# Use Get2Know with Standin

*A guide for your coding agent. It is a plain text file. The workshop page, https://ryankelln.com/project/tpl_2026/w06-small-business/, has the setup message that sends an agent here.*

Get2Know helps an AI interview you about how your business or organization works. It saves a profile you can read and correct, suggests things worth trying, and helps write a brief for one small improvement.

Standin prepares copies of exported records for the AI to work with. It replaces private values with labels such as `[PERSON_1]`, keeping a private list on your computer so you can put the real values back into the result later. You might use it when the AI needs an invoice export to check payments, or a customer list to help with a task.

**Standin does not protect what you type into the interview or chat.** Your chosen AI provider receives those messages. Describe your work in general terms and use made-up names. When the AI needs records, prepare copies of the exported data with Standin before giving it the files. Standin also does not automatically protect Get2Know's saved profile.

You need a coding agent that can read and write files, run commands, and fetch a web page. [OpenCode](https://opencode.ai/download) is one option; the separate [Set up OpenCode](https://ryankelln.com/project/tpl_2026/w06-small-business/set-up-opencode/) guide helps you get it connected to an AI. An ordinary chatbot may help explain these steps but may not be able to install anything on your computer.

## 1. Ask your agent to help with setup

Open the folder you want to use with AI for your business in your coding agent. A new folder just for this is a good choice; avoid your whole Documents folder. If you have just set up OpenCode, you can use the `ai-workshop-home` folder.

Paste the setup message from the [workshop page](https://ryankelln.com/project/tpl_2026/w06-small-business/#set-up-at-home). It tells your agent to read this guide and sets the rules for setup: ask which folder, work only in it, ask before changing existing instructions, and leave Standin's init, approve and restore steps to you. If the agent cannot fetch pages, save this guide as a text file in the folder and ask it to read that file. You still need a working model connection before it can help.

## 2. Get the workshop home copy of Get2Know

Download [Get2Know for home use](https://ryankelln.com/project/tpl_2026/w06-small-business/get2know-home.zip) and, if desired, its [SHA-256 checksum](https://ryankelln.com/project/tpl_2026/w06-small-business/get2know-home.zip.sha256). The archive contains the interview skills, their references, instructions and existing licence notices. It contains no participant profiles or Sam's business records. This is a workshop copy, not an upstream release or automatic updater.

Ask the agent to extract the archive somewhere temporary and copy the contents of `get2know-home/` into the folder you opened. That folder is your interview folder. Include the hidden `.agents/` directory. Do not install the shared-library-computer payload on your own computer: that contains Sam's data and workshop-specific instructions.

Close the agent and start a new session in the same folder, so it finds the new skills; the agent can't do this for you. Ask it to read `AGENTS.md` and use the `get2know` skill. If it cannot discover the skill automatically, ask it to read `.agents/skills/get2know/SKILL.md` directly. OpenCode documents support for this skill location; other agents may need that explicit instruction.

## 3. Have the interview and check the profile

Say `hi`. Answer one question at a time. You can say “I don't know,” correct an answer, or stop and return later. Start with general descriptions: “I run a repair shop,” “I keep invoices in a spreadsheet,” “a business customer pays late.” Avoid customer names, account numbers and private personal stories.

After about eight answers, ask it to read back what it heard. Open `profile/` and check:

- `how-we-work.md`: does this describe what actually happens?
- `limits.md`: does it record what you want to keep doing yourself?
- `ideas.md`: do the suggestions address problems you described?

Tell it to fix mistakes and leave unknown things as gaps. Your profile can itself contain sensitive business information, even with names removed. Read it before giving it to another AI or person. Get2Know's `share-safely` skill can help prepare a reviewed copy for another person; that is a separate step from using Standin on your exported records.

## 4. Pick one task and make a brief

Choose one small suggestion you can check. Say:

```text
Use builder-brief for this idea: [describe the idea]. Start with one small
part we can test on invented data. Include an ordinary example, an awkward
example, and what the tool must never do. Ask one question at a time.
```

Read the brief in `profile/briefs/`. Copy the reviewed `profile/` folder into a new build folder and start a fresh agent session there. The interview's instructions deliberately limit what it may change; the build needs its own workspace. Ask the builder to read `profile/README.md`, `profile/limits.md` and your chosen brief, settle outstanding questions, then build the smallest version using made-up data. Try its examples yourself.

## 5. Install Standin before bringing in exported records

Use the official [Standin repository and instructions](https://github.com/RKelln/standin). It is an early tool, tested on invented records; start with a made-up export. The program works locally without an LLM. Its installer downloads the program.

