ToolTestingPrivate
Split-Flap Board
A browser-based split-flap arrivals board — live weather up top, messages posted through a private control page — built to eventually run full-screen on a Samsung Frame TV.
Prototype lab
dan’s sandbox
A working space for prototypes, protected webforms and experiments connected to what I’m building and learning.
Built from the same digital workshop system, this space is where rough ideas, practical tests and interactive tools can be tried safely before they become polished projects. Some of it works. Some of it is deliberately unfinished.
Active prototypes
5
Open to view
2
Protected forms
2
Last updated
23 Aug 2026
In the workshop
Featured prototypes
- ToolTestingPrivate
Alfred Dashboard
The control surface for Alfred, a fully local voice assistant — conversation, grounded vault Q&A and web search in one dashboard, running on a $300 mini PC for $0/month.
- AutomationTestingPrivate
Robin Researcher
A daily research agent that turns forwarded links into structured, fully-sourced vault notes — phase one of the Robin project, and adopted rather than built from scratch.
- DemoTestingPublic
Obsidian Learning System Demo
A prototype flow for turning raw notes and documentation into structured learning material.
- ToolBuildingPublic
Prompt Library Explorer
A small interface for browsing reusable prompts and build patterns.
Controlled access
Protected forms
Forms that may require login, an access code, or an invite once they’re actually wired up. For now, UI and routing only.
Field notes
Experiment notes
Short notes on what’s being tested, learnt or improved in this space.
How things graduate from here to the workshop
The split-flap board just crossed an invisible line, so it's worth writing down where that line is.
This site is the lab bench. Entries here are allowed to be rough, half-wired, and honest about it — every card carries badges saying exactly what state it's in. The workshop site is the opposite: finished write-ups with a Problem / Approach / Outcome / Lessons structure.
Graduation isn't about polish. It's about having a story. A prototype moves to the workshop when it can answer four questions in full: what problem it solved, how the approach worked, what the outcome was, and what was learnt. The split-flap board earned that when the browser prototype proved the concept end-to-end — public display, protected control, free-tier infrastructure holding up.
Two rules make the pipeline work. Nothing graduates silently: the workshop write-up links its own history, this entry stays as the living status page, and rough edges don't get deleted — they get dated. And badges stay honest on both sides of the line: a "testing" badge on a graduated project would break the whole system's credibility.
Next candidate watching from the bench: whatever Robin's researcher node becomes once its test set gets scored.
Why this is a separate site, not a section of the main one
The main Digital Workshop site is a public showcase — finished write-ups, settled content. This one is the opposite on purpose: prototypes that might break, forms that aren't wired up yet, demos labelled testing or concept.
Mixing the two would mean either watering down the main site with half-finished things, or being overly cautious here because it's attached to the polished site. Neither is good. So for now they're deliberately not linked to each other — that might change once this space earns its own shape.
Placeholder data first, real prototypes one at a time
This first version ships with typed placeholder content for every section — prototypes, forms, notes — so the layout and interaction patterns can be judged honestly before anything real goes in.
The plan is to replace one card at a time, starting with whichever prototype is closest to actually working, rather than trying to backfill everything at once.
Some of this is private, unfinished or invite only
Status and access badges on every prototype and form say exactly what’s real right now. Nothing here should be treated as production ready unless it explicitly says so.