GRD Talk

GEORGE REID-DOWD · DIGITAL SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT · ABU DHABIAGENT SYSTEMS · CONTEXT · HARNESSES · LOOPS · GRAPHS

I build the systems
around the model.

The model is one part. Useful agents also need context, memory, tools, limits and a way to learn from what happened.

I came to this from offshore operations, remote systems and client delivery. That keeps the work tied to real use.

Follow the trace GitHub
SYSTEM LOOP / 01 The system around an agent A closed loop connects context, plan, action, checking and memory. CONTEXT PLAN ACT CHECK REMEMBER MODEL IS ONE PART
SCROLL

THE PATTERN

Find the hidden state.
Make it visible.
Close the loop.

01 ARCHITECTURE MEMORY

Cairn keeps the plan beside the code.

Your coding agent writes a map of the system as it builds. Cairn checks that map against the repo. When code and intent split, it shows the gap or blocks the change.

Typed graphCode reconciliationCommit gateLocal plain files
Open Cairn
INTERACTIVE MODELDECLARED ↔ OBSERVED
A map of Cairn mapping itself A network of systems, modules, decisions and contracts linked by dependencies. SYSTEMCLI MODULEBLUEPRINT SYSTEMSCANNER MODULEGRAPH LOOPRECONCILE MODULEGATE DECISIONWHY CONTRACTPROMISE
FOCUS / RECONCILE Desired state meets shipped state.

Synced, planned-but-missing and present-without-a-place are different facts.

02 GOVERNED AGENTS

OpenSpine puts permission in the runtime.

Prompts can ask. The runtime decides. Each task gets a short, narrow grant. Every real action passes through one gate and lands in an audit trail.

Verified sourceBounded grantEffect gateHash-linked audit
Open OpenSpine
RUNTIME PATHREADY
01VERIFYIs the source real?
02ROUTEWhich path applies?
03GRANTWhat may happen?
04GATEAllow, deny or ask.
05AUDITWhat did happen?

Alpha, working end to end. Lyra is the first product built on this path.

03 MEMORY

MAG lets context follow the work.

One local memory store can serve different tools. It searches by words, meaning and graph links, then returns evidence instead of a loose pile of old chat.

Cross-toolLocal-firstHybrid retrievalInspectable store
Open MAG
ONE STORE / MANY TOOLS
QUERY FROM CODEX

“How should retries wait after a failure?”

01WORDSexact terms
02MEANINGsame idea
03GRAPHlinked facts
RETURNED MEMORY / SCORE 0.94
Use exponential backoff with jitter. Cap the wait and log the final attempt.
Stored once. Found from different words.

04 HARNESS

Skillkeep makes agent skills portable.

One local registry can scan, adopt and sync skills across coding tools. A desktop app, CLI and TUI all sit on the same daemon.

One registryMany clientsDrift checksHuman approval
Open Skillkeep
SKILL REGISTRYLOCAL / PORTABLE
MANAGEDrepo-auditv3 · clean

Choose a client to move the managed skill.

05 REAL-WORLD LOOP

Holocron turns weak signals into an operational picture.

GNSS health travels from offshore hardware through a Rust edge agent, a buffered link, cloud ingest and a live map. The design assumes links fail and data must catch up safely.

Edge-to-cloudStore and forwardPostGISOperational map
PRIVATE OPERATIONAL SYSTEM
SANITISED SYSTEM MODELNO REAL POSITIONS OR PRODUCTION DATA
Fictional fleet telemetry map Three fictional vessels send buffered GNSS health packets to a central operational view. V-17 V-23 V-31 OPSVIEW
V-23 LINKCONNECTED
EDGE BUFFER0 packets

06 PRODUCT

Yarnling turns a toy into a world that remembers.

Take a photo of a toy. It becomes a lasting character. New stories remember the child, the world and what happened before.

Persistent characterStory memorySequel loopBuilt for children
PRIVATE TESTFLIGHT BUILD
ACTUAL APP SCREENSTORY LIBRARY
Yarnling Story Library showing two stories and the option to stitch a sequel
TOYCHARACTERSTORYSEQUEL

HOW I WORK

The system comes before the prompt.