On macOS or Linux, the documented install command is:

```sh
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RKelln/standin/main/install.sh | sh
```

On Windows, in PowerShell:

```powershell
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RKelln/standin/main/install.ps1 | iex
```

These commands download and run the project's installer. Your agent can explain them and check that the installed program runs. For agent-side instructions, it should read [Standin's skill](https://github.com/RKelln/standin/blob/main/skill/standin/SKILL.md).

**The documented automatic guards are for Claude Code. OpenCode and Codex integration is untested.** Installing Standin does not give every coding agent those guards. For other agents, prepare records in a separate folder yourself and give the agent only copies of the files you have checked. A separate folder reduces accidental access; it is not a security sandbox. If you need enforced isolation, arrange it before using real records.

## 6. Prepare an export for the AI

For a first try, use a made-up CSV with a name column, an invoice identifier, an amount and a status. Use plain file names such as `invoices.csv`.

Standin accepts CSV, TSV and JSON exports. It also supports text and individual email files, with extra limitations. Excel workbooks and PDFs are not supported inputs: export the table to CSV locally first. Read the current instructions before using a new file format.

In your own terminal, change to the folder where you will prepare records and run:

```sh
standin init
```

Follow the setup messages. If it reports that guards are unavailable, do not treat that as a successful protected-agent setup. You run `init` yourself; the Standin agent instructions prohibit the AI from running it.

Then follow this sequence. Your agent may help with the steps marked “agent” only when its access is appropriately restricted; otherwise you run the commands and give it the reviewed outputs.

| Step | Who | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Add the export | You | Put the file in `raw/`. Do not attach it to chat or mention it with an `@` file attachment. |
| Describe the format | You or agent | Run `standin shape`. Review the generated `shape/` files before sharing them: they describe the format rather than record values, but headers and file names can still reveal information. |
| Propose rules | Agent | Read only the reviewed shape files and Standin's instructions. Write `standin.config.json`. Default to replacing values; explain any proposed `keep` or `scan`. |
| Review | You | Run `standin review`. Decide what the AI actually needs to see. Amounts and dates can also be sensitive. |
| Approve | You, in your terminal | Run `standin approve`. This is your decision about which values may remain visible. Never paste its private prompts or choices into chat. |
| Make copies | You or agent | Run `standin scrub`. Follow any error or warning before continuing. |
| Check copies | You | Open the files in `scrubbed/` locally. Check that private details were replaced and the information needed for the task remains useful. |
| Do the task | Agent | Work only on the checked copies. Preserve every stand-in exactly. Draft results; do not send customer messages. |

For an agent without tested guards, keep `raw/`, `restored/` and the private mapping outside its project. Copy only the checked `scrubbed/` contents into its build folder. Do not give it access to the preparation folder. A conversation instruction to avoid a folder is not an access restriction.

Replacing names does not make records anonymous. Patterns and combinations can still identify someone. Free-text notes are harder to scrub than separate fields: Standin can miss unfamiliar names in CSV/JSON notes, and its text checks have other documented gaps. Start with a small structured export, drop unnecessary notes, and inspect the result. It does not scrub what you type into chat.

## 7. Restore and check the result yourself

The AI should save a result such as `answer.md`, leaving labels like `[PERSON_1]` unchanged. If you used a separate agent folder, copy that result back into the Standin preparation folder yourself. In your own terminal, run:

```sh
standin restore answer.md
```

Read the result in `restored/` locally. Check calculations, matching and wording before relying on it. Do not ask the AI to open that restored file: it now contains real values again. Do not automatically send it to customers.

Standin's mapping lives outside the project, under `~/.standin`. Keep it private and back it up securely together with the corresponding records. Copying only the project does not copy the mapping. If a run reports an interrupted save, stop and follow the recovery instructions rather than using possibly mismatched files.

## 8. Come back after trying it

Return to your Get2Know folder and say “I tried it.” Tell it, without private details, what helped, what failed, and whether the checking took longer than the task used to take. Keep one small improvement that earns its place.

References checked November 1, 2026: the workshop Get2Know files, [Standin's README](https://github.com/RKelln/standin#readme), [Standin's agent instructions](https://github.com/RKelln/standin/blob/main/skill/standin/SKILL.md), and [OpenCode's skill discovery documentation](https://opencode.ai/docs/skills/). Standin's guards have not been tested with OpenCode as part of this guide.