Module 6 · Your tool-building playbook
Your next builds: starter prompts
Three ready-to-build tools, each a full kickoff prompt you can paste today. Every one covers a job real businesses do by hand, every week.
Starting any of these is the same three moves you know by heart: make a new folder inside your my-tools folder, open Claude Code there with permissions on (Module 0), and paste the prompt. Then drive it exactly like you drove the last three builds.
Invoice generator
Build #1 wearing a different hat.
Meeting-recap tool
Transcript in, actions + email out.
Contact-sync bridge
Two systems, no more retyping.
1. An invoice generator
Stop paying a monthly platform to send a handful of invoices. This one interviews you, fills your branded template, saves a PDF, and keeps a running paid/unpaid log.
Copy this prompt
I want to turn this folder into a reusable invoice tool, built the same way as a proposal builder. The job: when I say "new invoice," you help me create a clean, branded invoice. The routine: interview me briefly, one question at a time — who the client is, the line items and amounts, and the due date. Don't ask for everything at once. The output: fill a branded HTML invoice template with my answers, convert it to a PDF, and save it in an invoices/ folder named like 2026-07-10-client-name.pdf. Keep a running log: a simple list of every invoice with its amount and a paid / unpaid status I can update by telling you "mark the Smith invoice paid." Create a CLAUDE.md playbook so this routine works every time, then do a test run with a made-up client so I can open a sample PDF. Before you write any code, tell me your plan in plain English. Keep it simple — this runs on my computer, just for me.
This is Build #1 wearing a different hat — the same interview → template → PDF pipeline as your proposal generator. You already know it works, so expect it to come together fast.
2. A meeting-recap tool
Drop in a transcript, get back a summary, the decisions made, action items with owners, and a follow-up email drafted and ready to send.
Copy this prompt
I want to turn this folder into a meeting-recap tool. The job: turn a meeting transcript into a recap I can act on. The input: I'll drop a transcript file into a transcripts/ folder. The routine: when I say "recap [filename]," read that transcript and produce a tight summary, the decisions made, action items with owners, and a drafted follow-up email that's ready for me to paste and send. The output: save all of that in a recaps/ folder, and show me the follow-up email so I can copy it. Create a CLAUDE.md playbook so this works every time. Before you write any code, tell me your plan in plain English. Keep it simple — this runs on my computer, just for me.
That’s a great version two. Sending email means connecting an email service, and that needs an API key — the “password for a program” idea from Module 2. When you’re ready, ask Claude to add it; it’ll walk you through the setup, including the never-put-the-key-in-code rule.
3. A contact-sync bridge
Two systems that don’t talk, and you in the middle retyping names. This finds what’s missing or different between them, shows you before it touches anything, and hands each system a clean import file.
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I use two systems and I keep retyping the same contacts between them. I want to stop. The job: keep the contacts in my two systems in sync without retyping. The input: an exported CSV file from each system — [SYSTEM A — for example: "my booking tool"] and [SYSTEM B — for example: "my email list"]. The routine: take an export from each, find the contacts that are missing from one side or different between them, and show me those differences for approval before doing anything. The output: once I approve, produce a clean import file for each system with just the changes, ready to load back in. Never change anything without showing me first. Before you write any code, tell me your plan in plain English. Keep it simple — this runs on my computer, just for me.
If a build stalls, you already know the move: copy the whole error, paste it to Claude, and say “I got this error — explain it in plain English and fix it.” If a whole approach isn’t working, try “take a different approach” or “go back to the last snapshot.” Nothing here is new — you did all of it across the last three builds.
You’ve picked one of the three, made its folder, and pasted the prompt — or you’ve got a fourth idea of your own and the recipe to build it. Either way, your next tool is under way.