The Practical AI Workflow Series

Practical, evidence-led guides to choosing, testing, and using AI for real work—from better prompts and verified research to safer systems and repeatable results.

1. Part 1

   How to Write Better AI Prompts: A Practical Framework

   Better prompts aren't magic wording. They're short briefs that hand the model a task, the context it can't infer, the limits, and a quality bar.

   Aug 14, 2026
2. Part 2

   How to Research with AI Without Losing the Source Trail

   Use AI to speed research without losing trust. Learn to find primary sources, verify claims, preserve uncertainty, and keep an auditable source trail.

   Aug 14, 2026
3. Part 3

   How to Choose an AI Tool: A Practical Evaluation Checklist

   The best AI tool is not the one with the longest feature list. It is the one that solves a defined job reliably, fits the workflow, handles data appropriately, and remains useful after the novelty wears off.

   Aug 17, 2026
4. Part 4

   Prompt Testing: Build a Lightweight Eval Set

   A prompt that works once may still fail in production. A lightweight eval set gives you repeatable cases, a clear rubric, and a way to see whether a prompt change actually improved the workflow.

   Aug 17, 2026
5. Part 5

   Prompt testing: build a lightweight eval set

   A prompt that works once isn't a quality system. Five cases, an observable rubric, and a regression set will tell you whether a change helped.

   Aug 21, 2026
6. Part 6

   AI content SEO: how to publish pages that earn their place

   AI made publishing cheap, which is exactly the problem. What separates a page worth ranking from a competent summary of the first ten results.

   Aug 21, 2026
7. Part 7

   How to create an AI agent skill: a practical SKILL.md guide

   Build a portable AI agent skill from one repeatable job: a precise description, concise instructions, focused resources, and tests that prove it works.

   Aug 31, 2026
8. Part 8

   10 best Claude skills for developers in 2026

   A useful Claude skill solves one recurring engineering job, is easy to inspect, and saves more time than it creates in setup and review.

   Sep 2, 2026
9. Part 9

   How to install Claude skills in Claude and Claude Code

   Claude skills can live in your Claude account, your local Claude Code setup, or a repository. Install them where the sessions that need them can load them.

   Sep 1, 2026
10. Part 10

    AI agent skills vs. MCP servers: which should you build?

    Use an agent skill to package reusable know-how and workflow instructions. Use an MCP server when an agent needs live, governed access to external data or actions.

    Sep 4, 2026
11. Part 11

    Claude Code skills vs. slash commands: what changed

    Custom commands and skills can both create a slash-invoked workflow in Claude Code. The important choice is how the workflow is discovered, shared, and permissioned.

    Sep 3, 2026
12. Part 12

    What are AI agent skills? How SKILL.md works

    AI agent skills package instructions, scripts, references, and templates into portable folders an agent loads only when the task calls for them.

    Aug 30, 2026
13. Part 13

    Claude skills vs. connectors vs. plugins: what is the difference?

    Skills teach Claude a repeatable method, connectors provide governed access to apps and live data, and plugins package related capabilities for installation and sharing.

    Sep 8, 2026
14. Part 14

    How to add an MCP server to Claude Code safely

    Add remote HTTP or local stdio MCP servers to Claude Code, choose the right scope, protect credentials, verify the connection, and test with least privilege.

    Sep 9, 2026
15. Part 15

    How to vet AI agent skills before installing them

    Treat an AI agent skill as both an instruction package and a software dependency: inspect what it says, what it runs, what it can access, and how it updates.

    Sep 10, 2026
16. Part 16

    What is an MCP server? A practical guide

    An MCP server exposes tools, resources, or prompts through a standard protocol so an AI application can discover and use external capabilities.

    Sep 11, 2026
17. Part 17

    How to build an MCP server in TypeScript: step-by-step

    Build an MCP server in TypeScript with focused tools, validated schemas, local and remote transports, Inspector tests, and production security controls.

    Sep 15, 2026
18. Part 18

    How to test an MCP server with MCP Inspector

    Use MCP Inspector to connect to local or remote servers, inspect capabilities, call tools, read resources, test prompts, and diagnose failures before release.

    Sep 17, 2026
19. Part 19

    MCP tools vs. resources vs. prompts: when to use each

    Tools perform operations, resources expose readable context, and prompts provide reusable templates. Choosing the correct primitive makes an MCP server easier to understand and govern.

    Sep 18, 2026
20. Part 20

    MCP authentication explained: OAuth, scopes, and safe token handling

    Remote MCP authorization uses established OAuth standards, but secure integration still requires issuer validation, least-privilege scopes, protected token handling, and server-side enforcement.

    Sep 20, 2026
21. Part 21

    How to use remote MCP servers with the OpenAI Responses API

    An API request routing a model's tool call through an approval gate to a remote MCP server

    Sep 22, 2026
22. Part 22

    CLAUDE.md vs. skills: where should Claude Code instructions live?

    CLAUDE.md carries persistent project context. Skills load reusable procedures when relevant. Separating stable facts from task-specific workflows keeps both easier to maintain.

    Sep 23, 2026