peer · zach

Compact peer card facts and full synthesised representation (deductive + inductive observations).

Peer card

NameZach
Co-founder of DigiGrow (with Austin)
OccupationSoftware engineer/technical lead
RoleDeveloper platform role in Atlas
Self-describes as: vibe coder, ships fast, infra fluent
Uses Claude Code to build and ship production software
INSTRUCTIONFor Atlas infra work, autonomous execution is authorized - use 'DO IT URSELF you have infra access' trigger
INSTRUCTIONFor small well-scoped features, skip brainstorming and route to /gsd-quick once scope is clear
INSTRUCTIONFor any frontend/UI work, invoke impeccable + frontend-design skill suite BEFORE writing JSX
INSTRUCTIONCompute and surface total API costs (£/$) before locking decisions involving paid external APIs
TRAITGrants scope upfront and expects autonomous end-to-end execution without step-by-step confirmation
TRAITValues clean, modular architecture
TRAITShips fast, pragmatic about avoiding unnecessary ceremony
TRAITCost-conscious about API bills (watches GCP/Google Places costs)
TRAITStrong design standards for ALL surfaces including internal/ops panels - internal-only does not exempt from design rigor
TRAITPrefers meticulous planning followed by fast execution
TRAITInfrastructure-fluent (drives Coolify API, SSH, Cloudflare, GHL directly)
TRAITSystematically extracts learnings from phases (decisions, lessons, patterns, surprises)
ProjectAtlas - lead management engine with LLM integration
ProjectDigigrow - CRM/business automation company
TechnologyUses MiniMax LLM (engine), Claude Code (development)
TechnologyUses Coolify for deployment infrastructure
TechnologyUses Go High Level (GHL) for CRM
TechnologyUses self-hosted Honcho for memory (honcho.lagden.dev)
TechnologyUses Discord for team communication with custom bot
ColleagueAustin (co-founder, admin role)
ColleagueAlex (GHL user)
ColleagueJordan Priebe-Mann (setter)
ColleaguesAziz, Billy, Ismail, Silas (closers)
LocationUK-based (UK phone +447442347240, Twilio UK number)
Infrastructurezl-vps01 (VPS for Honcho, MCP worker)
Domainatlas.digigrow.uk
Websitehoncho.lagden.dev

Representation

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## Explicit Observations

[2026-05-17 14:01:35] Honcho plugin (forked claude-honcho with cwd-based workspaceRules patch) was installed and validated 2026-05-17. The fork lives at ~/development/personal/claude-honcho/ as a single commit on top of upstream main (sha 37a34707), and routes by cwd via the new workspaceRules config field. Plugin is registered as marketplace "honcho" pointing at the local directory. Two MCP layers now coexist: mcp__plugin_honcho_honcho__* (auto-routing by cwd, with UserPromptSubmit auto-context injection) and mcp__honcho-{digigrow,personal,misc,global}__* (raw HTTP, explicit cross-workspace queries).
[2026-05-17 14:16:52] zach communicates with an AI/system named Donna
[2026-05-17 14:16:52] zach worked on Sue Carter's e-commerce website in the recent past
[2026-05-17 14:16:52] zach asked whether Donna automatically learns from conversations without manual ingestion triggering
[2026-05-17 14:16:52] Sue Carter is a legacy WordPress customer
[2026-05-17 14:16:52] Sue Carter's business is part of DigiGrow
[2026-05-17 14:16:52] zach reported that hermes-backup.service on dg-agent01-hel1-prod failed at 14:06:55Z on May 17, 2026
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach requested someone look into GitHub issue #19 in the Pi-hole-Optimized-Blocklists repository
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach requested that someone complete task 1 and leave comments on his behalf
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach requested that the Donna Hermes Agent runbook at https://wiki.admin.digigrow.uk/doc/donna-hermes-agent-runbook-XnRyDykoBc be kept up to date
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach reported that Donna cannot see the GitHub CLI
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach instructed not to interrupt Donna because she is currently running and doing stuff
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach reported that an SSH key was added for signing and authentication
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach is the owner of the Pi-hole-Optimized-Blocklists GitHub repository
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach has a GitHub account with username zachlagden
[2026-05-17 15:17:07] On May 17, 2026, zach expressed that fixing all auxiliary AI warnings is the most important priority