I use models hard. I also assume they forget, drift, overreach and miss the field reality. The surrounding design has to carry the weight.

  1. 01
    Map the real system

    People, data, tools, incentives, failure modes and what “done” means.

  2. 02
    Put state outside the model

    Specs, graphs, memory, contracts and logs survive the session.

  3. 03
    Make limits executable

    Permissions, gates and checks live in code where they can be tested.

  4. 04
    Close the loop

    Compare intent with reality. Feed the result into the next pass.

  5. 05
    Ship enough to learn

    A working slice exposes more truth than another week of clean diagrams.

SIDE PATHS

The same instinct,
applied elsewhere.

This is not a claim that every repo is equal. It shows a repeated pattern: learn the system, make the first useful version, then test it against reality.

PHYSICAL COMPUTINGCLI Anything × MeerK40t

Lets an agent prepare laser work, with machine settings, material checks and a final safety check.

Open repo ↗ ANIMATION TOOLINGRive CLI

A CLI for making and changing Rive animations with code.

Open repo ↗ SITUATIONAL CONTEXTPythia

A local experiment that joins live world signals with a forecasting loop. Built on two open-source systems.

Open repo ↗ DESIGN + DELIVERYReavesHQ

A small studio for turning a rough business idea into a clear, working web product.

Open site ↗
PHYSICAL BUSINESSOG Mallow

Recipe, packaging, sourcing, licensing and sales. A useful reality check outside software.

Built with my family

THE WORK BEFORE THE CODE

Built where bad systems have real costs.

My base is offshore survey work and remote operations. Network loss, client pressure, field risk and handovers are normal there. That shaped how I think about software.

Digital Solutions Architect

Builds digital tools for real operations, including agent systems.

Client Deliverables / Geo-Data leadership

Led client delivery and internal tools across the GCC.

Regional Technical Manager, Remote Systems

Made remote systems more reliable across marine work.

Founding Regional Manager, Remote Operations

Built and ran a 24/7 regional remote operations centre.

Survey engineering and offshore operations

Learned what happens when a technical choice reaches the field.

BEST FIT

Give me a hard problem
with real constraints.

The best fit is where product, engineering and operations meet. The field may still be unclear. A working system matters more than a polished theory.

Emailgeorge@reaveshq.com↗ Codegithub.com/George-RD↗

CAIRN / SYSTEM NOTES

Declare. Reconcile. Gate. Query.

Cairn treats the architecture map as a claim that can be wrong. The agent writes the intended system. A scanner reads the real repo. The gap becomes a finding.

Declare
Systems, modules, contracts and decisions live in a small blueprint.
Reconcile
Code is marked synced, planned but missing, or built without a place in the plan.
Gate
Important drift can stop at the commit boundary.
Query
Future agents ask for a clean slice instead of reading the whole repo again.
Read the public repo

OPENSPINE / DESIGN RULE

Identity is not authority.

Knowing who sent a message is useful. It does not decide what the system may do. OpenSpine checks routes, rules and grants before it gives any power.

Model
Suggests a plan inside the task.
Runtime
Builds the allowed action set.
Gate
Checks every effect before a connector runs.
Owner
Approves any wider power. The agent cannot turn it on itself.
Read the public repo

HOLOCRON / SANITISED ARCHITECTURE

The link can fail without losing the picture.

This is the public-safe shape of the system. It leaves out real vessel locations, endpoints, thresholds, client data and production details.

  1. 01GNSS receivers

    Health and quality signals leave the hardware.

  2. 02Rust edge agent

    Collects, checks and packages the stream.

  3. 03Buffered transport

    Stores data during weak links, then catches up.

  4. 04Cloud ingest + PostGIS

    Parses, stores and links time to place.

  5. 05Operational map

    Turns many weak signals into one view for triage.

YARNLING / PRODUCT LOOP

A sequel should remember the first story.

Yarnling keeps each kind of memory apart. That lets the world grow without each story starting from zero.

Universe
The rules, places and tone shared across stories.
Character
What the toy looks like, likes and has already learned.
Story
The current plot, cast and choices.
Time
Seasons, recent events and what changed since last time.

The product is private and unreleased. The screen in the case study is from the working app.