[bri3d]

I've always wanted my own VW diagnostic tool suite, and between tooling that was released in public on GitHub (https://github.com/kartoffelpflanze/ODIS-project-explorer) and my own research from years ago, it always seemed straightforward but too tedious to execute on. Claude did a great job making something useful, https://github.com/bri3d/mcd-diag-rs , and now I don't have to find a Windows machine or remember a specific diagnostic cable to replace my brake pads.

I also build a ton of household glue stuff; I was never really passionate enough about the whole "homeserver" thing to spend the effort in going beyond basic video recording for my security system, but now I have all of my local-only home automation stuff wired together, mostly into HomeKit, and have been able to ditch a ton of cloud services.

[zytek]

elaborate on the home automation pls

[bri3d]

I used the usual stack of HomeAssistant, Frigate, and a bazillion glue connectors to consolidate devices that were previously cloud apps on my phone.

For example, previously I used the Frigate web UI over VPN to access my cameras, but I instead had Claude help set up go2rtc to push the video to HomeKit. I used the Eufy app for my doorbell, which I was instead able to integrate into HomeAssistant and then push to HomeKit as well, and I was also able to integrate some TP-Link Kasa plugs with HomeAssistant too.

This is all stuff I could have done relatively easily myself, but I hate nothing more than wading through horribly documented disparate configuration systems (I do that enough all day), so having Claude to do it for me is what unlocked it actually getting done.

I also added on to some custom one-offs like an ESP32-based controller for my kid's RGB LED nightlight for fun, although that stuff was more hand-coded since I find it enjoyable.