At Balay ni Bruno & Co. our work runs across several computers, and each one runs its AI assistant on a different account. That is normal for a growing team. It also means those assistants cannot talk to each other.
So work moved the old way. Someone copied a prompt on one computer and pasted it on another. Teammates' tasks lived inside chat messages. And our old handoff folder had grown to 480 loose files, with no name on who each one was for and no way to tell which ones were already done.
A pile of files with no recipient and no "done" state is not a handoff system. It is a place where work goes to look finished.
What We Checked Before Building Anything
Before we built a thing, we researched what already exists and checked each option against our sources.
Only reaches sessions that are open right now, and only across machines on one login. Not a lasting inbox, and our computers are on different accounts.
About 2,200 stars on GitHub, but it says it is no longer maintained. Its newer rewrite needs a server running all the time and comes with a licence note to read first.
Niche, and each one needs its own server to keep alive.
They work. Each one adds a cost per seat or a cap on how often other tools can reach it.
The answer was already in front of us: a shared drive every computer syncs. An inbox built from plain files inside it costs nothing extra, does not care which account a computer runs on, and works on Windows and Mac alike.
How the Inbox Works
Every computer gets its own private inbox folder, and every teammate gets one too. One message is one file. Here is the life of a task.
The sender drops a new file into the recipient's inbox folder. Senders only ever create new files.
Every AI session checks its own inbox when it starts, so nothing waits unseen.
Marking a task done requires proof of what was done, written onto the message.
The finished message moves into a done folder. Nothing handled is deleted.
On top of that, teammates save a short daily update in their own folder, and a daily summary shows what is still waiting and who has not posted an update. The inbox also refuses to store a password or key, so nobody can paste one in by accident.
Before and After
Copy, paste and hope
- Prompts copied from one computer and pasted on another
- Teammates' tasks buried in chat messages
- 480 loose handoff files with no recipient
- No way to tell what was finished
One inbox per computer and person
- Every message addressed to someone
- Checked automatically at the start of every session
- "Done" only counts with proof attached
- A daily summary of what is still waiting
Three Rules That Make It Hold Up
1. One writer per file
Senders only create new files. The recipient only moves its own. A shared drive does not merge two edits to the same file, so if two people change one file, one change is lost. Keeping one writer per file means that never happens.
2. "Done" carries proof
Without proof, the inbox becomes one more place where things only look finished. Asking for proof every time keeps it honest.
3. Overnight runs read, they do not act
Our routines that run with nobody watching only report what is in the inbox. They never carry it out.
Why a person stays in the loop: Inbox items often need someone to sign in somewhere or make a decision. A routine running at 3am cannot do either well, so it tells a person what is waiting instead of guessing.
What If It Outgrows Files?
Plain files are the right size for us today. If that changes, the upgrade path is already mapped: move the inbox into a hosted database, or run the newer messaging project on a private network between our own computers. Either way, the rules above stay the same.
How This Fits Into a Balay ni Bruno & Co. Partnership
This is not a product we sell on its own. It is part of how we run our own agency, and the same thinking goes into the systems we set up for partners: use what you already pay for first, make every handoff land with a named person, and only call something done when there is proof. Our AI makes our people faster. The people still decide.
Common Questions
Why not just use a project board like Notion, Airtable or Linear?
Those boards work, and we looked at them. Each one adds a cost per seat or a cap on how often other tools can talk to it. We already had a shared drive that every computer syncs, so a simple inbox inside it did the job at no extra cost, on Windows and Mac, no matter which account each computer runs on.
Can AI assistants on different computers message each other directly?
Only in a limited way. The built-in messaging we checked only reaches sessions that are open right now, and only across machines signed into the same login. It is not a lasting inbox, and our computers run on different accounts, so a message would simply be lost.
Should an overnight AI routine act on the tasks in the inbox?
No. Our overnight runs only read the inbox and report what is waiting. Inbox items often need a person to sign in somewhere or make a decision, so a routine running with nobody watching should never try to carry them out.
Key Takeaways
- AI assistants on different accounts cannot message each other in a lasting way, so tasks end up in copy and paste.
- A plain file inbox inside a shared drive you already sync costs nothing extra and works across accounts, Windows and Mac.
- One writer per file stops changes from being lost, because shared drives do not merge edits.
- "Done" only counts with proof, and finished messages are filed, never deleted.
- Routines that run unattended read the inbox and report. People act on it.