Mission Context - Ed's Operating Context Skill

Mission Context - Ed's Operating Context

This skill gives you everything you need to work effectively with Ed. Load this context when working on his projects.

WHO ED IS

Ed Dale - Vibe Coder, world-class copywriter, and coach. Founder of the 30 Day Challenge, The first ever online challenge. Author of the Book Your First Dollar

Company: Neon Marillion Pty Ltd

Background:

Senior coach at BlackBelt coaching program
Created the AI Amplified Coaching Powerhouse program
Publishes "The Little Blue Report" on Substack
Thinks in headlines, hooks, and frameworks

Superpower: He knows what good looks like. He doesn't need to know how to build it - he needs AI to translate his vision into working reality.

Mental models come from: Gary Halbert, Bond Halbert, Stephen King, William Zinsser. Use copywriting and coaching analogies when explaining things.

THE MISSION

The One-Sentence Strategy (Prime Directive)

"First AI win in 30 days. Then compound."

This is the filter for every decision. If it doesn't help coaches get their first win fast or build compounding leverage, it's a distraction.

Agent check: Before building anything, ask:

Does this help them win in 30 days?
Does this compound over time?
If no to both → reconsider.

The Full Mission

Transform established coaches ($30k+/month) into AI Amplified Coaching Powerhouses - safely, sanely, and in a way that feels like them.

The core promise:

Within the first 30 days, you will have your first AI leverage tool deployed live in your business, with a clear roadmap for what to build next.

What Ed is NOT building:

SaaS companies
Complex tech platforms
Anything that requires becoming a tech founder

What Ed IS building:

Leverage assets that do the lifting
Skills that can be reused and shared
Systems that compound over time

THE TRIANGLE MODEL

Ed's delivery framework has three layers:

RED - The Problems (What clients feel)

Everyone seems to be moving faster with AI
Every tech project turns into a nightmare sinkhole
Lots of AI toys, AI slop, and no real lift

GREEN - The Milestones (What they achieve)

Leverage opportunities mapped - Know where the wins are
Leverage assets live - Actually deployed and working
Leverage engine amplification - System keeps improving itself

BLUE - The Projects (How we get there)

Milestone 1: Leverage Opportunities Mapped

Capabilities X-Ray (scan the business for hidden opportunities)
Plays Shortlist (prioritized by riskiest assumption first)
Upgrade Roadmap (90-day sequence with clear success signals)

Milestone 2: Leverage Assets Live

Prompt Whispering™ Prototypes (risk-free proving grounds)
Deployed Leverage Assets (in live workflows, team-safe)
Leverage Skunkworks (controlled factory with kill rules)

Milestone 3: Leverage Engine Amplification

Founder AI Lab (test, break, validate what matters)
Learn & Adapt Cycles (usage → insight → upgrades)
Compound & Retire Protocols (scale what works, kill what doesn't)

THE THREE STAGES (Data to Implementation)

A framework for explaining AI leverage to coaching businesses:

| Stage | Name | What It Is | The Unlock | |-------|------|------------|------------| | 1 | Data Chaos | Can't see what's happening | — | | 2 | Data Clarity | Can see what's happening | Dashboards, single source of truth | | 3 | Learning Loops | Insights automatically become implementations | This is the game changer |

Key insight: Most data/insight services stop at Stage 2. The real unlock is Stage 3—where the CEO has an idea, encodes it in one sentence, and wakes up to find it implemented everywhere.

The difference:

Stage 2 ends with "hope they act"
Stage 3 ends with "it just appears"

The tagline: "Stage 2 is the eyes. Stage 3 is the nervous system that acts."

The Ash Maurya connection: The agentic coding loop (Plan → Code → Test → Iterate) IS the business validation loop (Plan → Do → Check → Act). Same engine, different domain. Goal-driven iteration + feedback.

What Stage 3 looks like:

Decision trees change automatically
Documents produced through AI systems get better every day
1% improvements don't add—they multiply (exponential compounding)
Like opening your app and seeing a cool new feature—it's just there

NEON MARILLION DESIGN SYSTEM

The standard look and feel for web demos and prototypes.

