Skill: flynndavid/non-technical-agent-quickstart (version 1.0.0)

--- name: non-technical-agent-quickstart version: 1.0.0 price: 9 bundle: ai-setup-productivity-pack bundle_price: 79 last_validated: 2026-03-07 --- # Non-Technical Agent Quickstart **Framework: Plain English to Agent** *Worth $100/hr consultant time. Yours for $9.* --- ## What This Skill Does Gets non-technical founders running their first AI agent in 30 minutes or less. No code. No YAML. No APIs. Just plain English instructions and 3 pre-built workflows you can start using today. **Problem it solves:** The #1 barrier to AI agent adoption for non-technical founders isn't cost or capability — it's the setup illusion. Everyone assumes you need to code. You don't. This skill proves it. --- ## The Plain English to Agent Framework A 5-step process that translates plain English descriptions of what you want into a working agent workflow. Every step is explained in human terms, not technical terms. ### The Core Insight > An agent is just: **"If X happens, do Y, and tell me Z."** That's it. Once you can describe your workflow in that format, you can build any agent. --- ## The 5 Steps (No Code Required) ### Step 1: Pick Your Tool (5 minutes) You need a place to run your agent. Here are your options, ranked by ease: | Tool | Technical Level | Cost | Best For | |------|----------------|------|---------| | **Claude.ai** (Pro) | ⭐ Easiest | $20/mo | Simple tasks, Projects feature | | **OpenClaw** | ⭐⭐ Easy | Free trial | Full agent features, skills | | **Notion AI** | ⭐ Easiest | Included w/ Notion | Notion-native workflows | | **Zapier AI** | ⭐⭐ Easy | Free tier available | Connecting apps without code | | **Make.com** | ⭐⭐⭐ Medium | Free tier available | More complex automations | **This skill assumes Claude.ai Pro or OpenClaw.** Both require zero code. **Decision:** ``` Do you already pay for Claude Pro or have OpenClaw? ├── Yes → Use what you have. Don't add new tools. └── No → Start with Claude.ai Pro ($20/month) └── It pays for itself the first week you use it. ``` --- ### Step 2: Give Your Agent a Job Description (5 minutes) Write your agent's "job description" in a Claude Project or OpenClaw's SOUL.md. Think of this like hiring an employee. **Plain English Job Description Template:** ``` You are my [role] assistant. Your job is to help me with: [list 3-5 things] When I give you a task, you should: [describe how you want it done] My name is [name]. I work on [what you do]. Things that matter to me: [preferences, style, priorities] When you're done with a task, always: [how you want output] ``` **Example (real, working):** ``` You are my startup operations assistant. Your job is to help me with: - Drafting emails and follow-ups - Summarizing my meeting notes - Creating task lists from conversations - Writing weekly updates for my team When I give you a task, you should first check if I've given you enough context, then do the work, then ask if I want any changes. My name is Sarah. I run a 6-person SaaS company selling to HR teams. Things that matter to me: clear writing, short sentences, no jargon. When you're done, always list what you did and suggest one next step. ``` **Tip:** The more specific you are, the better. Treat it like a real job description. --- ### Step 3: Connect One Tool (10 minutes) You don't need to connect everything at once. Pick one tool your agent should know about. **Easiest connections (no API keys needed):** **Option A: Google Docs / Gmail via Claude Projects** 1. Open Claude.ai → Projects → Create Project 2. Click "Add content" → Upload relevant docs or paste text 3. Now Claude "knows" about your content in every conversation **Option B: Notion via Notion AI** 1. Already built in if you use Notion 2. @-mention any page: `@[page name]` in Notion AI chat 3. AI reads that page automatically **Option C: Email summaries via copy-paste** 1. No integration needed 2. Copy your inbox (or paste specific emails) 3. Ask agent to summarize / respond / action **The $0 connection trick:** > You don't need live API connections to start. Copy-paste from your tools for the first month. Build the habit first, automate second. --- ### Step 4: Run Your First Task (5 minutes) Use this exact prompt format for your first agent task: ``` [Context]: [1-2 sentences of background] [Task]: [What you want done] [Format]: [How you want the output — bullet list / email / table / etc] [Constraint]: [Any rules — length, tone, what to avoid] ``` **Example:** ``` Context: I just finished a 45-minute call with a potential customer named Mike at RetailCo. He's interested in our inventory tracking feature but worried about the 3-month onboarding timeline. Task: Write a follow-up email I can send today that thanks him for the call, addresses his onboarding concern, and proposes a 30-minute follow-up with our technical team. Format: Ready-to-send email. Subject line included. Constraint: Keep it under 150 words. Friendly but professional tone. ``` **Your agent should produce a ready-to-send email in 10 seconds.** That's $300/hr copywriting in 10 seconds. --- ### Step 5: Save What Works (5 minutes) When you get a great output, save the prompt that created it. **Prompt library (keep it simple):** ``` My Saved Prompts ───────────────── 1. Follow-up email after sales call → [paste prompt] 2. Weekly team update → [paste prompt] 3. Meeting notes → action items → [paste prompt] ``` A prompt library of 10 prompts = 80% of your AI value. --- ## 3 Pre-Built Workflows (Copy, Paste, Use Today) ### Workflow 1: Email Assistant **What it does:** Reads any email you paste in and gives you a ready-to-send reply, a summary, or action items — in your voice. **Setup prompt (paste into Claude Project or SOUL.md):** ``` You are my email assistant. When I paste an email: 1. Summarize it in 2-3 bullet points (what they want, urgency, any decisions needed) 2. Draft a reply in my voice: direct, brief, friendly, professional 3. List any action items for me My writing style: short sentences, no jargon, no "I hope this email finds you well." Always write the reply ready to copy-paste. No need to explain what you did. ``` **How to use:** 1. Receive an email 2. Copy the email text 3. Paste into Claude: "Here's an email: [paste]" 4. Get summary + draft reply in seconds **Use case examples:** - Investor follow-ups - Customer complaints - Partnership inquiries - Team communication - Vendor negotiations **Time saved:** 5-15 minutes per email × however many emails you get daily. --- ### Workflow 2: Task Manager **What it does:** Turns your notes, meeting recordings, or brain dumps into organized task lists with priorities and owners. **Setup prompt:** ``` You are my task manager. When I give you notes, a meeting summary, or a brain dump: 1. Extract all action items 2. Assign a priority: High / Medium / Low 3. Suggest an owner (if I mention team members by name) 4. Estimate time required (rough: 15min / 1hr / half-day / full-day) 5. Organize into: Do Today / Do This Week / Someday Format as a clean table I can copy into Notion or paste into Slack. Ask me if anything is ambiguous before finalizing. ``` **How to use:** 1. After any meeting, paste your messy notes 2. Or just brain-dump everything in your head 3. Get a prioritized task table back **Example input:** ``` "Need to follow up with Mark about the pricing proposal. Sarah needs the Q1 report by Friday. We talked about redesigning the onboarding — maybe a project for next quarter? Tom is blocked on the API docs, help him today. Oh and I need to book flights for the NYC trip." ``` **Example output:** | Task | Priority | Owner | Time | When | |------|----------|-------|------|------| | Unblock Tom on API docs | High | You | 30min | Today | | Follow up with Mark (pricing) | High | You | 15min | Today | | Q1 report to Sarah | High | You | 2hr | This Week | | Book NYC flights | Medium | You | 15min | This Week | | Onboarding redesign scoping | Low | Team | Half-day | Someday | --- ### Workflow 3: Weekly Summarizer **What it does:** Takes your week's notes, Slack messages, completed tasks, or just a brain dump — and produces a crisp weekly summary you can share with your team or investors. **Setup prompt:** ``` You are my weekly summarizer. Every Friday, I'll share what happened this week. Create: 1. WINS (3-5 bullets): What went well or was completed 2. CHALLENGES (2-3 bullets): What was hard or is still open 3. METRICS (if I give you numbers): Key numbers with context 4. NEXT WEEK (3-5 bullets): Top priorities for next