Asbury Solutions · Free Academy
Free, practical AI lessons for people who run real shops — measure the bottleneck, use everyday tools well, and know when to call a builder.
Feel clumsy with tabs, files, or the mouse? Start with Computer Basics instead → No shame, no jargon.
Free to start·No login needed·No drip sequence·Every lesson ends in a real job done·Sometimes the answer is “don't buy it”
How this works
Not a course empire. A short bench of lessons that help you measure, draft, and decide — then get back to the shop.
Module 01 has you log one recurring task for seven days — trigger, hands-on minutes, waiting, exceptions. Most people find the fix before they spend a dollar. That's the point.
Drafting status replies and estimate blurbs with a human check. Turning truck notes into job records. Spotting wrong answers before they reach a customer. Boring work, done faster.
Every module ends with a spend decision: DIY it, run the cheap stack, or book the free consult for a fixed-price build. If the job doesn't need a build, the lesson says so.
The work orders
Six tracks, one house: free, no account needed, every lesson ends in a named outcome. Answer two questions and we'll point at the right door — or pick one yourself below.
Where do I start? · 30 seconds
No email, no score stored. Tap an answer (tap again to clear), then follow the door it points to.
Q1When you have 10 browser tabs open, what happens?
Q2What is tonight's job?
Tabs, files, mouse, safety. Start here if the machine fights you.
8 lessons → Track 1 · Shop workMeasure the stuck work, cheap stack, spend tiers.
5 lessons → Hygiene · Before agentsOpen agents from the right folder — not home.
6 lessons → Track 2 · TerminalInstall Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Hermes.
7 lessons → Track 3 · Everyday paperworkChat, texts, mail, forms — checked against your own paper, every time.
24 lessons → Track 4 · Talks, Does, or CodesOne rule that tells a chat from an agent — on any brand.
6 lessons →Rung 1 · Computer basics — the front door
New to working with computers, or feel clumsy with tabs and files? Start here. No shame, no tech jargon. Eight calm lessons to feel in control of your machine — power to screenshots. Tabs first, AI later.
Wake, sign in, sleep, and shut down on purpose — and know which is which.
CB·02Single-click, double-click, right-click, and scroll without opening five copies.
CB·03Minimize, maximize, close, and switch without losing your place.
CB·04Open, switch, close, and restore tabs — the #1 consulting friction fix.
CB·05Enter, Backspace, copy/paste, and tab shortcuts without hunting the mouse.
CB·06Find the Desktop, switch from Dock/taskbar, launch apps with Start or Spotlight.
CB·07Find Downloads, create a folder, rename and move one file.
CB·08Pause on mystery links, never give passwords to AI helpers, screenshot the right window.
Finished all eight? Run the gate: open two tabs, switch and close them, find a download, move a file, take a screenshot. Pass → operator or project folders. Wobble → repeat CB-04 and CB-07 until boring.
Track 1 · Operator path
For shop owners, office managers, and desk staff with a stuck workflow. Follow the path in order; branch at the middle by whichever pain is louder.
Before you buy anything, measure the work that actually eats the week. Log one recurring task for 7 days.
MOD·03Turn fog into something a builder — or you — can scope. One page: job, volume, owner, done, tried.
MOD·04Most “I need a chatbot” asks die after a 30-day cheap stack. Run this first, then decide.
MOD·05Use ChatGPT or Claude for status replies and estimate blurbs — without inventing hours or prices.
MOD·08Pick Tier 1 DIY, Tier 2 configured, or Tier 3 custom — without vendor fog. Includes the “don't spend” line.
02 · Name the Hour It Breaks 06 · Messy Notes → Job Record 07 · Spot the Wrong Answer 09 · After-Hours Triage 10 · Inventory Chat vs Logo Bubble
SoonHygiene · Project folders
For anyone about to run a terminal agent: get into a specific project folder (~3 deep) and open the agent there — not home, Desktop, Downloads, or drive root. Do this after TA-01, before TA-02.
Agents start in your terminal's folder — not wherever the project “feels” like.
PF·02Get a ~3-deep project path (Documents/Projects/my-app), not a Desktop dump.
PF·03Navigate there in the file UI; map Windows ↔ WSL paths if needed.
PF·04Land the shell in the project — Open in Terminal, cd, or IDE Open Folder.
PF·05Run pwd + ls/dir, confirm project files, then start claude/codex/grok/hermes.
PF·06Never point agents at Users roots, cloud dumps, or PII piles.
pwd first. Then the agent. Never from a Desktop dump or C:\.
Track 2 · Terminal agents
For beginners who want Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Hermes, or similar in the terminal — with honest OS-by-OS setup. Do TA-01, then project folders, then TA-02+. Don't write code? Stay on the operator path above.
Open the right terminal, get a package manager, understand PATH, write a secrets rule.
TA·02Install Anthropic's terminal agent the official way; complete one real prompt.
TA·03Get OpenAI's Codex CLI running; finish one inspect-or-edit task.
