Your AI. Your hardware. Your rules.
A family platform for sovereign, personal AI — running on your own machines, private by default, connected when you choose. Built by the Sterngold brothers. Open to anyone who wants to join.
Version 2 — March 14, 2026
Imagine every person in the family has their own personal AI assistant. It knows your work, your goals, your documents. It runs on your laptop — not in someone else's cloud. Nobody can see your data. But when you want to share something with family, you can.
That's what we're building.
For Alex: A system that ingests your trading data from Interactive Brokers and Fidelity, tracks your portfolio across accounts, quizzes you on CFA Level II topics, automates your monthly budget reports, and surfaces market insights from the sources you already follow (Trading Economics, FXStreet, Fed data, S&P Global) — all private, all yours. Your Chief of Staff, but for finance.
For Nina: A personal workspace that helps you build your business — writing, client management, website — with AI that understands your methodology and speaks your language.
For Vlad: The command center that already exists (Mission Control, coaching tools, writing assistant, health tracking) — now made portable, shareable, and upgradable.
For everyone: The family infrastructure that grows with us.
We borrowed ideas from companies that built platforms serving millions — Uber, Booking.com, Tesla, Amazon. But we're three people, not three thousand. So we took the principles and left the complexity.
Everything runs on hardware you own. Cloud services are connectors, not requirements. If the internet goes down, your AI still works.
Alex can change anything in his setup without breaking Vlad's. Nina can build her business tools without asking permission. Like apartments in a building — shared foundation, private rooms.
We set up the hardware once. Every improvement after that is a software update — pushed remotely, no physical access needed. Vlad can fix Alex's machine from Amsterdam while Alex is in Atlanta.
Services talk to each other through proper channels, not by reaching into each other's files. This is what makes it safe to share infrastructure without sharing secrets.
We use the simplest tool that works. No enterprise software for three people. When something breaks, anyone should be able to understand what went wrong.
If a machine dies, we buy a new one, run one command, and everything comes back exactly as it was. Nothing lives only in someone's head.
Vlad and Alex share openly (brothers). Nina has her own boundary — she sees what she's invited to. Future clients get complete isolation. This is built into the structure, not just a promise.
Nina gets the same quality of tools as Vlad — just with a different interface. The less technical person gets a browser dashboard. The technical person gets a terminal. Same power, different door.
We've been building since February 6, 2026 — about five weeks. In that time, we created a lot. We also broke a lot. Both matter.
| System | What it does | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mission Control | Personal dashboard — tasks, calendar, boards, writing pipeline, health, portfolio | Running daily, localhost |
| 13 websites | sterngold.nl, werkanders.com, Sterngold's Cooking, EventRadar, FoodLog dashboard | All live on Cloudflare |
| FoodLog | Voice-based food diary with AI calorie estimation, health data tracking | Live, 30+ days of data |
| Writing system | 15 essays, gallery + workshop model, interview-edit process, editorial pipeline | Active, first LinkedIn post (11K impressions) |
| Anders Loc | Local AI on methodology corpus — ask questions, get sourced answers | Prototype working (Ollama + ChromaDB) |
| 22 skills | Daily rituals (/hi, /wrap, /gn), writing (/vladvoice, /editor), coaching (/solutions, /resettl), finance (/cfo) | 15 active, 7 parked |
| 9 automated jobs | Stock prices, Obsidian sync, weekly reports, monthly reviews | Running via launchd |
| Security | Air-gapped health/finance folders, pre-commit hooks, API key rotation, sensitivity gates | Layered, tested |
| What happened | Root cause | Platform lesson |
|---|---|---|
| FoodLog stopped working for 2 days | Redeploying the Edge Function silently re-enabled JWT verification, breaking the webhook. Nobody noticed. | Every service needs a health check. Redeploys need post-deploy verification — automated, not manual. |
| Health data stopped flowing (Mar 12) | iOS killed the background app (Health Auto Export). The app reports "exported" but the data never arrives. | Don't depend on third-party iOS background apps. Use Apple-native automation (Shortcuts) or pull-based sync instead. |
| Context compaction lost work | Claude Code hit context limits mid-task. Background agents disappeared. Edits failed because prior file reads were forgotten. | Save progress early and often. Don't trust that a long session will complete. Checkpoint before it's too late. |
| Test data polluted real data | Test webhook entries merged with real food entries (20-min session window). No way to tell them apart. | Test environments must be separate from production. Even for one user. |
| 3000-line monolith Edge Function | FoodLog grew from 200 lines to 3000 lines in one file. Hard to debug, hard to update, risky to deploy. | Services should be small and independent. Split when a file has two responsibilities. |
| Scripts depend on exact file paths | Move a file, break a script. Launchd jobs, symlinks, Python scripts all have hardcoded paths. Migration means updating 50+ paths. | Use relative paths and environment variables. The platform should work regardless of where it's installed. |
| Manual deployment | Deploying a website means: copy files to temp folder, git commit, push, verify. Different steps for each site. | One deploy command per service. Automate or document. Never rely on memory. |
| No backups of local-only data | VersGil and Health were only on one machine. If it broke, the data was gone. | Now fixed (local git vaults, today). But need off-site backup too. |
| Secrets scattered across 7 locations | .env files in ~/.config/eventradar, ~/.config/versgil, ~/.config/foodlog, plus Supabase secrets, SSH keys, OAuth tokens. | Central secret management. One place to look, one process to rotate. |
These aren't failures — they're the foundation for building it right.
