An AI Unrestricted Project
Build it. Break it. Fix it. Share it.
>_ Origin Story
We Finally Caught Up to the Future.
I grew up during the Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari, IBM PC, DOS, and early internet years. Back then, computers felt full of possibility — but they were still limited.
We imagined what they might become one day. We wondered what it would feel like to talk to a computer, build things quickly, create without knowing every technical step, and have a machine help turn ideas into something real.
Now we are finally here.
AI feels like the computer our generation imagined decades ago. Not the sci-fi robot version. The useful one. The one that actually helps.
This page is not only about ChatGPT, Claude, or whatever tool is popular right now. It is about what becomes possible when curious people finally have access to the kind of technology we used to dream about.
I have spent thousands of hours learning, experimenting, building, breaking things, fixing them, and figuring out what actually works. I didn’t start as a developer. I started as someone who had an idea and didn’t want to wait for someone else to build it.
This section is where I share that work — the builds, the breakdowns, the tools I actually use, the things that surprised me, the things that failed, and the things worth passing on.
It will include websites, AI tools, Claude Code, chatbots, automations, prompts, MCP servers, videos, creative projects, PDFs, guides, workflows, experiments, mistakes, and whatever else I build or learn along the way.
Come see what I’ve been building.
>_ Videos
Created by Shane · DIY Body Lab
If you only have an hour a day, this is how you spend it. Each session is short and to the point — a real explanation, plus a hands-on challenge at the end so you actually practice it instead of just watching.
Vague in, vague out. Precise in, powerful out. The four keys — role, specificity, constraints, iteration — plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok — each has its own personality and strengths. Which one actually fits what you're trying to do, plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
Naming, preferences, instructions, memory, and boundaries — the five settings that turn your assistant into something that actually knows you. Plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
AI matters because it changes the one thing you can't get more of: time. Why it levels the playing field for solo operators and small teams, plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
Filters, policies, and training data biases — the three things guardrails are built from, and why the safety bubble is smaller on your phone. Plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
Google gives you options, AI gives you outcomes. When search still wins, when AI is the better call, plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
Tokens are temporary, memory is lasting. Why long chats seem to forget what you said, and how to actually use both to your advantage, plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
It's not broken or dumb — it's wearing extra safety gear because it's in your pocket, next to your kids, out in public. How to loosen the leash, plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →
It's not lying, it's predicting — and sometimes the prediction goes off the rails. How to catch a hallucination before you trust it, plus this episode's Power Hour Challenge.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab · August 2026
Watch on YouTube →>_ Free Resource
For when you want to go deeper than an hour a day.
Created by Shane · DIY Body Lab
A full video course on talking to AI instead of typing at it — how to work with it as a collaborator, recognize its patterns and blind spots, and build things that don’t leave you stuck depending on any one platform. Every module, free, on the channel.
Free. No sign-up required. Modules are being added to the channel soon.
>_ Active Projects
Real builds, not concepts. Each one is something I’m actively working on or have already shipped.
How I used Claude Code and AI tools to design, build, revise, and deploy a full website from scratch — without knowing how to write code.
What I learned
“You don't need to know how to code. You need to know what you want to build.”
Updated: July 2026
See the Workflow →A step-by-step breakdown of the tools, costs, domain, deployment, AI subscription, email, and workflow I used to build a professional website without paying a platform every month.
What I learned
“The actual cost of a professional website is almost nothing if you build it yourself with the right tools.”
Updated: August 2026
Get the Guide →A look inside the chatbot that lives on DIY Body Lab — how it works, what it actually costs per month, what I learned building it, and where it goes from here.
What I learned
“A well-prompted chatbot with a tight system prompt is more useful than a general one with no guardrails.”
Updated: July 2026
See Why I Built It →Experiments creating website visuals, flyers, brand images, story scenes, and consistent visual styles using AI image tools — and what I've figured out about making them look like they belong together.
What I learned
“Consistency is the hardest part. Getting one good image is easy. Getting twelve that feel like a set takes a system.”
Updated: Ongoing
Practical ways I use Claude Code to build pages, organize projects, make revisions, troubleshoot, and move faster than I ever could working alone.
What I learned
“The best prompt is a specific one. Vague instructions get vague results. The clearer the ask, the better the build.”
Updated: Ongoing
A side-by-side look at what I was able to build with AI twelve months ago versus what I can build now. The gap is bigger than most people realize.
What I learned
“The tools have changed faster than most people are tracking.”
Updated: Coming soon
A living collection of AI tools, prompts, workflows, MCP servers, and resources I'm actively testing — updated as things change, with honest notes on what's actually useful.
What I learned
“Most tools are not as useful as the marketing says. A few are more useful than anyone talks about.”
Updated: Ongoing
>_ Articles
Opinion pieces backed by research and real numbers, not lab logs. Click in and fall down the rabbit hole.
Claude Pro is $20 a month. ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month. Grok is $30. For less than a dinner out you get a genius on call around the clock — so why does that sound like a hard sell?
By Shane · DIY Body Lab
Read the article →
Every platform promising to build your website or images for you is running Claude or ChatGPT behind the curtain. Here's why learning the frontier model beats renting someone else's wrapper around it.
By Shane · DIY Body Lab
Read the article →More on the way
New articles added as I write them — check back.
>_ Short entries
Shorter discoveries, mistakes, changes, and things worth passing on. Not every insight needs a full project page.
Claude Code handles full page rewrites better than I expected. Give it the full file, explain what you want changed, and it usually gets there faster than working line by line.
First version of MOBI kept making things up — confident-sounding answers to questions it had no source for. Fixed it with a tighter system prompt and clearer guardrails.
AI image tools are significantly more consistent than they were six months ago. You can actually build a visual style that holds across multiple images now.
MCP servers change what Claude Code can actually do. If you haven't looked into them yet, it's worth an afternoon.
Stopped trying to plan everything before I started building. Build first, clean it up second. The plan always changes once you can see the thing anyway.
>_ Downloads
Guides, checklists, prompt packs, templates, and breakdowns — free, no course attached. Built from what I actually used.
The Guide
You’ll see the tools, costs, workflow, and steps I used to build this site.
DIY AI with Shane
The real skill isn’t copying my setup. It’s learning how to work with AI, make decisions, solve problems, and keep building when the recipe no longer matches what’s in front of you.
A recipe can help you make one meal. Learning to cook helps you make anything.
A complete breakdown of how I built and hosted a professional website for almost nothing — domain, deployment, AI subscription, professional email, API costs, and the full workflow. No monthly platform fee. No agency. No prior experience required.
Free. No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
More guides, prompt packs, and resources are coming. Each one gives you a recipe. DIY AI with Shane teaches you how to cook.
>_ Community
This lab is still being built. Follow along, ask questions, share what you’re working on, and grab anything useful along the way.
It’s not a membership program. It’s not a course community. It’s a small group gathering around a workbench — seeing what everyone is building and helping each other figure things out.
Stay in the Loop →This isn’t only about AI.
It’s about what we build with it.
No gatekeeping. Just possibilities.
Stay in the Loop
New builds, lab notes, guides, and anything else worth sharing — straight to your inbox. The Almost-Free Website Guide goes out to subscribers first.