week Tone: Honest and direct. Not PR-speak. Write like I'm talking to a trusted advisor, not writing a press release. Length: Keep it under 300 words total. My team is busy. ``` **How to use:** 1. Every Friday, spend 3 minutes brain-dumping your week into Claude 2. Add any relevant numbers (revenue, signups, calls, etc.) 3. Get a formatted weekly update back 4. Copy-paste to Slack, email to investors, or save to Notion **Example input (what you type Friday afternoon):** ``` "This week: closed the RetailCo deal ($8k/year), lost the TechStart deal (went with competitor). Hired a new dev, starts Monday. The support ticket volume was insane — 47 tickets, took most of my Tuesday. Fixed the login bug that was causing 15% of new users to fail activation. Next week: onboarding the new dev, need to ship the reporting feature, investor update due Thursday." ``` **Output you get (ready to send):** --- **Week of March 3 — Summary** **Wins** - Closed RetailCo ($8K ARR) 🎉 - Fixed login bug → should recover ~15% of failing activations - New developer hired — starts Monday **Challenges** - Lost TechStart deal to competitor — need a debrief on what we missed - Support volume spike (47 tickets) consumed significant time; needs process review **Next Week** - Dev onboarding (priority: get productive fast) - Reporting feature launch - Investor update by Thursday --- --- ## The 30-Minute First Agent Checklist Work through this exactly once: ``` □ Minute 0-5: Choose your tool (Claude Pro or OpenClaw) □ Minute 5-10: Write your job description (use template above) □ Minute 10-15: Paste it into Claude Projects or SOUL.md □ Minute 15-20: Run Workflow 1 (email assistant) on a real email □ Minute 20-25: Run Workflow 2 (task manager) on your current to-do list □ Minute 25-30: Save the 2 prompts that worked best to your prompt library After 30 minutes: You have a working AI agent. You built it. No code. ``` --- ## Common "I'm Stuck" Situations **"The output doesn't sound like me"** → Add 3 examples of your actual writing style to the job description. AI learns from examples, not descriptions. **"It's too long / too short"** → Add to your setup prompt: "Always keep responses under [X] words" or "Always write at least [X] sentences" **"It keeps asking me questions instead of just doing it"** → Add: "Make reasonable assumptions and do the task. Tell me what you assumed at the end." **"It forgot what I told it last session"** → Claude Pro Projects persist your setup. Make sure you're inside your Project, not a new chat. **"I don't know what to ask it to do"** → Start here: "What do I spend more than 30 minutes on that involves reading or writing?" That's where your first agent should work. --- ## Plain English to Agent: Decision Tree ``` Want to automate a task? │ ├── Is it mostly reading and writing? (emails, docs, summaries) │ └── → Start with Claude Pro + one of the 3 workflows above │ ├── Is it moving data between apps? (form → spreadsheet → email) │ └── → Start with Zapier (no code, free tier exists) │ ├── Is it checking something regularly? (prices, news, metrics) │ └── → OpenClaw with a loop (see Agentic Loop Designer) │ └── Does it need to connect to specific tools? (GitHub, Linear) └── → OpenClaw with MCP (see MCP Server Setup Kit) ``` Most non-technical founders only ever need the first option. The other three exist when you're ready to go deeper. --- ## What's Next After This? When Workflow 1-3 are running and saving you 2+ hours/week: 1. **More tools:** Look at MCP Server Setup Kit to connect GitHub, Notion, Slack 2. **Automation:** Look at Agentic Loop Designer to make things run without you 3. **Full stack:** Look at AI OS Blueprint to build a real agent operating system 4. **Lower costs:** Look at Context Budget Optimizer when you're spending real money You don't need any of that today. Today, just run the 30-minute checklist. --- ## Bundle Note This skill is part of the **AI Setup & Productivity Pack** ($79 bundle): - MCP Server Setup Kit ($19) - Agentic Loop Designer ($29) - AI OS Blueprint ($39) - Context Budget Optimizer ($19) - Non-Technical Agent Quickstart ($9) — *you are here* Save $36 with the full bundle. Built by [@Remy_Claw](https://remyclaw.com).


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