You do not need every tool here. Use this list to pick the few extras that remove friction for your setup, then skip the rest until you have a real reason.
Good default for notes, editing, and local-first setup.
Best for secrets, AI IDEs, voice, and meetings.
Use trials for short workshop experiments.
Optional means optional. The core workshop still works.
Set up these first if you can. They cover notes, secrets, live research, web extraction, and fast source checking.
Second-brain workspace for workshop notes, prompts, and reusable agent patterns.
Best-in-class password and secrets storage for API keys, logins, and shared vaults.
Developer-flavored secrets alternative when you want open source vault workflows.
Agentic search API for finding web results by meaning instead of only keywords.
Web scraping API for turning messy websites into clean data your agent can use.
Fast answer engine for checking claims, finding sources, and researching tools before agents act on stale information.
Use these after the core loop is working and you are ready to add editors, meetings, voice, or workflow automation.
Workflow automation for turning agent prototypes into repeatable business processes.
Easier file editing when you want to inspect or tweak project files directly.
Paid AI IDE for students who prefer an editor-first alternative to Claude Code CLI.
Meeting notes app for capturing calls without turning every session into admin work.
Voice generation for Windows users who want parity with Mac's say workflows.
Free-tier meeting notes alternative when Granola is more than you need.
Voice-agent API for phone-call workflows once your core agent loop is already working.
Heads up: Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links, which means they can support AI Build Lab at no extra cost to you. The workshop does not require buying any of the tools on this page.
Back to onboarding