The Tool Factory is Open

When I started the Academy, I had one goal: help my friends.

That's it. Nothing grander. I'd been deep in Claude Code for months, watching it change how I worked, and I kept thinking about the people in my life who could benefit from this but didn't know where to start. The knowledge workers. The operators. The people who weren't "technical" but were absolutely capable of wielding these tools if someone just showed them how.

So I built a course. Recorded the modules. Wrote the guides. And one by one, my friends started getting it. They went from "AI is confusing" to "wait, I can just ask it to do that?"

That felt good.

Then I Asked the Next Question

The Academy filled out. People were learning. But I kept noticing the same pattern — everyone wanted to customize their setup. They'd finish a module and immediately ask: "Where can I find more Skills? How do I get one that does X?"

So I asked myself: What if we made a repo for Skills?

That question became StackShack.

A marketplace. A place where people could browse, search, and install tools that other people had built. Not just my stuff — everyone's stuff. Community-driven. Growing organically.

And it worked. StackShack now has over 1000 tools. People were finding what they needed, installing with one click, leveling up their workflows.

But then I asked the next question.

What If Users Could Build Their Own?

Here's the thing about curated marketplaces: they're great until you need something that doesn't exist yet.

I watched people hit that wall. They'd search StackShack, not find exactly what they needed, and then... stop. Not because they couldn't build it themselves, but because the barrier felt too high. YAML syntax. Directory structures. Validation rules. All the friction that comes with creating tools from scratch.

So I asked: What if we built something to let users build their own tools?

That question became the Tool Factory.

The Factory is Open

The AI Tool Factory takes a plain English description and generates a complete, verified, installable tool in under 60 seconds.

Four types. Four ways to extend Claude Code:

Skills — Reusable prompts and workflows. Describe what you need, get a Skill that does exactly that.

Commands — Shell aliases and automation scripts. Chain together the terminal operations you run every day.

Agents — Autonomous helpers with personalities and capabilities. Build specialists for your specific workflows.

MCP Servers — Context providers that connect Claude to your tools and data. The bridge between AI and everything else.

You describe it. AI generates it. A verification pipeline checks it. You install it.

No YAML knowledge required. No scaffolding. No afternoon lost to documentation.

Why This Matters

I keep coming back to the same belief: people should be able to build the tools they need.

Not just use tools someone else made. Not just customize pre-built templates. Actually build. From scratch. From their own ideas.

The Academy taught people how to work with AI. StackShack gave them tools to install. The Tool Factory gives them the ability to create.

That's the progression I've been building toward:

Learn → Use → Build

Every step removes a barrier. Every step puts more power in your hands.

The Verification Pipeline

Anyone can prompt an AI to spit out code. The hard part is making sure it actually works.

The Tool Factory runs every generated tool through a 4-phase verification:

1. -Format Validation — Does it parse? Are required fields present?
2. -Quality Checks — Is there enough content? Any placeholder text left behind?
3. -Type-Specific Rules — Skills need triggers. Agents need personas. MCPs need tool definitions.
4. -Auto-Fix — Common problems get corrected automatically.

Every tool gets a score. You see exactly what passed and what didn't. No black box.

The Technical Stuff

For those who care:

• -AI Model: Claude Sonnet 4 with streaming
• -Rate Limits: 10 Skills/hr, 15 Commands/hr, 8 Agents/hr, 5 MCPs/hr
• -Verification: 4-phase pipeline with auto-fix
• -Install Prompts: Generated automatically for your platform
• -Cost: Free

What's Next

This is the foundation. Here's where we're going:

• -Tool sharing and collaboration
• -Version history and rollback
• -Community ratings and reviews
• -Tool composition (combine tools into workflows)
• -One-click publishing to the marketplace

The goal hasn't changed since day one: help people get up to speed, arm them with tools, and get out of their way.

Go Build Something

Head to StackShack and click "AI Tool Factory."

Describe a tool you've always wanted. Watch it generate. Verify. Install.

60 seconds from idea to working tool.

I started this to help my friends. Now I want to see what you build.

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StackShack is part of ID8Labs. We build tools for people who build with AI.