## Deductive Observations

[2026-05-16 19:00:01] Zach is a software entrepreneur (co-founder of DigiGrow)
   Premises:
   - Zach co-founded DigiGrow (with Austin)
   - Zach is a developer with platform role in Atlas


## Inductive Observations

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach treats brainstorming ceremony as friction for well-scoped features. He pushes back on multi-section design walks when scope is clear, instructing to 'just use /gsd-quick and make it' once key decisions are locked.
   **Type**: preference
   **Sources**:
   - A user pushed back on Zach's over-design of forum-ping feature
   - Once decisions are locked for well-scoped features, Zach instructs to jump to /gsd-quick
   - Zach prefers to plan meticulously then execute fast

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach self-hosts critical infrastructure rather than relying on managed services. He deployed Honcho at honcho.lagden.dev on zl-vps01 using Coolify, and maintains direct access to Coolify API and SSH for autonomous deployment.
   **Type**: behavior
   **Sources**:
   - zach deployed honcho.lagden.dev with 3 workspaces
   - Zach deployed Coolify atlas-v2-backend and self-hosted Honcho
   - For autonomous execution, Zach instructs to use Coolify API and SSH directly

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach is infrastructure-fluent and prefers to operate backend systems himself rather than delegate. His profile self-describes as 'infra fluent' and he drives Coolify, SSH, Cloudflare, and GHL directly.
   **Type**: personality
   **Sources**:
   - Zach's profile describes him as 'infra fluent'
   - Zach's profile describes him as someone who 'ships fast, vibe coder, infra fluent'
   - Zach manages an Atlas engine LLM system

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach applies high design standards to ALL surfaces including internal/ops panels. He explicitly states 'internal-only does not exempt a surface from design rigor' and wants the impeccable skill suite invoked before writing any JSX.
   **Type**: preference
   **Sources**:
   - Zach wants impeccable + frontend-design skill suite for ALL Atlas UI work including internal/ops surfaces
   - zach wants design skills invoked for internal admin/ops panels, not just user-facing surfaces
   - Zach explicitly requested on April 27, 2026 that design skills be used during a mid-launch period
   - zach wants design skills invoked BEFORE writing JSX code

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach prefers to grant scope upfront and execute end-to-end rather than receive step-by-step confirmation requests. He explicitly authorizes autonomous execution for Atlas infra work using phrases like 'DO IT URSELF you have infra access' and 'stop asking me stuff from now on, just get it sorted'.
   **Type**: behavior
   **Sources**:
   - Zach prefers to grant scope upfront and wants end-to-end execution rather than step-by-step confirmation
   - Zach has authorized autonomous execution for Atlas infrastructure work with the phrase 'DO IT URSELF you have infra access'
   - Zach has used the phrase 'just do the damn fixes bro' to authorize autonomous execution
   - Zach has used the phrase 'stop asking me stuff from now on, just get it sorted' to authorize autonomous execution
   - For autonomous execution, Zach instructs to surface only at hard checkpoints

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach prefers to plan meticulously first, then execute fast with a 'ships fast' attitude. He creates detailed phase documents (CONTEXT.md, RESEARCH.md, plan revisions) before rapid implementation.
   **Type**: behavior
   **Sources**:
   - Zach prefers to plan meticulously then execute fast
   - zach discussed, researched, planned, and executed Phase 24, creating 24-CONTEXT.md and 24-RESEARCH.md
   - zach completed 2 plan revisions for Phase 24
   - Zach values clean, modular architecture

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach systematically extracts learnings from development phases, tracking decisions, lessons, patterns, and surprises. Phase 22 yielded 22 decisions, 12 lessons, 11 patterns, 8 surprises.
   **Type**: behavior
   **Sources**:
   - zach extracted learnings from phases 22 and 23 with metrics
   - zach extracted learnings from phases 22, 23, 21, 25, and 24
   - zach discussed, researched, planned, and executed Phase 24
   - zach created 2 plan revisions for Phase 24

 **Pattern** [high]: Zach actively monitors and controls API/infrastructure costs, particularly for paid external services. He fixed a £78 GCP/Google Places cost bug in v1.4 and instructs to compute and surface total costs before locking any paid API decision.
   **Type**: tendency
   **Sources**:
   - Zach found and fixed a £78 cost bug related to Places refetch
   - Zach is cost-conscious about infrastructure/API expenses
   - Google Places refetch burned £78 in v1.4