← Charles Tay Last reviewed

Toolkit

Seven AI tools I use every week, sorted by the job they do.

what I use

A tool only makes this list after I’ve made something real with it. Where I can, I link to the thing I made.

  • think & build

    Claude

    My thinking partner and builder. Drafts, research, the code for this site, and the scripts behind every video on it.

    Made with it: everything on the home page

  • remember

    claude-obsidian

    Runs my personal knowledge vault in Obsidian. Articles and notes go in; Claude files them into linked pages I can ask questions of later.

  • remember

    Open Notebook

    An open-source take on NotebookLM that I run on my own Mac, for documents I’d rather not upload anywhere.

  • make music & video

    ChatCut

    A video editor you drive with prompts. My first stop for songs and for short AI video clips.

    Made with it: Home Is You · Same Sky · Carve Her a Heart

  • make music

    Mureka

    Song generator, in English and Mandarin. I use it inside ChatCut, or on its own as a backup. It gives a timing for every sung word, which makes lyric videos much easier.

    Made with it: Home Is You · Same Sky

  • make music

    ElevenLabs

    For music that has to fit an exact length, or when I need clear licence terms.

  • make video

    OpenArt

    Many image and video models in one place, so I can try a few side by side before choosing one.

what I’m trying

Tools I’ve signed up for or am keeping an eye on. Not recommendations yet.

Show the list
models
DeepSeek · Kimi · Qwen · Mistral · MiniMax · GLM (Z.ai) · Sakana
model hubs
OpenRouter · Together AI · Fireworks AI · NVIDIA NIM · Nous Portal
chat
ChatGPT · Grok · Meta AI
agents
OpenWorker · Hermes Agent · Genspark GenOffice
music
Suno · MiniMax Music (used on Sunny Side)