Build your own Jarvis · Part 3 of 3
Give your AI tools. Keep yourself in charge.
Once your assistant can do a useful job and find the right context, give it a connection that saves you a step. Then test the whole handoff, including the point where it needs your decision.
Make the approval point part of the workflow.
In the Jarvis video, the work includes reading information, drafting replies, researching, and working on code. Those jobs have different consequences. Reading a note and sending a client an email should have different approval paths.
I want the assistant to get the preparation done and bring me the decision with enough detail to make it. If it needs approval to send something, it should show the actual message, recipient, and attachments.
You can use that same pattern from the beginning: read, prepare, review, then act.
| Step | Assistant’s job | Your checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Read | Retrieve the information needed for the task | The correct account, records, and date range |
| Prepare | Create the brief, draft, or proposed change | A complete result you can inspect |
| Approve | Present the exact action and destination | Your explicit decision |
| Confirm | Check the service’s result after the action | Evidence that the intended action completed |
1. Connect the service your task needs.
Return to the job you chose in part one. Where does its information live? Start there. If you are preparing a weekly brief, a calendar or a project document folder may be enough.
Use your assistant’s supported connection flow and the service’s sign-in screen. Review the requested access before you connect. Choose a read-only scope when the integration supports it. If it asks for more access than your first task needs, use a manual export while you work out a narrower setup.
Keep credentials in the connection flow or the tool’s supported secret storage. Your knowledge base should describe the workflow, not contain the password that opens the account.
Check the product’s current controls: Claude Code permissions and Codex sandboxing and approvals. Choose the settings explicitly so you know how tool use is handled.
Keep the layers clear. AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md can describe your rules. The tool’s permissions and the connected account’s access settings determine what actions are actually available.
2. Test a small read-only task.
For a calendar connection, use a prompt with an explicit date range and timezone. Replace the example dates before running it.
Compare the result with the calendar yourself. Check a recurring meeting, an all-day event, and an event with a different timezone if you have them. Those ordinary details tell you more about the workflow than one perfect example.
For the next test, ask for a proposed change in chat. Make sure it can show exactly what would change while leaving the calendar untouched. Only then consider enabling a write action for a task you genuinely want it to carry out.
For an email, review the complete package.
Have the assistant prepare the recipient, subject, body, and attachment list. Check the actual recipient address. Approve that specific draft when it is ready. After sending, ask it to verify the sent item rather than treating a button click as proof.
If a connection times out, check the service before retrying a write. You want one meeting, one message, or one update. Keep a short activity record with the requested action and its confirmed result.
3. Add voice where it reduces friction.
Voice makes sense when you have a thought faster than you want to type it. Start with your computer or phone’s existing dictation, or your assistant’s supported voice input. Speak the request into the same workflow you already tested.
Try this:
Check the transcription before submitting names, dates, amounts, or instructions to act. Ask for a spoken summary if your chosen tool supports it, then keep the detailed result somewhere you can read.
My Jarvis demonstration goes further, including a custom voice experience and phone access. You can see that in the phone workflow clip. Treat that as a later project. Dictating a useful request into a working assistant is already a worthwhile first version.
4. Add another agent when there is another clear job.
My setup eventually involved multiple agents working across projects, including Claude and Codex. That is useful when there are independent jobs to do and a clear way to bring the results back together.
For your first expansion, give one agent a task and another a review. Ask the reviewer to compare a draft with the source, check a proposed change, or find the missing assumptions. Tell both what they own and where the handoff happens.
Keep one person responsible for the final decision: you. If two agents disagree, ask them to point to the evidence. A confident answer is more useful when you can inspect why it is confident.
Your checkpoint: the assistant can read the right source, prepare the work, stop at the agreed approval point, and confirm what happened afterward. Voice makes the request easier. Extra agents have a defined job.
That is the version worth building on. You now have a task, a memory, and a working connection. Keep improving the part that gives you time back.
For the complete demonstration, return to the full Jarvis video. For another practical build from our team, explore StagePlot Pro.
Questions before you start.
What tool should I connect to my personal AI first?
Choose the service required by the task you already tested. Start with a narrow read-only connection or a manual export. A calendar agenda or a small document folder is a useful first exercise because you can compare the result directly with the source.
Can my personal AI send emails for me?
Some assistants support email tools through connected services. Start by drafting responses and reviewing the recipient, subject, body, and attachments yourself. Sending should be a separate, explicitly approved action, with confirmation from the service afterward.
How do I add voice to my AI assistant?
Begin with your device’s existing dictation or a voice input feature supported by your assistant. Dictate a request, check the transcription, and review the result. A custom always-listening assistant, spoken replies, and remote phone access require additional setup.
Does an instruction file enforce tool permissions?
An instruction file describes how you want the assistant to behave. Use the application’s permission settings, account scopes, and approval controls to enforce access. Test the permitted and blocked actions with harmless sample material.
Do I need multiple AI agents?
A single assistant is enough for the first workflows in this series. Add another agent when you have a clear independent job, such as reviewing a draft or checking a change, and give each agent an explicit scope and handoff.