A document that can grow

We run Agent Builders Breakfast in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Austin to bring people together to talk about building AI agents. When we first started the series we printed name badges on Avery label sheets using guest information from Luma that we copied into a Google doc by hand.

It's a simple task and doing it by hand wasn't difficult, but filtering the guest list, copying and pasting the names one by one, and fixing typos and layout issues quickly became a chore we didn't want to do the night before the event.

We asked an agent to streamline the process and in a few minutes we had a name badge maker which accepts one name per line and lays them out on standard Avery label sheets as you type. It filters out duplicates and you can change the type size, edit any details that need fixing, and inspect the result before sending it to the printer.

Open it and enter a few names. The result looks like a document. It behaves like an application. But it started as neither. It started with a job we needed done. The agent shaped the content, interface, and behavior around that job.

This kind of work product needs a name. We call it an artifact.

An artifact combines content, interface, and behavior to solve a particular problem.

Documents are shaped around familiar formats. A report has pages. A spreadsheet has cells. A slide deck has slides. An artifact can borrow from any of them, then add whatever the work requires. Software has entered our documents before. What is changing is the cost of shaping the whole thing around one job.

The first version of the badge maker needs no account or integration. Paste the names and print the sheets. That's enough to make it useful, but copying and pasting names from Luma every week is an unnecessary chore. With an artifact we can connect Luma to load the names on demand. The badge maker shows our events and loads the approved guests. The names remain editable. We can correct a spelling or add someone who arrived without registering.

In the 1990s, we were promised rich documents filled with media, links, and behavior. The web delivered much of that promise, but it did not make those documents easy for most people to create. Building them still required code, design, hosting, and time.

An artifact can be as specific as a document and as capable as an application.

That changes what's worth making. A recurring chore can have its own interface. A report can include the tool needed to explore it. A plan can connect to the systems that will carry it out. The artifact becomes more capable as the work demands more from it.

Try the name badge maker. Paste in a few names and print a sheet. If you want your own copy, use the Valet button at the bottom. Connect Luma now or add it later and easily host, edit, and collaborate on your own artifacts on Valet.