How a solo consultant keeps an AI agent team in good shape
Written by a working solo consultant. Updated . Markdown version.
An upkeep agent reviews the team's agent personas, examples, and routines once a week and flags what drifted.
You decide which one change to make. The AI agent does not rewrite a live prompt on its own.
Upkeep is how the other seven roles stay matched to the work you actually do.
What does drifted mean?
A role has drifted when the draft keeps missing in the same way. The voice is off. The facts are old. The schedule no longer matches your week. The examples describe an offer you stopped selling.
One bad draft is not drift. A pattern across two or three runs is. Upkeep looks for the pattern, names the file that caused it, and stops.
What should the weekly check look at?
Bring the drafts you rejected, the drafts you sent with heavy edits, and the persona for that role. Ask what those edits have in common. Ask which example no longer matches.
Also look at the calendar. A routine you skipped for three weeks is a finding. Either move it to a day you keep, or pause the role until you will run it.
Why change only one thing?
If you rewrite the persona, swap the examples, and change the schedule in one Friday, you will not know what helped. Pick the single change that answers the pattern. Leave the rest for a later week.
Write down the change in one line: what you changed, and what you hope the next draft does differently. Read that line before the next run.
How do you set up the upkeep agent?
- Make a Friday hold. Twenty to forty minutes. Upkeep that is not on the calendar does not happen in a client week.
- Collect the week's drafts. Keep a folder of what you rejected and what you edited heavily. The raw mail can stay in mail.
- Ask for patterns, not a rewrite. The output is a short list: role, what drifted, which file to change. Three findings is a full week.
- Choose one change. You pick. Update that persona, example, or calendar hold. Note the one line about why.
- Leave the other findings. They can wait. A second change hides the effect of the first.
- Check the change next week. Look at the next draft from that role before you touch anything else. Did the pattern move?
What does the upkeep week look like?
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| During the week | Drop rejected or heavily edited drafts into the upkeep folder. One minute each. |
| Friday | Run the check. Read the findings. Make one change. |
| The next run of that role | Compare the new draft with the one-line note. Keep the change or revert it. |
| Once a month | Pause any role you did not run. A paused role is cleaner than a stale one. |
What are the approval rules?
The upkeep agent may read the files you give it and list what drifted. You choose the change and you edit the file. That edit is the approval gate.
It may not replace a live persona, delete an example, or reschedule your calendar.
It may not scold you for skipping a routine. A skip is a fact. The response is to move the routine or pause the role.
It may not propose a stack of changes. Three findings, one change.
It may not pull in client files you did not paste. The folder you bring is the whole input.
Common questions
Do I need upkeep in the first week?
Not as its own role. During the first ten mornings of the chief of staff, keep a note by hand. Start the Friday check when you have two roles and a folder of edits.
What if nothing drifted?
Say so and stop. A quiet Friday is a successful check. Do not change a prompt to feel productive.
Can upkeep cover the connectors too?
Yes, as a finding. If a connector pulled the wrong folder or gained a send permission, flag it. You change the permission in the tool yourself.
Where is this written up as a setup?
The full kit includes the weekly upkeep audit with the other roles. The free PDF shows upkeep on the map. The chief of staff guide is the first routine upkeep will later protect.
Terms used here
Playbooks for this work
- The Solo Consultant's Agent Org Chart
Free PDF. The map of the eight roles.
- The Full Agent Team Kit
The full kit. Launch price $79. Regular price $99.