About this site

If you've ever wanted to build your own AI assistant, automate your entire home lab, or run powerful open-source tools without depending on big tech — you're in the right place.

I'm Craig McIntosh, a Scottish technologist and AI builder based in Edinburgh. This blog documents my real-world journey building a self-hosted AI operating system — from the ground up, on my own hardware, with open-source tools

What I Write About

AI Automation & Integration Practical guides on connecting AI models, agents, and workflows to do useful things in the real world — not just demos.

n8n Workflows Deep dives into building powerful automation pipelines with n8n, from simple tasks to complex multi-agent orchestration.

JARVIS & IRONMAN My two-node Iron Man-themed homelab running local LLMs, AI agents, and self-hosted services. Think less science fiction, more actually working infrastructure.

OpenClaw & Hermes Agent Hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI agent frameworks — what works, what breaks, and how to fix it.

Self-Hosting & Open Source Why I run everything locally, how I do it, and why you might want to as well.

Who This Is For

Developers, tinkerers, homelab enthusiasts, and anyone curious about building real AI systems without handing everything to a cloud provider. If you like getting your hands dirty and learning from someone who breaks things so you don't have to — subscribe.

Stay In The Loop

New posts land directly in your inbox. No algorithm, no noise — just practical AI and self-hosting content from someone actually building this stuff every day.

Working With AI in Your Business?

If you're a business owner or decision-maker exploring how AI automation and integration could transform your operations, I'd love to have a conversation.

I bring a rare combination of deep technical expertise and commercial acumen — a B.Eng. in Computing, an M.Sc. in Marketing, and over 40 years of hands-on computing and business experience. I've been building, breaking, and deploying technology long before AI became a boardroom buzzword.

Whether you're looking to automate repetitive workflows, integrate AI into your existing systems, build custom automation pipelines, or simply understand what's actually possible beyond the hype — I can help you cut through the noise and build something that works.

Let's have a no-obligation chat.

Reach out at [email protected] and tell me a little about your business and what you're trying to solve. If I can help, I'll tell you. If I can't, I'll point you in the right direction.