Keeping systems running involves constant, detail-heavy work: reading logs, updating configs, fixing pipelines and responding to alerts. AI agents that can run commands and read output are becoming useful helpers for this.
The cases here are real examples of agents in operations work, from debugging deployments and writing infrastructure code to tidying servers and investigating incidents. Each links to its public source.
Safety is the theme in the best examples. Engineers give agents limited permissions, test on staging first, and require approval for changes to production. Used that way, agents speed up the investigation without adding risk.
Browse the cases below, pick one close to your stack, and try its prompt in a safe environment. The list is ordered by interest.
What is in this guide: 60 sourced cases, added between 2026-10-15 and 2026-10-15. The tools that come up most often are Claude Code (15), Custom agent (10), Claude (10), and the cases mostly sit under DevOps & Infra (40), Finance (6), Personal Assistant (5). They were reported on Hacker News (22), Blog (17), Reddit (11). If you only have a few minutes, start with the top three: “Control a fan from sleep position”; “Claude Code as a general computer operator”; “Let terminal agents make phone calls”.
Each case page gives a short summary in our own words, a note on why it matters, a reusable prompt broken into steps you can follow, and a link to the original first-hand account. Nothing here is a paid placement, and we only list cases with a working public source.
60 real cases, most interesting first
Control a fan from sleep position· Custom agent · DevOps & Infra According to the write-up, the setup runs a MediaPipe pose vision model on a Raspberry Pi home server that watches the sleeping person via camera.…
Claude Code as a general computer operator· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra A writer argues a terminal coding agent can handle many everyday computing jobs and shows examples beyond writing code.
Let terminal agents make phone calls· Make · DevOps & Infra Documented elsewhere: the builder assembled a CLI tool powered by Twilio and GPT-live that gives terminal agents a voice for outbound calls. The…
Always-on home-server assistant· Claude · DevOps & Infra A Claude-based agent running as a service on a mini PC delivers a morning briefing, watches email and tracks finances with long-term memory.
Security review on every push to main· Cursor · DevOps & Infra Cursor's own security automation audits diffs after merge to main, skips already-discussed issues, and posts high-risk findings to Slack.
Run routine store checks on delayed orders and stock· Claude · DevOps & Infra Linked example of run routine store checks on delayed orders and stock. The thread describes a store owner connecting Claude to Zendrop through its…
Debug code hands-free by voice· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra Real-world thread: claude Code shows up in a write-up about debug code hands-free by voice. The linked post is the primary source for steps and…
Code in the terminal· Grok Bot · DevOps & Infra Documented elsewhere: grok Bot shows up in a write-up about code in the terminal. The linked post is the primary source for steps and outcomes.
Custom terminal agent for CRUD scaffolding· Custom agent · DevOps & Infra An HN user runs a local DeepSeek-backed coding agent with only filesystem tools to scaffold routing, CRUD, auth, themes and admin dashboards in…
Run terminal commands· GitHub Copilot · DevOps & Infra According to the write-up, gitHub Copilot shows up in a write-up about run terminal commands. The linked post is the primary source for steps and…
Run an entire business from the terminal· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra As described in the source, from the linked report: constructed a framework that manages their entire operation powered by Claude Code instead of…
Migrate 180 microservices with dual Cursor agents· Cursor · DevOps & Infra Brex built generation and validation Cursor agents that draft PRs, fix CI, and run integration tests so one engineer migrated 180 Micronaut services…
Diagnose why a Mac is running slowly· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra A user has Claude Code check load averages, memory pressure, disk space, stuck processes and Docker or Time Machine caches, then explain fixes with…
Debug Windows crash dumps· Custom agent · DevOps & Infra Raw minidumps are painful; ForensicDbg predigests native x86/x64 crashes into linked findings and speaks MCP, so an agent can debug post-mortem…
Make auditable rule-based decisions· Claude · DevOps & Infra As described in the source, the Rete rule engine is responsible for determining loans, fraud, and triage cases, while an LLM and an MCP server are…
Let agents edit Word documents via MCP· Custom agent · DevOps & Infra According to the write-up, the agent edits a clean HTML version of the Word file instead of raw OOXML. A small fine-tuned model (3–8B, LoRA) turns…
Turn Slack feedback into PRs and debug infra· Devin · DevOps & Infra From the linked report, at Sid's last company a dedicated Slack feedback channel fed every user issue or request to Devin. Given read-only access…
Find exploitable bugs in smart contracts· Claude · DevOps & Infra A published walkthrough shows researchers assembled SCONE-bench from 405 historically exploited contracts. Each agent ran in a Docker sandbox with a…
Verify SPICE simulations against a real oscilloscope· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra Documented elsewhere: lucas Gerads gave Claude Code two MCP servers: one for a LeCroy oscilloscope and one wrapping spicelib for SPICE simulation.…
Validation agent that stops after three tries· Cursor · DevOps & Infra Brex's PR validation agent deploys services, runs integration tests, patches failures up to three times, then leaves a human-readable blocker comment.
