This guide helps you ship the Week 3 assignment: a real automation or live agent for your product. Use the assignment brief for what counts as done; use this page to build it.

Time: 90 to 150 minutes for the general submission. Stretch goals are optional. Stuck more than 15 minutes is a WhatsApp question, not a solo struggle.

Step 0 — Pick the right shape

Before you open n8n or Hermes, decide who decides the steps. That is the whole Week 3 line.

Step 1 — Choose a product job (15 min)

Pick one job that is useful for *your* product or capstone — not a random demo. Examples:

• New signup / form submission → enrich or classify → write to Sheets or your DB → notify you
• Nightly schedule → summarise yesterday's activity → post a digest to Slack or WhatsApp
• Inbound support-ish message → draft a reply (human approves before send)
• Hermes on WhatsApp: "log this expense" / "what's my pipeline status" with 1–2 skills

Write one sentence: When [trigger], the system should [outcome] for [user]. If you cannot write that sentence, the job is still too vague.

Path A — Build in n8n (general submission)

1. Create a new workflow. Start from a trigger: Webhook, Form, Chat, Schedule, or an app trigger you already use.
2. If the path is fixed: add Do → Notify nodes only. Skip AI Agent.
3. If you need judgment: add an AI Agent node. Attach a model + short system prompt (goal, constraints, what "done" looks like). Add one tool first (e.g. Google Sheets or HTTP Request).
4. Run once with a known input. Open the execution log and find Think → Act → Observe. That is your proof it is an agent.
5. Wire the output somewhere real: Sheets row, Slack message, email, or a webhook back to your Lovable/app.
6. Activate the workflow so it runs without you clicking Execute.

Path B — Operate Hermes (general submission or stretch)

1. Stand up Hermes and connect one channel (WhatsApp or Telegram).
2. Write a short personality / instructions: who you are, what you will and will not do, how to ask for confirmation on irreversible actions.
3. Add one skill with a clear "when to use" description. Test a message that should fire it and one that should not.
4. Send a real task from your phone. Screenshot or record the reply and any tool/skill use.
5. Optional: give Hermes a webhook skill that calls your n8n workflow — Hermes as front door, n8n as hands.

Step 2 — Prove it (required for general submission)

Step 3 — Stretch goals (how to level up)

1. 1

   Qualification / scoring agent

   Add a specialist (or a second tool call) that scores Hot / Warm / Cold with a short reason, and write score + reason to Sheets or your DB.

2. 2

   Notifications

   Only when score is Hot (or your equivalent), notify Slack/email — or have Hermes message you on WhatsApp.

3. 3

   Live Hermes

   Channel connected + at least two skills + one real task completed this week. Optional: Hermes → n8n webhook.

4. 4

   Handle failures

   Empty search, bad tool output, unauthorized WhatsApp sender — reply gracefully and log; do not crash or spam.

Common mistakes