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Data Relay Engineering System

ChatGPT for thinking. Cursor for implementation. GitHub for truth. Direct server access for verification. This system grew from a simple problem: AI-assisted development was productive, but the surrounding workflow became expensive and hard to remember. Large handoff prompts, stale roadmaps, repeated Cursor instructions, missing design history, full-suite tests at the wrong time, and manual copy/paste between tools all created friction. The current system separates each responsibility and keeps only the minimum context needed for the next action.

Canonical Engineering Standard

Machine-consumed standards, templates, adapters, validation rules, and release governance.

Daily Workflow

Brainstorm in ChatGPT, hand implementation to Cursor, verify results, and continue without giant prompts.

Session Continuity

Repository-scoped GitHub Work Packets replace manual ChatGPT and Cursor handoffs.

Remote Code Audit

ChatGPT can inspect an authorized development server directly through Desktop Commander Remote MCP.

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The core idea

GitHub remains the source of truth. Athena, this handbook, and AI Work Packets are supporting layers with different roles.

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Why this split works

ChatGPT is used heavily before implementation: requirements, brainstorming, architecture, design, documentation, review strategy, and the exact next action. Cursor is used when code must actually change. This keeps exploratory conversation separate from implementation work and makes the implementation step more bounded and economical. GitHub holds the durable state: code, tests, specs, commits, PRs, CI evidence, release evidence, and repository-scoped AI Work Packets. Desktop Commander closes another gap: when GitHub alone is not enough, ChatGPT can inspect the authorized development Linux host directly instead of reasoning only from pasted terminal output.

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What this system is not

It is not an enterprise process framework, a central project-management database, or a replacement for Git. It is a small set of rules that makes a solo AI-assisted workflow repeatable, auditable, and cheap enough to use every day.
If you remember only one rule: conversation is temporary; durable engineering state belongs outside the conversation.
Last modified on September 19, 2026