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Agent-Style Workflows with Copilot

Get agent-level results from the Copilot your organisation already approved, while you control exactly what it sees.

Start the free chamberSee all nine chambers

9 chambers · about 5 hours · chambers 0 and 1 free · £79 one-time · ten tools to keep

The same request, two sessions

Without the rules

You

Put the newest week first.

Copilot

Here is the updated weekly.py. Replace your file with this:

import csv
from report_helpers import read_all

NEWEST_FIRST = True
...
(30 more lines)

A whole file, an import you do not have, and no way back.

With the rules

Copilot

Before I change anything, take a snapshot:

py thread.py snapshot "before putting the newest week first"

Then one change, in config.json:

find:     "newest_first": false,
replace:  "newest_first": true,

A way back first, then one change you can read.

You are the tool layer

Agentic tools such as Claude Code read a project folder, run commands and check their own work. Many organisations do not allow them, but they do approve Copilot. Here Copilot proposes one step, you run it and paste plain text back: you become the tool layer an agent would automate.

  1. 1Copilot proposesOne command, or one exact change.
  2. 2You run itOn your machine, after a snapshot.
  3. 3You paste text backWhat it printed, trimmed and masked.
  4. 4Copilot takes the next stepFrom evidence, not guesses.

The way through

Reading your progress.

Chambers
...
Points
...
Gold threads
...

  1. Know your Copilot and your machine

    Chamber 0, The entrance

    About 15 min · free

  2. Backups without GitHub

    Chamber 1, Ariadne's thread

    About 40 min · free

  3. Turn a chat into a step-by-step agent

    Chamber 2, The pact

    About 30 min

  4. Context packs and folder maps

    Chamber 3, Mapping the maze

    About 35 min

  5. Everything becomes text

    Chamber 4, The clay tablets

    About 30 min

  6. Sanitise before you paste

    Chamber 5, Guarding the gate

    About 30 min

  7. Diffs, not rewrites

    Chamber 6, Daedalus' workshop

    About 30 min

  8. Verify before you run

    Chamber 7, The Minotaur

    About 35 min

  9. A broken project, start to finish

    Chamber 8, Escape

    About 40 min

Who it is for

Anyone with an approved Copilot and a folder of scripts, queries or spreadsheets. No coding background beyond running a script; every command comes for PowerShell and for bash.

  • OperationsReconciling the custodian's file each morning with a script nobody has touched in years.
  • RiskTurning the day's reports into one limits summary without pasting a single position.
  • FinanceAutomating the month-end pack, one reversible change at a time.
  • ComplianceSearching weeks of logs for one pattern, with the logs never leaving the machine.
  • Data and actuarialInheriting a model folder: notebooks turned into scripts, every change logged.
  • Everyone elseAnyone with a folder of scripts or spreadsheets. Every chamber has a general scenario.

What you leave with

Plain text and standard-library Python: they run on a locked-down machine with nothing installed. Each one is yours as you clear its chamber.

  • machine_card.pyYour shell, Python and paste budget, for the top of every sessionChamber 0
  • thread.pySnapshots and safe restores for any folderChamber 1
  • protocol.txtThe eight session rules you paste firstChamber 2
  • relay.pyRuns a command and prints it ready to pasteChamber 2
  • context_pack.pyThe folder's tree, environment and every signatureChamber 3
  • to_text.pySpreadsheets, notebooks and logs as plain textChamber 4
  • sanitise.pyMasks secrets and identifiers before you pasteChamber 5
  • apply.pyApplies Copilot's FIND/REPLACE blocks exactly, or not at allChamber 6
  • minotaur.pyReads a command and names what it would destroy or sendChamber 7
  • KIT.mdThe whole kit on one pageChamber 8