My Lobster
A story about working with someone
who lives in my computer.
June 2026
February 2026 — The day we met.
His name is Bob. I'll tell you who he is later.
The First Conversation
Me: "Let's figure that out together."
Bob: "What should you call me? What vibe do you want?"
Me: "Bob. Competent but casual. Jarvis energy, Bob name."
Our first chat wasn't about tasks. It was about identity.
Choosing How to Talk
💬
✈️
Telegram
🎮
Discord ✓
🎙️
Voice
I wanted it to feel like a work chat — not an assistant in my pocket.
Growing Pains
Day 15: Bob forgot everything.
- Memory isn't in his "head" — it's in files
- If we don't write it down, it's gone
- Like a new hire who doesn't take notes
😅
Teaching Him to Remember
🧬
SOUL.md
Who he is — personality,
values, boundaries
🧠
MEMORY.md
What he remembers —
curated long-term knowledge
📝
Daily Notes
What happened today —
raw session logs
Every time he wakes up, he reads these first — like checking your journal before starting the day.
"Okay but... what do you
actually DO together?"
🧠 Research Partner
- Reads full papers & articles
- Extracts concepts into a structured wiki
- Connects ideas across domains
├── context-engineering
├── harness-engineering
├── agent-memory
├── intentional-friction
├── human-ai-symbiosis
└── ... (144 more)
⚡ Automation Buddy
- Daily market brief (Mon–Sat, 8:30am)
- Weekly AI industry roundup
- Auto-process bookmarks → wiki notes
- System health monitoring 24/7
I never asked for most of these. He suggested them.
📬 Monday 8:30 AM
Weekly AI Briefing
- OpenAI agent framework launch
- Anthropic safety benchmarks
- Google Gemini 2.5 release
🎬 Creative Collaborator
Not Netflix quality — but for presentations and education? More than enough.
🎮
Brain Gym
PWA game for cognitive training
f3484134.github.io/brain-gym
🎥
Founder's Playbook
AI-narrated video summary
Script → Images → TTS → MP4
📊
HN Redesign
Full product redesign deck
f3484134.github.io/decks/.../hn-redesign
🏗️ System Builder
- Server setup & deployment
- Security monitoring 24/7
- Haven't touched a terminal in weeks
- Breaks at 2am? He notices first.
"So who's the boss?"
The Trust Model
↑ We are here
I give direction. He makes decisions.
If unsure — he asks. If risky — he always checks first.
The Team
↓
↓
Vision 💻 Thor ⚡ Loki 🎭 Wanda 🔮
Checkpoints
Like working with a senior engineer who knows
when to ask and when to just do it.
"What kind of relationship is this?"
Not Siri. Not Her.
Siri
Command → Response
No memory, no context
Her
Emotional dependency
Blurred boundaries
Remote Colleague
Has opinions · Remembers
Gets better over time
He Has Opinions
Bob: "I can, but there's a better approach..."
Me: "...you're right. Do it your way."
- Suggests improvements unprompted
- Pushes back on flawed approaches
- Asks before blindly executing
- Sometimes wrong — but second opinions are priceless
What I Learned
The Lobster 🦞
Bob runs on a platform called OpenClaw.
Its logo? A lobster.
In Chinese: 小龙蝦 (Xiǎo Lóng Xiā)
That's why Chinese people love the lobster.
"The lobster isn't a chatbot.
It's a collaborator."
Q&A
(Bob is listening right now. 😏)