The Support Machine

The Support Machine: How to Deploy AI in Customer Support Without Breaking Trust is both a full manuscript and an executable AI-agent skill.

The manuscript is the story and philosophy. The skill is the operating system: it helps a reader plan, audit, launch, and operate an AI support migration.

Read It

• Read the book online
• Download the PDF
• Use the skill
• Read the Markdown source
• Agent-readable llms.txt

What It Does

Use this skill when you need to:

• Diagnose whether AI support is actually the right answer
• Evaluate AI support vendors
• Design the support machine architecture and guardrails
• Run a shadow test before launch
• Build a zero-hour launch runbook
• Review the first 30 days after launch
• Define the post-launch operating model

Core thesis:

AI support is not a chatbot project. It is an operating model migration.

Repository Layout

.
├── skills/the-support-machine/
│   ├── SKILL.md
│   ├── references/
│   │   └── book.md
│   └── templates/
│       ├── ai-support-rollout-plan.md
│       ├── first-30-days-review.md
│       ├── launch-day-runbook.md
│       ├── operating-model.md
│       ├── shadow-run-scorecard.md
│       └── vendor-scorecard.md
├── manuscript/
│   └── The Support Machine - manuscript v0.2.docx
├── scripts/
│   ├── build_site.py
│   └── export_docx_to_markdown.py
├── docs/
│   ├── assets/
│   │   └── the-support-machine-social.png
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── book.html
│   ├── skill.html
│   └── the-support-machine-v0.2.pdf
├── LICENSE.md
├── LICENSE-MANUSCRIPT.md
├── LICENSE-SKILL.md
└── evals/
    └── evals.json

How People Can Use It

Claude Code / Codex-style local use

Copy or symlink the skill folder into your local skills directory:

mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills
cp -R skills/the-support-machine ~/.codex/skills/

Then ask:

Use The Support Machine to build our AI support rollout plan.

Or:

Use The Support Machine to audit this AI support vendor proposal.

Claude.ai skill upload

Zip the skill folder:

cd skills
zip -r the-support-machine.skill the-support-machine

Upload the-support-machine.skill in Claude.ai under Skills.

GitHub install pattern

For agents that can read skills from a GitHub repo, point them at:

skills/the-support-machine/SKILL.md

Example Prompts

We are choosing between two AI support vendors. Build a scorecard and identify hidden risks.

Help us plan a shadow run before exposing the AI support machine to customers.

Create a launch-day runbook for our AI support rollout.

We launched last month. Build a first-30-days review. Some metrics are missing, so mark what we still need.

Patterns Borrowed From Open-Source Skill Repos

This repo follows common patterns from open-source skill repositories:

• A compact SKILL.md with strong trigger metadata.
• Long source material kept in references/.
• Reusable outputs kept in templates/.
• Optional scripts for deterministic maintenance.
• Eval prompts in evals/ to test whether the skill behaves correctly.

Reference projects reviewed:

• anthropics/skills
• haowjy/creative-writing-skills
• coleam00/second-brain-skills
• simonw/claude-skills

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome for typo fixes, clearer examples, stronger templates, and better distribution ideas.

For manuscript edits, open a pull request against skills/the-support-machine/references/book.md and explain the intended manuscript change. For skill behavior, edit SKILL.md, templates, or evals directly.

Please preserve the book's metaphor system and do not turn the voice into generic AI-transformation copy.

License

This repository uses a split license:

• Manuscript and book-format outputs: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Skill, templates, scripts, evals, and repo docs: MIT License

See LICENSE.md for the file-by-file split.

Contact

Website: barnir.co
Email: assafbar@gmail.com

This is a personal project, not an official Sentry support channel.

Status

Public v0.2.

The manuscript is closed as a document, but the story is not. This repo is the path from static book to living skill.