Why This Exists
Alchemy AI is a free platform built by one person who figured out how to build real software using AI — and decided to document the whole thing so nobody else has to start from scratch.
Security guard by night. App builder by day. Sleep is for the dead. I'm self-taught — no formal CS degree when I started. SNHU now. Married to Joanne. Based in Mesa, Arizona. I built Alchemy AI because information should be free and I would have been building this for myself anyway.
How This Started
The short version: frustration at bad AI content turned into a documented workflow that actually works.
Grew up figuring it out alone
No CS degree when I started. No mentor. No bootcamp. Just a lot of late nights, a lot of broken code, and the stubborn belief that if someone else figured it out, I could too. That mentality never left. It's what Alchemy AI is built on.
The problem with AI content
Most AI education is either surface-level hype or technical content aimed at people who already know how to code. The people in the middle — motivated non-developers who want to build real things — get "here are 10 ChatGPT prompts to try." That's not useful.
Why document it publicly
Because there are thousands of people in Facebook AI groups asking the same questions — how do I actually build something? What do I do when it breaks? This site is the answer I wished existed when I started. Free, forever.
What All of This Is Building Toward
Stacked Alchemist LLC is building a portfolio of apps. Alchemy AI is one of them. But there is a reason for all of it.
Vault
Free private AI journaling for anyone carrying pain they have nowhere to put. 22 veterans die by suicide every day. That number is why Vault exists. Not as a product to sell. As something that should exist in the world and doesn't yet.
Every app Stacked Alchemist ships is a step toward having the infrastructure, the audience, and the resources to build and maintain Vault properly. That's the endgame. Everything else is the path there.
Three Rules Everything Here Is Built On
These aren't principles for using AI. They're principles for doing anything worth doing.
Make a choice and don't look back
Pick a direction and commit to it. The workflow works because it's opinionated — Claude Code, CLAUDE.md, a specific build process. You can customize it later. You can't build anything useful while still deciding whether to start.
Mean what you say and say what you mean
This applies to AI prompting as much as anything else. Vague instructions produce vague results. Clear, specific, honest communication — with AI and with people — is the skill that makes everything else work.
Every passing moment is a moment to change
You don't have to have been technical to build technical things. The tools exist. The knowledge is free. The only thing that matters is what you do with the time in front of you right now.
The Company Behind This
Stacked Alchemist LLC is a one-person operation. No team. No investors. No content mill.
What Stacked Alchemist does
Builds apps, tools, and platforms using the exact workflow documented here. Every project starts with a CLAUDE.md. Every build uses Claude Code as the primary engine. The work is public and verifiable — not just described.
The business model
Alchemy AI is free — no course, no paywall, no email list required. Stacked Alchemist LLC is supported by the projects it ships and optional Ko-fi donations from people who found the content useful. That's it.
Where to find the rest
The full Stacked Alchemist portfolio lives at stackedalchemist.dev. Every project there was built using some version of the workflow documented on this site. The social handle everywhere is @StackAlchemist.
Start Building
Everything on this site is free. The template is free. The workflow is documented. The only thing left is to use it.