TA·04Install xAI's first-party grok coding agent and run one prompt.
TA·05Install Nous Research Hermes (not a name collision); configure and chat once.
TA·06Evaluate new CLIs; install at most one of Aider, Gemini CLI, or OpenCode.
TA·07Name a daily driver; uninstall the rest.
One working agent beats five half-installed ones. If you don't write code, use the operator track instead.
Track 3 · Life admin
For anyone using chat for everyday paperwork — a letter, a text back, a form. Each track stands alone and takes 30–90 minutes total; do them in this order if you're starting cold.
1 of 5 · Your First Chat
Never had a calm first chat? Start here — the door, the paste rule, and leaving it clean.
Type the address yourself, get past anything in the way, and have a 3-line answer on screen about 5 minutes in.
FC·02Read one card and four stop cards, practice a paste on words that aren't yours, then get one or two of your own sentences back clearer.
FC·03A few days after FC-2: do a whole short chat from memory, delete it, and sign out if the computer is shared.
2 of 5 · The Message You Still Send
Right after First Chat — the first useful job. A draft in the chat, sent in your own hand.
Know whether this message belongs in a chat, then write down the one thing you need.
MS·02Get a short draft built only from the words you wrote on paper.
MS·03Delete anything you did not say, change three parts, and hear how the message sounds.
MS·04Copy the clean draft out of the chat, add real names in Notes, and press Send yourself.
MS·05Send one more real message from memory, then save the sent words for a follow-up.
MS·06Write a firm, calm note without adding excuses, threats, or facts you did not give.
3 of 5 · The Paper in Your Hand
A letter, a notice, a bill — read against the actual page, line by line.
The paper is on the green list, the private parts are covered, and you've picked the one confusing part — 6 lines at most — to type in later.
PH·02A 3-line answer on screen: what they want, by when, and what the paper says happens if you do nothing. MISSING appears wherever the paper doesn't say.
PH·03Every date, time, amount, and place in the answer has been found on the paper, or crossed out.
PH·04One next step is written where you'll see it. Any call or website uses what's printed on the paper, not what the chat said.
PH·05A few green flyers and notes become one checklist by day, copied by hand for the fridge. You decide any clash.
4 of 5 · When the Chatbot Is the Wrong Tool
For everyday facts — hours, prices, policies. The real page always wins.
Ask one checkable fact, open the real page yourself, and see who's right in two minutes.
WT·02When the chat and the page disagree, go with the page. Never ask the chat to break a tie.
WT·03Pick out three common fakes, say the red flag in each, and know what to do next.
WT·04See firsthand why the chat doesn't know today's store prices — and what to read on the shelf tag instead.
5 of 5 · Forms and Applications, Your Facts Only
Last, on purpose — every line on a real form must trace back to your own verified facts.
Sort your form green or red, then write its deadline and where it officially came from — before you type a word.
FA·02Before any real form: get one confusing question explained in plain words on a made-up form, then let its own instructions settle it.
FA·03Draft one written answer from a short fact list — still on the sample form — and delete the whole thing if it grew facts you didn't give it.
FA·04Your real green form's hard questions get drafted from your own fact list — and you type every private detail straight into the real form yourself.
FA·05Point at every name, date, and number. Anything you can't point to on your own records gets deleted — then you click Submit.
FA·06A 4-to-6-line note that sounds like you, built only from your own facts.
Same rule, five ways: check the chat against your own words, the paper, the real page, or your fact list. Never the other way around.
Track 4 · Talks, Does, or Codes
For anyone who's used a chat and wants to know what an "agent" actually is before a pitch — or a bill — arrives. Needs Computer Basics; First Chat helps.
One rule that tells a chat from an agent on any brand — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok.
CA·02Find the chat, agent, and code-agent names for the company you use — and whether your plan even has the agent.
CA·03Spot the six signs your chat box has quietly turned into an agent — and back out safely.
CA·04An honest four-question test before any agent — and practice saying no to the pitches.
CA·05Watch an agent read three fake files and make one new one — approve the step yourself, check the folder with your own eyes, then take the access away.
CA·06Know the code-agent names and where the Academy teaches them — or know, clearly, that they're not for you.
Talks answers. Does touches your files and accounts. Codes writes and runs programs. Don't pay agent prices for a chat job.
The house rules
Same rules as the consulting side: fixed-price honesty, no theater. If a topic lives in the right column, it will never be a module here.
Your instructor
“I'll automate your busywork — or tell you not to bother. The academy is the free half of that promise: everything I'd want you to know before we ever get on a call.”
Peter Byrnes · Owner, Asbury Solutions · Asbury AI Solutions LLC
Paid workshops (half-day $500 / full-day $1,200) still cover on-site, hands-on-your-stack training. The academy is the free, self-serve layer underneath — prep and literacy, not a replacement.
Seven days of logging. One page. You'll either find the fix or walk into a free consult with the sharpest brief we've ever seen.