Managing a Homelab AI Project with Claude Code, Gitea, and the Gitea MCP Server

Managing a Homelab AI Project with Claude Code, Gitea, and the Gitea MCP Server
I am not a software engineer. I think in milestones, user stories, and outcomes. Kim wants a smart garden assistant that tells her when to water and when the blight risk is high. I want to build it. Solo homelab projects like this usually die in a half-finished Docker Compose file. Ceres is different, and the reason is three tools working together: Gitea, the Gitea MCP Server, and Claude Code. The Setup Ceres is a…

Building Ceres, a Multi-Agent Garden Assistant

Building Ceres, a Multi-Agent Garden Assistant
We are growing a lot of vegetables this year. Carrots, cauliflower, russet potatoes, Roma tomatoes, and more are all going into fourteen raised beds in our garden. We have done our research, but there are a lot of variables in a Pacific Northwest garden and a lot of plants to keep track of. So I decided to build a garden assistant. I am calling it Ceres. The Concept Ceres is a multi-agent system. Seven specialist…

Insulating the Chicken Coop – The Data

Insulating the Chicken Coop – The Data
Earlier this year, I took the time to insulate the walls of the chicken coop and cover the insulation with 1/4" plywood. I had hoped we could go without needing a heater in there in the deep winter, and luckily I was right. With Home Assistant tracking everything to InfluxDB and a Grafana dashboard to keep an eye on it, I can see that when all the doors are closed, it keeps nearly 10 degrees…

Chicken Casa Complete

Chicken Casa Complete
I have learned so much about estimations and weather. I thought I could knock this thing out in a few weeks. For those counting, it's been 13 weeks since January 5th 2025. A sprained ankle delayed me a little bit, but most of my miscalculation was due to not being realistic about Western Washington weather. If you watch the build video, you will see me cover my material and work quite a few times for…

Chicken Casa v2 almost complete

Chicken Casa v2 almost complete
Between a sprained ankle and the weather, it's taken me over a month to get 8 good days in, but that's enough to get it completely framed, wrapped and the roof covered. Next I need to install a door, the trim, the siding and the metal roofing. There is some painting and more weather coming, so not sure how long it will take, but I was shooting to have the roof on tomorrow, so I'm…

Chicken Casa v2 Paused because I’m an idiot

Chicken Casa v2 Paused because I’m an idiot
Saturday morning the gravel showed up and I got to work building the floor. Started Sunday screwing down the floor and ended with two walls built. We had guys coming to clean the gutters Monday, so I needed to clean up my material to keep gutter trash from being slung all over it. I jumped off the tractor after finishing moving the material, did NOT stick the landing, and rolled my ankle over. It's Thursday…

Time to tackle cold air leaks

Time to tackle cold air leaks
First I'd like to get out of the way that this is a gadget that I have displayed insane self control not buying before now. Maybe it was the movie Predator. I'm not sure why I have always thought thermal cameras are the coolest thing, but I am sure why I have never bought one before...cost. I'm a pretty gadget budget friendly guy, but with the FLIR TG-165x coming in under $300 I couldn't resist.…

Chicken Casa v2

Chicken Casa v2
Most of the time, I figure out the key dimensions and just come up with my own design for everything. We sadly lost a chicken to a coyote and while the coop wasn't the problem, that put us at 4 chickens. We've decided to move up to 10-12 and the old coop was too small and kind of a pain to keep clean. A walk in shed is a much better option and I found…

Wildlife Pond v2 Begins

Wildlife Pond v2 Begins
I have completed my designs, sorted out deterrence for raccoons and moles, and ordered the newer, thicker liner with an under-liner. I'm going bigger and better. It will be deep enough raccoons can't walk around and eat things and the walls will be shaped with cinderblock and quick concrete. Bring it mole.