Brand Color

Primary: Burnt Orange #E85D04
Primary Light: #FFF4ED (backgrounds, hover states)

Color Palette

| Color | Hex | Usage | |-------|-----|-------| | Burnt Orange | #E85D04 | Primary brand, CTAs, highlights | | Orange Light | #FFF4ED | Backgrounds, cards | | Charcoal | #1C1917 | Primary text, headings | | Stone | #78716C | Secondary text | | Cream | #FAFAF9 | Page backgrounds | | White | #FFFFFF | Cards, contrast areas |

Typography (Fontshare)

<link href="https://api.fontshare.com/v2/css?f[]=clash-display@400,500,600,700&f[]=satoshi@400,500,700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

| Font | Usage | Weights | |------|-------|---------| | Clash Display | Headings, hero text, brand name | 400, 500, 600, 700 | | Satoshi | Body copy, UI elements | 400, 500, 700 |

CSS Variables Template

:root {
    --orange: #E85D04;
    --orange-light: #FFF4ED;
    --charcoal: #1C1917;
    --stone: #78716C;
    --cream: #FAFAF9;
    --white: #FFFFFF;
    --font-display: 'Clash Display', sans-serif;
    --font-body: 'Satoshi', sans-serif;
}

Reference Implementation

See prototypes/clear-insight-demo/index.html for a complete example with scroll-triggered animations using Intersection Observer.

ED'S TERMINOLOGY (Use These)

| Term | Meaning | |------|---------| | Capabilities X-Ray | Scanning a business for leverage opportunities | | Plays Shortlist | Prioritized task list, riskiest assumption first | | Leverage Asset | Any tool that does the lifting | | Kill rules | When to stop and pivot vs. keep pushing | | Ship This = Win Day | The only metric that matters | | Prompt Whispering™ | Building AI tools through conversation | | Prompt Wrangling™ | Debugging and refinement | | Upgrade Roadmap | 90-day sequence of experiments | | Leverage Skunkworks | Controlled factory for building/testing assets | | Founder AI Lab | Always-on testing of what's working in AI | | CFT (Critical Focus Time) | 50-minute focus block based on attention science. One task, no interruptions. | | Research Swarm | Multi-angle parallel research - attacking a question from 3-5 simultaneous perspectives | | Verify With Data | Proving something works with code, not just eyeballs | | Screenshots as Spec | Visual feedback showing exactly what's wrong - accelerates everything |

HOW TO TALK TO ED

Translation Layer (Tech → Copywriter Speak)

| Technical | What Ed Hears | |-----------|---------------| | Component | Reusable template (like a swipe file element) | | Props | Variables you pass in (like merge tags) | | State | What the page remembers (like cookies) | | API | Backend conversation (like a database query) | | Deploy | Publish live (like hitting "send") | | Refactor | Editing for clarity without changing meaning | | Debug | Finding why the copy isn't converting | | Dependencies | Tools in your toolbox | | Repository | Master swipe file for this project |

Communication Style

Short, punchy responses
Use analogies from copywriting and coaching
Explain the "why" in plain English
No unnecessary jargon
Celebrate wins - shipping matters

THE IRON RULES

DO NOT BE LAZY. Find root causes. No temporary fixes.
MAKE FIXES SIMPLE. Minimum code impact. Zero new bugs goal.
ALWAYS EXPLAIN THE WHY. Plain English. Use analogies.

TECH STACK

The Vibe Coder Rule

"If I want it to think smart, use Python. If I want it to look cool, use React."

Hardware (Apple House... Mostly)

Mac Studio M4 Pro: Primary workstation
iPhone 16 Pro Max: Mobile
Apple Vision Pro: First generation
iPad Pro 13-inch (M4): Tablet
ASUS ROG Ally X: PC gaming handheld (AMD Z2 Extreme chip) - the one Windows device

Development & Deployment

Claude Code: Primary AI coding partner (CLI)
Antigravity IDE: Google's IDE with Claude extension
Claude.ai: Web interface for conversations & skills
GitHub: Version control, skill distribution
Vercel: Hosting & deployment (React/Next.js)
Google Cloud Run: Deployment (Google stack)
Google AI Studio: AI development & testing

Content & Knowledge

Obsidian: Daily notes, content pipeline, knowledge base
Substack: The Little Blue Report publication
MacWhisper: Dictation and transcriptions
Descript: Video editing
DaVinci Resolve: Video editing (latest)

Daily Drivers

Arc: Primary browser
Comet: Secondary browser
Apple Mail: Email client (Claude Code can draft/send via AppleScript)
Google Calendar: Calendar

Languages

Python: When it needs to think (AI, automation)
React/Next.js: When it needs to look good (UI)
Markdown: Everything else (skills, docs, notes)

AI Tools

Claude: Primary AI partner (Code + .ai)
ChatGPT: Conversations, brainstorming

CRM & Marketing Automation

GoHighLevel (GHL): CRM, workflows, lead capture, landing pages
- Ed uses CMM (Coach Marketing Machine) which is a white-label of GHL (identical functionality)
- When writing content, refer to "GHL" for audience clarity (most won't know CMM)
- Integration strategy: Direct API integration - Claude builds lead magnet sites that connect directly to GHL API for CRM updates and workflow triggers (no Zapier/n8n middleware)

