Practical, source-linked guides
Give your agent a body. Know what you're getting into.
Plain guides for picking, building and placing a small device for your AI agent, plus field guides for hackable hardware. Every guide links its sources and ends with a real next step.
Give Meta's Muse a body: every supported board compared
Which ESP32 boards and Raspberry Pis work with Meta's Muse Gadgets SDK, what each one can do, how hard it is to build, and a build you can start or hand to your agent.
Give your AI agent a body
What a physical body for your agent is, what it can and can't do, and how to build one in an afternoon.
Give Your AI Agent a Body: A Practical Guide
Give your AI agent a body: a small gadget with a screen, mic or camera that runs Meta's Muse on an ESP32 or Raspberry Pi. Options, costs and first steps.
Why Your AI Agent Needs a Physical Device
Why your AI agent needs a physical device: glanceable status, voice without a phone, camera context and home chores, plus when you can skip one.
Build an AI Agent Body in an Afternoon
Build an AI agent body in an afternoon: pick a board, order parts, flash Meta's Muse firmware, pair it in the Muse app and place it. Real costs and times.
Let Your Agent Pick Its Own Body: hackshop MCP Server
Connect the hackshop MCP server to Claude, Codex or Cursor so your agent can plan its own Muse gadget, list the parts and wait for your OK before buying.
AI Agent Hardware Parts Explained for Beginners
AI agent hardware parts explained: ESP32 vs Raspberry Pi, LCD vs AMOLED vs e-paper, mics, speakers, cameras, batteries, data cables, power and stands.
Push-to-Talk vs Always Listening for AI Devices
Push-to-talk vs always listening for an AI gadget: how each mode and wake words handle privacy, false triggers and battery, and which Muse boards do which.
Where Should Your AI Agent Live? Desk, Pocket, Wall, Hidden
Where should your AI agent live? Compare desk, pocket, wall and hidden spots, the Muse boards that fit each, and the power and Wi-Fi each one needs.
What an AI Agent Body Can and Cannot Do Today
What an AI agent body can and cannot do today: push-to-talk, screens, a camera and air sensors, but no moving parts, no offline mode and small batteries.
AI Gadget Home Network Security: A Practical Guide
AI gadget home network security without the fear: what data leaves the device, router and guest network basics, mic and camera habits and backups first.
15 AI Agent Body Ideas You Can Build Today
15 AI agent body ideas you can build today, from a desk companion to an e-paper family calendar, each matched to a Muse board that can actually do the job.
Best setups for Meta's Muse
Which board to put Muse on, side-by-side comparisons, and the limits and terms to know first.
Best Muse Gadget Setups: Which Board for Which Goal
The best Muse gadget setups by goal: desk companion, pocket voice, wall display, e-paper calendar, camera and Linux box, with prices and tradeoffs.
Muse on a Raspberry Pi: Which Pi, Parts and Setup
How to run Muse on a Raspberry Pi with Meta's Linux Device SDK: which Pi to buy, the parts you need, setup steps, and how it compares with ESP32 boards.
Muse Desk Companion: Watcher vs Waveshare vs AIPI Lite
Muse desk companion compared: SenseCAP Watcher vs Waveshare 1.75C AMOLED vs AIPI Lite on price, screen, voice, camera and flashing, and which to buy.
Muse Family Calendar on E-Paper: Setup and Limits
Build a Muse family calendar on a Seeed reTerminal e-paper display: E1001 vs E1002, refresh times, battery, wall or fridge placement, setup and limits.
What Muse Gadgets Can Do: Capabilities, Limits, Terms
What Muse Gadgets can do and can't: status and screen tiers, voice, camera, the account and app you need, and the key points of Meta's SDK token terms.
Build, buy or print
Build versus buy, open versus closed, your first hardware project, and how to get parts 3D printed.
Build vs Buy an AI Gadget: Cost, Time and Tradeoffs
Build vs buy an AI gadget: compare cost, setup time, flexibility, support and repairability, including Meta's Muse Home Link, and pick the right path.
Open Source vs Closed AI Hardware, Layer by Layer
Open source vs closed AI hardware, layer by layer: board, firmware, SDK, cloud and agent. See what Muse Gadgets and hackshop open, and the tradeoffs.
First Hardware Project for Beginners: Start Here
A first hardware project for beginners: the few skills you need, the mistakes first-timers make, the easiest boards to start with, and how agents help.
Should You Buy a 3D Printer? Costs and Break-Even
Should you buy a 3D printer? Compare printer prices, filament and power costs, space and fumes, and when a library, makerspace or print service is cheaper.
How to Get Something 3D Printed Without a Printer
How to get something 3D printed without a printer: compare online services, public libraries and makerspaces on cost and turnaround, and what file to send.
Hardware field guides
Choosing, checking, flashing, recovering and repurposing hackable hardware.
Used Hardware Hackability Checklist
A practical, source-linked guide to assess chipset, bootloader, firmware, recovery, ports, community, parts, and safety before buying, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Brick-Risk Field Guide: Flash, Recover, or Walk Away
A practical, source-linked guide to classify soft/hard brick modes and recovery evidence, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Raspberry Pi 5 Beginner Project: A Local-First Home Dashboard
A practical, source-linked guide to choose screen/device/protocol, isolate network, and plan maintenance, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
How to Read an FCC ID and Identify the Hardware Inside
A practical, source-linked guide to use official filings to find radios, manuals, photos, and variants, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Firmware Project Health: Five Signals Beyond GitHub Stars
A practical, source-linked guide to evaluate release cadence, maintainers, issues, device matrix, and security response, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Twenty Useful Second Lives for an Old Android Phone
A practical, source-linked guide to match sensors, battery state, OS support, and mounting to realistic projects, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Used-Market Triage: What to Ask Before Buying Hack Hardware
A practical, source-linked guide to verify model/revision, locks, accessories, damage, returns, and price, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Protocol-Native Hardware: Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, MQTT, or Wi-Fi?
A practical, source-linked guide to choose interoperability, local control, power, and ecosystem, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Safe Firmware Flashing: A Preflight and Recovery Checklist
A practical, source-linked guide to back up, verify image/revision/power, capture logs, and prepare recovery, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
Security Debt in Abandoned Smart Devices
A practical, source-linked guide to check known vulnerabilities and decide isolate, replace firmware, or retire, with a repeatable workflow, evidence ledger, checklist, and decision gate.
A Linux calendar panel from a PF1007L photo frame
Plan a source-backed PF1007L Linux dashboard: identify the tested Allwinner variant, preserve recovery, and understand the limits before writing a spare card.
Plan House Control with Hue and Home Assistant
A source-checked House Control setup path with Hue, Home Assistant, simulated-device boundaries and limited AI access.
Read an old Siri Remote's events on Linux
Reuse a gen-1 A1962 Siri Remote as a source-documented Linux event reader, with model, permission and reconnect limitations.