So, OpenClaw made a splash and hyped up things to frenzy level about AI agent assistants. n8n is still an amazing platform - free open source too, and you can do pretty much everything with n8n as I am explaining in this podcast. n8n is a graphical workflow/AI tool but you still need some JavaScript/JSON knowledge IMHO!
Enter a more simple approach that just uses Claude Code CLI as the brain along with some other free resources to add memory, text embeddings (meaning of words etc.) and I have a completely locked down mini virtual private server (512mb RAM, 1 vCore) running on AWS Lightsail for around $5 (free for 3 months). You can run this on your own local linux box too or even in Docker of course or anywhere a service offers linux servers (everywhere then!).
I have hooked in:
Telegram: as my main chatbot interface which can accepts voice as well as text
Twilio: for a real telephone number to talk/SMS with (optional, but why not!)
Official Google MCP for calendars/email
Official Microsoft MCP for my MS calendar/email
I “could” easily hook into things like SalesForce, HubSpot, Slack and millions of other services.
I am currently building an Alexa skill (even though Alexa+ is coming) to give Alexa a real brain and hooks into the above.
All of this running on a very basic locked down linux VM :)
Hey, this is a free podcast. However, if you feel you want to support me, then check out Patreon. I will have some more detailed deep dives for Patreon members as well as one-to-one sessions.
Or just buy a unicorn a coffee here!
Oh, and yes, I have ended up on YouTube (doesn’t everyone eventually?):
https://www.youtube.com/@justfifteenmins but don’t worry, no ugly face to worry about (yet!).
