# Classified Guides

Guides from the Classified AI Builders community: opinionated, practical answers for people building real things with AI agents, on Zo or anywhere else.

How to use this index: match the problem you are holding to the entry that describes it, then read that one guide. Each entry below describes the kinds of questions that guide answers, not just its title. If you have your own AI, the fastest path is to paste the full guide bundle into it and ask your real question.

- [Zo in 10 Minutes](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/zo-in-10-minutes.md): "What even is Zo?" The plain-English mental model (your own server, your files, your AI), the two setup steps that matter most (bring your own subscription, give it your context), connecting a channel so you can text your AI, and the first things a new builder should do. Start here on day one.

- [Claude Code and Codex: Setup for Beginners](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/claude-code-and-codex-setup.md): "How do I install Claude Code or Codex?" "Should I use the terminal or the app?" A zero-experience walkthrough: opening a terminal, the one-line installers for Mac, Windows, and Linux, signing in with your Claude or ChatGPT plan, the first conversation, beginner habits, and fixes for "command not found". Recommends the terminal, with the desktop apps as an option.

- [Build Games with an AI Agent: Claude Code or Codex + Unity](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/game-dev-with-ai-agents.md): "Can I use Claude Code or Codex to make games?" "How do I connect my agent to Unity?" Installing Unity's official plugin in Claude Code or Codex, live editor control through Unity's MCP server or the free open-source bridge, first prompts, a 30-day first-game plan, and fixes for dropped connections. Works without Zo.

- [Plugins, Skills, and MCP: Giving Your Agent New Abilities](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/plugins-skills-and-mcp.md): "What is MCP?" "What is a skill?" "How do I connect my agent to another app?" Plain-English difference between skills, MCP servers, and plugins, where skill files go in Claude Code and Codex, the add commands, and how to install add-ons safely. Works without Zo.

- [Set Up Your Gaming PC for Modding with an AI Agent](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/modding-setup-with-ai-agents.md): "Can an AI agent help me mod my games?" "How do I mod without breaking my saves?" Putting Claude Code or Codex on a Windows gaming PC, a modding workshop folder, backing up and checking saves before every change, freezing the game version on Steam, installing mods with the agent, switching between mod setups, and Windows snags like Controlled Folder Access. Comes with a rules file for the agent. Works without Zo.

- [When a Modded Game Crashes: Let Your Agent Investigate](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/modding-crash-investigation.md): "Why does my modded game keep crashing?" "Which mod is causing this?" Saving crash reports before relaunching, where games keep logs and dumps, reading crash timing, the usual causes (missing requirements, duplicate libraries, mods shipping game files, load order, game version, memory), testing mods in halves, and proving a cause before blaming a mod. Comes with a crash checklist for the agent. Works without Zo.

- [Make Mods Your Own: Read, Tweak, and Write Mod Content with an Agent](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/modding-make-it-yours.md): "What is actually in this mod?" "Can my AI write lore or characters for my game?" Having the agent read a mod's files to answer real questions, finding exact console commands, editing settings and files safely, the interview, research, draft, and check loop for writing world and character files (including for AI-driven NPC mods), and sharing what you make. Comes with a content interview for the agent. Works without Zo.

- [The Classified Method](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/classified-method.md): "How should I approach building AI operations?" The philosophy and working principles behind how Classified builds on Zo: files as memory, briefing docs, boring stacks, guardrails as architecture, verification before "done." For anyone asking how to structure their work, not just one feature.

- [Skill vs Automation vs Site vs Service](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/skill-vs-automation-vs-site-vs-service.md): "Should I build this as a Skill, an Automation, a Site, or a Service?" A decision tree with opinions. Choosing the right Zo primitive, when to upgrade from one to the next, and the common wrong picks.

- [Personas, Scopes, and Guardrails](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/personas-scopes-guardrails.md): "How do I let other people talk to my AI safely?" Exposing a persona to a community, a client, or the public. Scoping access, allowlist thinking, why instructions are not a security boundary, and Friday itself as the worked example.

- [Prompting and Persona Craft](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/prompting-and-persona-craft.md): "Why is my output mediocre?" and "How do I go from an idea to a working build?" Prompt structure that works, the build loop (define the aspirational end result, have the AI interview you and draft the prompt, review it, build, commit working versions to GitHub), designing a persona's behavior and voice, and the failure modes that produce vague, bloated, or confidently wrong answers.

- [Automations That Fire](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/automations-that-fire.md): "My scheduled agent didn't run," "it ran at the wrong time," "is this going to cost me every run?" Timezones, rrule patterns, per-run cost, idempotent run design, and how to debug an automation that went silent.

- [Cost and Usage](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/cost-and-usage.md): "How do I not get surprised by the bill?" The biggest lever (bring your own subscription), what actually burns credits, the multiplication effect of schedules, right-sizing models, metered third-party APIs, and the habits that keep spend boring.

- [FAQ](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/faq.md): Quick fixes for specific breakage: an automation that fired at the wrong hour, a service showing stale content, Zo saying it cannot access something, credits draining fast, Zo forgetting things between conversations. Grows from real help-and-support threads.

- [Start Here](https://www.classifiedai.dev/guides/start-here.md): The Classified AI Builders Discord community and Friday, the community's backup AI. How to get answers from your own agent first, when to bring a question to the humans, the channel map, and what Friday can and cannot do. The fallback when no other guide matches a question.

- [Zo Documentation](https://docs.zocomputer.com/llms.txt): Any platform-mechanics question: how Skills, Sites, Services, Personas, Automations, Spaces, integrations, messaging channels, custom domains, billing, or the Zo API actually work, what settings exist, what buttons to press. Fetch this index first, then the specific page it points to (for example https://docs.zocomputer.com/automations.md). The official docs are the source of truth for mechanics; the Classified guides above cover judgment and approach.