FIELD NOTES / CUSTOM CODE LABS
Ideas worth
building on.
Lessons from the work.
Practical thinking on software, AI,
and the business of building things.
THE JOURNAL / BY RICHARD GABELA
Codex Mojibake on Windows: Why It Happens and How to Stop It Permanently
Learn why Codex can produce mojibake on Windows, how PowerShell 5.1 corrupts UTF-8 text, how to repair it safely, and what to put in AGENTS.md.
Read the storyGiving Our Hermes Agent a Real Memory: Why We Chose Hindsight (and How to Set It Up)
Hermes Agent forgets between sessions. We added an external memory provider called Hindsight — a knowledge graph with a cross-memory "reflect" tool — and the agent finally started remembering our projects. Here's why we chose it over the eight other providers Hermes ships with, and exactly how to set it up, including which mode to pick on a tiny free-tier VPS.
Read the storyThe OpenClaw USER.md File: A Complete Guide With Real Examples
USER.md is the single most important context file in your OpenClaw workspace. It teaches your AI agent who you are so every session does not start cold. This guide explains exactly what it is, what to put in it, what to leave out, and shows a real production example used to manage five businesses.
Read the storyPerplexity Computer: The 19-Model AI Agent That Wants to Replace Your Workflow
On February 25, 2026, Perplexity launched Computer — an AI agent that orchestrates 19 different models in parallel to run multi-step workflows for hours, days, or even months. Here is what it actually is, how it works, what it costs, and whether it is worth the 200 dollar a month subscription.
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