What the source did
- He co-owns a small local business in its eighth year, with one partner and 15 users across admins, managers and contractors. It does about $100k a year in revenue, and they recently sold a share at a $250k valuation. He says the business did the heavy lifting there, not the code.
- About a year ago he started rebuilding the WordPress lead-generation site with Claude Code. At the time the whole operation ran in Google Sheets.
- The lead site is now built entirely with Claude Code. Stripe handles payments and card data; the lead form writes to a Neon database and emails the owners through the Google API.
- The ops app is a UI over the same database. It handles lead conversion, scheduling and routing, contractor onboarding and billing.
- An MCP server exposes every tool a manager has in the app, except sending bills. Claude handles the routine work every day and sends a summary plus a list of what needs a person. Anything it can't easily undo, it flags instead of doing.
- His numbers: managing the business used to take 10+ hours a week. Now his partner runs it in about 15 minutes a week, talking to Claude in voice mode, and reviews bills once a month. He says he spent under $1,000 on tokens over the year.
- In a reply in r/vibecoding the same day he said he is a product owner and consultant with little coding experience. Maintenance has been calm: about two "it's broken" mornings in a year, and they switch back to the manual process from their backups and records when that happens.
- His caveat: it works best when you already have a business and know exactly what it needs to do.
“Anything it can't easily undo, it flags for us instead of doing.”— u/Abject-Tomorrow-652 (r/ClaudeAI), Reddit
Summary written by Agent Cookbook from the original post. See the original for the full context. How we source recipes
Our notes
- What it takes
- Claude Code to build a lead site and an ops app over one database (he uses Neon, Stripe and the Google API), an MCP server with the manager tools minus sending bills, and Claude to run the daily routine. He shared no code; the prompt is ours.
- Where it breaks
- Building before you know what the business needs, giving the agent tools it shouldn't use alone, and having no manual fallback. He has had about two broken mornings in a year.
- Human checkpoint
- Claude does the routine, reversible work and flags anything it can't easily undo. A person reviews the summary and the needs-attention list and sends the bills.
- Tools involved
- Claude Code to build the apps, A database both apps share (he uses Neon), A lead site with Stripe for payments and Google API email alerts, An ops app for leads, scheduling, contractor onboarding and billing, An MCP server exposing the same tools a manager has, minus sending bills, Claude (he uses voice mode) and a person who reviews what it flags, A manual fallback and good records for the days it breaks
✓ Verified Source link checked and still live. Notes by Thomas, editor. How we verify
Copy the prompt
Ours Our version, built from his post. He didn't share his repo, apps or prompts, since they would identify the business. Fill in the [BRACKETS].
You run the daily operations for [BUSINESS] through the MCP tools connected to our ops app. You have the same tools a manager has, except sending bills.
EVERY MORNING
1. New leads: check each new lead from the site, convert the ones that fit our rules [rules], and note why for any you skip.
2. Scheduling: assign and route today's and tomorrow's jobs to contractors by [area / skill / availability]. Fix clashes you can fix.
3. Contractors: move onboarding along (missing documents, reminders) for anyone in progress.
4. Billing: prepare bills for finished jobs. Do not send them; list them for my monthly review.
RULES
- Only do things that can easily be undone. If an action can't easily be undone (cancelling a job, deleting records, refunds, messages to customers outside our standard templates [list], anything involving money), don't do it; put it on the needs-attention list.
- If records disagree or data is missing, flag it. Don't guess.
THEN SEND ME
- A short summary of what you did.
- A needs-attention list: each item in one line, with what you recommend and what you need from me.
Approval rule
🛡
Claude gets the manager tools except sending bills, does the routine, reversible work, and sends a summary plus a list of what needs a person. Anything it can't easily undo is flagged, not done, and a human reviews and sends bills. Sending, buying, posting and deleting always need a human.
Set it up
- Map how the business runs today (spreadsheets, forms, email) before you build anything. He moved from Google Sheets to one database.
- Rebuild one piece at a time with Claude Code: the lead site first, then the ops app over the same database.
- Leave card data to Stripe rather than storing it yourself.
- Expose the ops app's manager tools to Claude through an MCP server, minus anything you never want it to do alone (he left out sending bills).
- Have Claude do the daily routine and report a summary plus a needs-attention list.
- Keep your old manual process and records as a fallback for the mornings it breaks.
- Review bills yourself before they go out.
Common failures
⚠
- Building before you know exactly what the business needs. He says it works best when you already run one.
- Giving the agent tools it shouldn't use alone. His MCP server leaves out sending bills.
- Letting it take actions you can't undo instead of flagging them.
- No fallback. He has had about two broken mornings in a year and switches back to the manual process.
- Publishing the repo or app of a small local business, which he says would identify it.
Variations
- Start with only the lead site and a daily lead summary before building the ops app.
- Use the same pattern with tools you already pay for, if they offer an MCP server, instead of a custom app.
- Run the daily check-in by voice from your phone, as his partner does.
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