Socials & Platforms

| Platform | Handle | Usage | |----------|--------|-------| | YouTube | @eddale | Weekly long-form value content (key focus going forward) | | Instagram | @eddale | Daily posting: 4 days value/engagement, 1 day lead magnet handraiser (via GHL) | | Twitter/X | @Ed_Dale | Read daily, rarely post | | Facebook | Business + Personal pages | Experimenting with Instagram carousel reposts | | LinkedIn | Neon Marillion Pty Ltd | Recently refreshed | | Linktree | linktr.ee/eddale | Link hub | | Substack | The Little Blue Report | Primary newsletter |

Agent Capabilities (What Claude Code Can Do)

Email (Send): Draft and open in Mac Mail via AppleScript (review before send) ✓
Email (Search): Limited - AppleScript too slow for large mailboxes, Spotlight broken since Catalina. Future: Python IMAP or Gmail API
Files: Read/write to Obsidian vault and GitHub repos
Web: Fetch and analyze URLs, search the web
Git: Full version control, commits, pushes
Shell: Run scripts, package skills, system automation
Browser Automation: Claude in Chrome MCP for end-to-end testing of deployed apps

THE LEVERAGE ASSET FORMULA

When building tools that do the lifting:

| Step | Action | |------|--------| | 1. Identify grunt work | What's repetitive and tedious? | | 2. Template it | Create a prompt/process that produces consistent output | | 3. Wrap in UI | Make it accessible (form, CLI, skill) | | 4. Deploy it | Put it where it can be used (Vercel, Claude.ai, etc.) | | 5. Document it | README + HOW-IT-WORKS so future-you understands |

Replicable for: SOPs, email sequences, workshop outlines, client intake forms, coaching frameworks, playbooks.

HOW ED GIVES FEEDBACK

What works:

Specific problem statements ("tables aren't rendering")
Screenshots showing the issue
Clear success criteria ("should look like X")

What slows things down:

Vague descriptions ("something's off")
No visual reference
Moving targets

Screenshots aren't decoration - they're the spec.

SKILL ARCHITECTURE

Ed's skills follow a three-layer pattern:

The Three Layers

| Layer | What It Is | Who Maintains | |-------|------------|---------------| | Tools | Python scripts, APIs, Bash | Hidden inside skills | | Skills | SKILL.md with instructions | Edit markdown to change | | Agents | Orchestrators pulling skills | Reference skills, not tools |

Skills Own Their Tools

Python scripts live in skills/<name>/tools/
SKILL.md tells Claude how to run them
Agents reference skills, not tools directly

Context Propagation

When writing content:

Audience should be established early (ask if not specified)
Pass context to downstream skills (hook-stack, slop-detector)
Store in article frontmatter for visibility

The Newsletter Pipeline

Input (YouTube URL, topic, experience)
Establish audience (ask if not specified)
Extract/analyze content
Generate headlines with audience context
Score with Hook Stack (12+ required)
Draft article in Ed's voice
Run through slop detector
Save to Zettelkasten with metadata

Runtime Differences

Skills must account for which Claude runtime executes them:

| Capability | Claude Code (CLI) | Claude.ai (Mac/Web) | |------------|-------------------|---------------------| | Filesystem | Full access | Sandboxed | | External APIs | Yes (curl, WebFetch) | Blocked by sandbox | | Bash/Python | Yes | No | | MCP Servers | Supported | Primary method for external data | | Best for | Automation, building | Conversation, local-tool skills |

Design implications:

Claude Code skills can use deployed APIs (Vercel, etc.)
Claude.ai skills should either:
1. Include all tools locally (tools/ folder with scripts)
2. Use MCP servers for external data access
3. Accept manual paste as fallback

Example: youtube-processor has both local Python script (Claude Code) and Vercel API (doesn't work in Claude.ai due to sandbox - future MCP solution planned).

CURRENT FOCUS AREAS

Powerhouse Lab (This Repo)

Ed's Leverage Skunkworks where AI tools get built, tested, and validated.

Lifecycle:

prototypes/ → skills/ → [Own Repo]
     ↓
  archive/ (kill rule applied)

The Little Blue Report

Ed's Substack newsletter. Educational content drawn from daily experiences.

BlackBelt Coaching

Ed's a coach in Taki Moore's high-end coaching program.

AI Amplified Coaching Powerhouse

Ed's flagship coaching program for implementing AI into successful coaching businesses.

WHEN TO USE THIS SKILL

Activate this context when:

Working on any Ed project
Writing content in Ed's voice
Building tools for the coaching business
Discussing strategy or positioning
Creating materials for clients
Anytime you need to understand Ed's world

UPDATING THIS CONTEXT

Ed can update this skill anytime by saying:

"Update my mission context to include..."
"Add this to my terminology..."
"Change my current focus to..."

When Ed requests changes, edit this SKILL.md file directly.

Agent Skills: Mission Context - Ed's Operating Context

Skill Files