The kiosk. The single glance.

/07 — Next step

Want one for your workshop?

Cortex is built for the one-operator shop with too many irons in the fire. If that's you — and you'd rather run a workshop than a spreadsheet — start a conversation.

hello@tangent.build tangent.build

The operator's command center.

The cockpit

The daemon