Each domain is a self-contained area with its own purpose. Today these are folders on a laptop. Tomorrow they become independent services that can run on any machine.
| Domain | What | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Health | Food logging, weight tracking, Apple Watch data, blood work, mental health | Vlad |
| Finance | Portfolio tracking, spending, tax, pension, property, FIRE planning | Vlad, Alex |
| Content | Websites, writing, LinkedIn, coaching materials | Vlad |
| AI Loc | Local AI engine — Ollama models, RAG knowledge bases, coaching AI | Vlad (Alex soon) |
| Shared | Mission Control, task management, family docs, infrastructure | Everyone |
| Domain | What changed | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Health | Unified family health dashboards. Each person tracks their own data privately. Shared anonymized trends if desired. | Vlad, Alex, Nina |
| Finance | Shared investment tracking (brothers). Individual spending stays private. Tax season automation. | Vlad, Alex |
| Content | Vlad's writing + Nina's business content + shared family media. Each person has their own publishing pipeline. | Vlad, Nina |
| AI Loc | Multiple knowledge bases: Vlad's coaching methodology, Alex's CFA corpus, Nina's business framework. Each sovereign. | Everyone + clients |
| Shared | Family dashboard. Shared calendar. Trip planning. Recipe sharing. Home automation. | Everyone |
| Coaching (new) | Client-facing services: intake forms, session prep, progress tracking. Air-gapped per client. | Vlad's coaching clients |
| Education (new) | Learning tracks, study companions, skill tracking. Alex's CFA → potentially a product for others. | Alex, Nina, clients |
Domains grow organically. We don't build "Education" until someone needs it. But we design the platform so adding a new domain is trivial — one folder, one config, one deploy.
| Role | Who | Interface | What they can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder | Vlad | Terminal, Claude Code, Docker, Git | Full admin. Builds and maintains the platform. |
| Power User | Alex | Claude Code, browser, Git basics | Uses AI tools, manages his own space, pulls updates. Can code if he wants to. |
| User | Nina | Browser, simple commands, guided setup | Full access to her services through friendly interfaces. Equally powerful — different entry point. |
The rule: The User role is not "less than" — it's "different interface to the same power." Nina's browser dashboard can do everything Vlad's terminal can do. If it can't, that's a bug, not a feature.
| Person | When | Role | What they get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michelle | When she's ready | User | Her own space — connected to Vlad's for shared trips, cooking, planning |
| Erik (Michelle's son) | Later | User | Learning companion, age-appropriate AI tools, gaming perhaps |
| Coaching clients | 2027 | Isolated User | Their own House — completely air-gapped from family data |
Each new person is the same process: create their space, configure their AI, connect to shared services they're invited to. No custom engineering per person.
This section is technical. Alex — this is for you. Nina — skip to "How You'll Use It" below.
| Phase | Machine | Role | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now | Vlad's MacBook Air M3 8GB | Start building the platform here | This week |
| Phase 1 | Vlad's MacBook Air M5 15" 32GB | Main development + Docker services | ~Mar 25 |
| Phase 2 | Alex's MacBook Air M5 13" 16GB | Alex's own House | Same time |
| Phase 3 | Mac Mini M4 Pro 64GB | Always-on family server (24/7) | Later 2026 |
When the Mac Mini arrives, all services move there. The laptops become pure clients — thin, fast, no server duties.
All machines connect through Tailscale — a secure, zero-configuration network. Think of it as a private tunnel between all family devices, no matter where they are in the world.
┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
│ Vlad Air │ ←──→│ Mac Mini │←──→ │ Alex Air │
│(Amsterdam)│ │ (24/7) │ │(Atlanta) │
└──────────┘ └────┬─────┘ └──────────┘
│
┌─────┴──────┐
│ Nina's Mac │
│(Amsterdam) │
└────────────┘
Vlad can fix Alex's machine from Amsterdam. Nina can access shared dashboards from anywhere. All encrypted, all private.
What is Docker? Think of it as a shipping container for software. Each service runs in its own container — isolated, portable, reproducible. If the Mac Mini breaks, you buy a new one, run one command, and all the containers come back exactly as they were.
