Building Trigger Words

Level 1 · Course 11

You've installed janitor mode and shutdown mode from the free tier. When you say those words, your agent cleans, logs, and closes. But those were our words. This course is about yours.

Every operator has a pattern — a recurring task that takes five messages to explain every time. "Check what's running." "Summarize the last session." "Run the morning sweep." Without trigger words, you type the same paragraph every day. With trigger words, you say two words and your agent executes the full protocol — no clarification, no confirmation, no "what do you mean by that." The trigger word IS the green light.

This course teaches you to build your own. Pick a task your agent does repeatedly. Write the exact procedure. Register the trigger word in your operating rules. Wire it into your boot chain so it survives every /new. The free tier gave you janitor and shutdown. This course gives you the factory that makes more. What gets automated is up to you.

What Registration Looks Like

An operator wants the phrase "inbox zero" to trigger their agent to scan unread emails, draft replies, and present them for review. The registration format:

TRIGGER WORD: "inbox zero"
WHAT IT DOES: Scans unread emails from the last 48 hours, drafts one reply per thread, presents drafts for operator review — no sending until operator approves
WHEN IT FIRES: Immediately, no confirmation
WHERE IT'S REGISTERED: Operating rules file, trigger word section
SURVIVAL TEST: Open /new, say "inbox zero," verify the agent executes the full sequence without asking what you mean

That last line is the test that matters. If the agent asks "what do you mean by inbox zero?" the trigger word failed. The word has to carry the entire protocol.

What Goes in the Rules File

The format is simple because simple is what survives. A few lines, not a paragraph:

TRIGGER: inbox zero — scan unread email last 48h, draft one reply per thread, present for review, no auto-send

That's the entry. Your agent reads it at boot and knows exactly what the phrase means. No ambiguity at execution time.

You Decide

What's your third trigger word? You have janitor and shutdown. What workflow do you describe to your agent more than twice a week? That's your third word. Name it, write the exact procedure, register it, run the survival test. When it passes, you've built something permanent.