Trade stocks via Robinhood MCP· ChatGPT Agent · DevOps & Infra Community report: the setup was a Robinhood MCP for an agentic trading challenge against $VOO. The ChatGPT agent sold TSM shares and bought HOOD…
Test Devin on integrations, migration and security review· Devin · DevOps & Infra Observed in the wild: answer.AI gave Devin, which works through Slack in its own Docker environment with a browser, editor and shell, about 20 real…
Self-host services on a home server· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra Real-world thread: jordan Fulghum put Ubuntu Server and Tailscale on a Beelink mini PC and SSHed in from his laptop. He installed Claude Code on the…
Run sandboxed Claude Code fleet sharing files via MCP· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra Claude Code farm, each worker jailed. File I/O only via MCP to an agentfiles:// fake disk; the orchestrator alone talks to AWS. Credentials stay…
Reverse-engineer binaries in Ghidra· Claude · DevOps & Infra Community report: A Ghidra plugin starts an HTTP server on localhost, and a Python bridge exposes it to MCP clients such as Claude or Cursor. The…
Repair formal proofs for a verified garbage collector· Codex · DevOps & Infra Real-world thread: codex had repository access, edited Rocq proof files, ran targeted make builds, and Leaned on a rocq-mcp server to inspect proof…
Produce a track in Ableton Live by talking· Codex · DevOps & Infra One practitioner notes that the MCP server lets Codex run Python inside Ableton Live's object model, plus assembled-in tools for common tasks. In…
Migrate a SaaS from AWS to DigitalOcean· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra From the linked report, the developer asked Claude Code to build GitHub Actions workflows that bootstrap DigitalOcean: droplet, managed Postgres…
Manage NixOS server configs· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra Someone keeps their self-hosted NixOS machines in a config repo with Claude Code, but blocks nixos-rebuild switch and applies each reviewed diff by…
Let an agent extend its own code inside a Docker sandbox· Claude · DevOps & Infra From the linked report, miguel, assembled on Claude and the Agno framework, runs inside Docker with the project mounted read-only and only its own…
Let a voice receptionist schedule appointments via MCP· Custom agent · DevOps & Infra As described in the source, the commenter's team runs a custom MCP server exposing tools such as list_appointments, schedule_appointment and…
Let Claude read Apple Health and Fitbit data via MCP· Claude Code · DevOps & Infra Claude Code covered let Claude read Apple Health and Fitbit data via MCP. The poster used a hosted MCP connector instead of a self-hosted server.
Have Claude collect names from a Wikipedia page into a file· Claude computer use · DevOps & Infra Community report: the poster Leaned on Claude Computer Use to control Firefox, go to Wikipedia, search for a topic, then identify all the names on…
Give agents a multi-engine math kernel via MCP· Custom agent · DevOps & Infra Real-world thread: mathKernel runs as an MCP server (mathkernel-mcp, stdio, 162 math_ tools). The model parses and plans, and the kernel does the…
Diagnose Kubernetes alerts· n8n · DevOps & Infra A published walkthrough shows in a Mattermost thread, a diagnostic report is posted by an n8n agent that is triggered by Alertmanager and queries…
Run your side of a home insurance claim· Claude · Finance Two months after a burst pipe, Claude reads the policy, files ALE receipts, watches adjuster mail for delays and contradictions, logs estimates and…
Run a homeschooling family on OpenClaw agents· OpenClaw · Home & Family Documented elsewhere: jesse Genet runs five OpenClaw agents, each on its own Mac Mini with limited permissions. She photographed curriculum books…
Run a business assistant that resumes project work· OpenClaw · Personal Assistant Documented elsewhere: the poster used a ChatGPT business account tied to OpenClaw on an old Intel MacBook they had turned into a server, after…
Run a Monday competitor-monitoring brief from job listings· Claude · Personal Assistant Real-world thread: the poster set Claude to run every Monday at 8am with a prompt listing competitors and asking it to check each company’s website…
Grocery order built from purchase history· Custom agent · Shopping An agent logs into a supermarket site, uses past orders and current deals to propose meals, and fills the basket for review.
Coach training and diet from wearable data· Claude · Home & Family Observed in the wild: one commenter described a setup very close to this: Garmin data is pulled hourly into an InfluxDB on their server, and Claude…
Book tables and watch for openings or price drops· Custom agent · Travel & Booking Observed in the wild: the agent receives a booking request for tables or travel. It completes the reservation on its own and continues monitoring…
Invoices filed the moment they arrive· n8n · Finance An automation reads invoice PDFs or photos from email, extracts key fields, files them in Drive with consistent names and logs them in a sheet.
Build a budgeting app from a single prompt· Replit Agent · Finance As described in the source, as an early test of Replit Agent, The builder gave it one long prompt describing a budgeting tool: monthly budgets per…
Homelab managed with an AI assistant· Claude Code · Personal Assistant A homelabber used AI to manage infrastructure-as-code, containers and troubleshooting across a home server setup.
Send tone-adjusted overdue invoice reminders· n8n · Finance According to the write-up, the builder ran n8n locally in Docker and assembled a chat-triggered AI agent powered by Gemini (gemini-2.0-flash-lite)…
Decide between points and cash for every trip· Claude Code · Travel & Booking According to the write-up, the toolkit installs into Claude Code as a plugin with skills, MCP servers and a travel-hacker subagent. Given a request…
Let AI agents file employment tax returns· Custom agent · Finance A published walkthrough shows the MCP server utilized by agents for tax returns, including employment forms 941 and 940, is currently in development…
Track food and symptoms in a health log via Telegram· OpenClaw · Personal Assistant As described in the source, you message a Telegram topic with what you ate or how you feel. The agent appends a timestamped entry to a markdown…
Run a personal doorman agent on a $7 VPS· Claude · Email & Inbox Documented elsewhere: george Larson ran nullclaw, a small Zig agent, on a cheap VPS. It joined his own IRC server, which visitors reached through a…
Receipt hunter across two inboxes· Claude Code · Finance A Claude Code agent scans Gmail and Outlook for receipts, removes duplicates, logs expenses, and remembers vendor categories.
Generate LEGO CAD models in LDraw· ChatGPT · Shopping Documented elsewhere: the creation of LDraw source files, which are then converted into LEGO CAD models, is facilitated by ChatGPT and Claude agents…
Research purchases for delivered price and working coupons· Custom agent · Research & Data Documented elsewhere: the poster runs this self-hosted on a home server with a Claude subscription. Claude Code orchestrates parallel subagents to…