The entire platform is defined in one file (docker-compose.yml):
| Service | What it does | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Mission Control | Task dashboard, calendar, boards | Everyone |
| Ollama | Local AI models (runs on your hardware, not cloud) | Everyone |
| Anders Loc | Knowledge base + RAG (ask questions about your own documents) | Everyone (each with their own data) |
| HAE Server | Collects Apple Watch health data automatically | Vlad |
| Grafana | Beautiful health dashboards | Vlad (eventually everyone) |
| Cloudflare Tunnel | Secure access from outside the home network | Shared |
Starting everything: one command. Updating everything: pull + restart. That's it.
What is Git? "Track Changes" for your entire project — but smarter. Every change is recorded with who made it and when. You can go back to any previous version. Nothing is ever lost.
What is GitHub? A website that stores Git projects in the cloud. Private — only the family can access it. It's the single source of truth for all platform code and configuration.
One private repository: house-of-anders
house-of-anders/
├── docker-compose.yml ← one file, whole platform
├── domains/
│ ├── health/ ← FoodLog, Apple Watch, Withings
│ ├── finance/ ← portfolio, spending, tax
│ ├── ai-loc/ ← Ollama config, knowledge bases
│ └── content/ ← website deploy scripts
├── users/
│ ├── vlad/ ← Vlad's AI config + skills
│ ├── alex/ ← Alex's AI config + skills
│ ├── nina/ ← Nina's AI config + skills
│ └── shared/ ← shared scripts + configs
├── docs/
│ ├── what-is-docker.md ← guide for non-technical users
│ ├── what-is-git.md ← guide for non-technical users
│ ├── runbook.md ← how to maintain
│ └── onboarding.md ← how to add a new person
└── infrastructure/
├── tailscale/ ← network config
├── backups/ ← backup scripts
└── cloudflare/ ← tunnel config
For Alex: You'll use git pull to get updates. That's one command. Everything else is automated.
For Nina: Updates happen automatically. You don't need to know Git exists.
Wake up. Open laptop. Your dashboard shows: IBKR portfolio up 1.2% overnight, 3 options expiring this Friday, CFA study streak at 12 days. The AI pulled overnight Fed balance sheet data and flagged a repo rate anomaly — "review before market open." Check your 44-column trade tracker — Claude already reconciled yesterday's fills from IB. Quick CFA drill: "Explain pension accounting under IFRS vs US GAAP" — the AI generates a concise explanation with a practice question, sourced from your Mark Meldrum materials. Budget update: the monthly report you used to spend 3 hours preparing was auto-generated at midnight — spending, positions, NAVs, all consolidated from IB, Fidelity, and NNEK. Vlad pushed an update to the shared investment research — it's already on your machine.
Wake up. Open laptop. Your dashboard shows today's clients, pending proposals, and a draft blog post the AI started based on your notes from yesterday. Click the blog post — review it, adjust the tone, publish it to your website. A client sent documents — ask your AI to summarize them (they stay on YOUR machine, not in any cloud). Need to write a proposal in Dutch? Your AI knows your style and your methodology. Check the family shared folder — Vlad added a recipe for Saturday dinner.
/hi— Mission Control opens. Health card shows weight, HRV, steps. Calendar shows Resettl session at 10. Focus card: Preply prep is priority. Write for 90 minutes — the AI holds your voice, your references, your editorial process. Coach a client at 2 — the session prep was generated from their intake form, running on local AI, no cloud involved./wrapat 5. Everything saved, versioned, backed up. Push an update to Alex's config — his machine gets it automatically.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Docker Desktop | Free | Personal use |
| Tailscale | Free | Up to 3 users, 100 devices |
| GitHub Private | Free | Unlimited private repos |
| Cloudflare Tunnel | Free | Secure external access |
| Backblaze B2 backup | ~€6/month | 10GB free, then €0.006/GB/month |
| Domain renewals | ~€30/year | werkanders.com etc. |
| Total | ~€6/month | Hardware already planned separately |
Principle: free first, pay for reliability when free breaks. Frugality is the mother of creativity — but we don't compromise on backups.
| Layer | What | How often | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time Machine | Full machine backup | Continuous | External drive |
| Git repositories | All code and config | Every commit | GitHub (encrypted at rest) |
| Local vault git | VersGil + Health (sensitive) | Daily at 23:00 | Local only — never pushed |
| Off-site backup | Critical data | Daily | Backblaze B2 (encrypted) |
| Recovery drill | Can we rebuild from zero? | Quarterly | Test on spare machine |
The rule: If the Mac Mini catches fire, we buy a new one, clone the repo, restore the backup, and docker compose up. Same platform. Zero manual steps.
