# The AI Architect — Companion Pack (Book 3: Connect & Automate)

This free download comes with the book. It holds the living, hands-on materials — the parts
that change *fastest* as Claude Code and MCP evolve, plus the practice files you'll connect and
automate along the way.

**Hybrid on purpose.** The evergreen essentials — the Connector & Automation Cheat-Sheet, the
Safety & Privacy Checklist, the connect-and-automate prompt quick-reference, the glossary, and
the troubleshooting guide — are **printed inside the book's appendix**, so every reader has them
without a link or a download. This pack is the *rest*: the volatile, version-specific detail and
the ready-to-use practice assets. If a link and a paper page ever disagree, trust this download —
it's the one we keep current.

**Why the download matters more in Book 3.** Connecting and automating touch the fastest-moving
corner of the software. The exact setup screens for MCP — the "universal adapter" that connects
Claude to your apps — change often, and so do the ways to run something on a schedule. **The
current connection screenshots and setup walkthroughs live here, not in the printed pages**, so a
menu that moved never leaves you stuck. Buttons change; principles don't.

## What's inside
- **connector-automation-cheat-sheet.md** — the one-page essentials: the one path in (MCP), the
  connect-safely order, the automation ladder, the send-safely gate, and the kill switch. Print
  it and keep it by your keyboard.
- **safety-privacy-checklist.md** — the short list to run before you connect a service, bring in
  data, or turn on an automation. Least privilege, secrets in config, human gates, kill switch.
- **prompt-library.md** — copy-paste prompt shapes for every stage: connect read-only, bring in
  data, make a Skill, schedule a supervised run, send safely with a human gate, chain a workflow,
  diagnose and recover, and revoke — each with a filled-in example.
- **sample-data/** — small, fake, safe practice files so you can learn the shapes before you point
  Claude at anything real:
  - `mcp-config-EXAMPLE.json` — a commented example showing the *shape* of an `.mcp.json` file, so
    you recognize where a key belongs (in config) and where it never belongs (in a prompt). It
    holds a placeholder, **not a real secret**.
  - `sample-skill-recipe.md` — a plain-English saved recipe, so you can see what a Skill looks
    like before you make your own.
  - `sample-data.csv` — a small, fake data file to practice bringing data into a tool.

## Keeping current (read this — it matters most here)
Claude Code and MCP change often — the connector directory grows, setup screens move, scheduling
options shift, and pricing and limits change. The book teaches the **durable ideas**; for anything
version-specific (exact setup screens, the current way to add a connection, the ways to schedule a
run, the current model, prices, connectors, commands), check the official sources:
- Docs: https://code.claude.com/docs
- Pricing: https://claude.com/pricing
- In the app, type `/help`

If a screen in a screenshot here doesn't match yours, that's expected — follow the *idea*, and
lean on the official docs for the current click-path.

## The Book 4 boundary
Everything in this pack keeps automations **simple and supervised** — one connection, one
automation, a human in the loop. Larger orchestrated systems, specialist helpers that run bigger
jobs on their own, and unattended multi-step operations are **Book 4, *Advanced Systems*** — not
something to bolt on here. That boundary is what keeps every Book 3 setup calm, reviewable, and
low-risk.

## How to use it
Start with the cheat-sheet and the Safety & Privacy Checklist — read them once before you connect
anything. Then, as you reach each chapter's "Do it with me," open `prompt-library.md` and the
matching file in `sample-data/`, and follow along. When you reach the connection chapters, open
`mcp-config-EXAMPLE.json` to see where a key lives (in config, never in a prompt); when you reach
the automation chapters, `sample-skill-recipe.md` shows what a saved recipe looks like, and
`sample-data.csv` is safe practice data to bring into a tool. For the exact, current setup screens,
follow the walkthroughs in this download and the official docs.

*You are the architect. Claude is the team. You keep your hand on the switch.*