house-of-anders (private)You answered the questionnaire (thanks!) — here's what we're building for you based on what you said:
| What you need | What we'll build | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly budget report takes 3+ hours | Auto-generated monthly report from IB, Fidelity, NNEK data. Spending, positions, NAVs consolidated. | High — automate first |
| Trade journaling is manual | Auto-ingest daily IB trade reports → structured journal with entry/exit, P&L, thesis notes | High |
| CFA Level II (Aug 2026) | RAG on your Mark Meldrum + CFAI materials. Quiz mode, concept explainer, weak-area drilling, Ethics infographics | High |
| Portfolio tracking across IB + Fidelity + NNEK | Unified dashboard: positions, P&L, margin, 52-week high/low, option vol skew | High |
| Market data from 6+ sources | Automated weekly digest from Trading Economics, FXStreet, Treasury TIC, Fed, S&P Global EPS | Medium |
| Dr. Mark Meldrum Discord/YouTube transcripts | Record + transcribe his daily market reviews for when you can't dial in | Medium |
| Password manager (currently Excel!) | Move to 1Password or iCloud Keychain — Excel passwords are a security risk | Quick win |
| Want to see code + thinking process | Claude Code shows everything by default — code, reasoning, file changes. You'll love this. | Built-in |
| SSH maintenance must be logged | Tailscale logs all connections. We'll add a maintenance log file. Trust + transparency. | Built-in |
We looked at the structure (not the numbers!) of your sample files:
INVESTMENTS - APPLIED.xlsx — 5 sheets: - Trades & Positions (256 rows × 44 columns — this is your main tracker) - IB Transfers, Margin tracking, Prompts (your own AI prompts!), Trades archive - This is a sophisticated workbook. The AI will need to understand your column structure to automate reporting.
Budget template.xlsx — 9 sheets: - Budget (296 rows × 83 columns — full year, very detailed) - Gas/Electric regression analysis (you're modeling utility costs!) - Coca Cola shares + Shareworks (equity compensation tracking) - Investment modeling (6.7% return scenario) - Loan schedules (550K, 20yr, 1.79%) - This is CFO-level personal finance. The automation potential is enormous.
Today it's three people and a few laptops. Tomorrow it could be a family platform that grows with us — each person sovereign, each connected, each upgradable. The pattern works for three people. The same pattern works for thirty.
But we start with three. And we start now.
Your AI. Your hardware. Your rules.
Why we build this way — principles borrowed from the best, filtered through our own experience.
"Group related services behind a single gateway interface so consumers see one door per domain, not dozens of internal services."
Each project (EventRadar, VersGil, CFA Study) becomes a "domain" with one clear entry point — one API, one config, one deploy. New projects plug into the platform without touching existing ones.
"Push decision-making to the edges by giving every unit the tools to test and ship independently, without central approval."
Vlad saw this firsthand — from 35 developers to a platform serving millions. The principle that made it work wasn't microservices, it was autonomy. Each person (Vlad, Alex, Nina) can use and update their slice without breaking anyone else's. Independence is structural, not just a promise.
"Design the platform once for maximum capability, then improve everything through software updates pushed to the same unchanged base."
The Mac Mini is our "shipped hardware." Set it up once with maximum headroom (64GB, containerized services), then every improvement is a software deploy — new AI model, new service, new family member's app. Never re-architect the base; only push updates to it.
"All functionality must be exposed through service interfaces. No back doors, no direct data reads, no shared-memory shortcuts. Design every interface as if it will be consumed by an external party." — Jeff Bezos, 2002
Even for three people, never let one project reach into another's files. Alex's portfolio tracker doesn't read Vlad's health data. This is what makes the jump from "my scripts" to "family platform" possible — clean contracts between components.
"Define your entire infrastructure in version-controlled config files so you can rebuild from zero with one command."
Docker Compose, environment configs, deploy scripts — all in Git. If the Mac Mini dies, you buy a new one, clone the repo, and docker compose up. Same platform, zero manual steps.
"The machine doesn't replace you. It's an organ you grew."
Every AI component should feel like an extension of the user, not a separate tool they visit. Anders doesn't live in a browser tab — it lives in the terminal, in the daily ritual, in the morning briefing. Alex's CFA companion shouldn't be "an app" — it should be woven into how he studies.
"The simplest intervention that works is the best one."
Docker Compose, not Kubernetes. Mono-repo, not 10 repos. Shell script before CI/CD pipeline. Three lines of code is better than a premature abstraction. Only add complexity when the current solution genuinely breaks. But when reliability matters (backups, security), invest in the Miele, not the LG — technology serves a purpose.
"The process of building AI Loc IS the content for AI Loc."
Every architecture decision, every Docker config, every migration script is potential educational material. Write it as if a practitioner will read it. This document isn't afterthought documentation — it's the product's first demo.
Built by the Sterngold brothers. One family, one platform. March 2026.