Updates · Newest first
QIKA Updates: building in the open
I’m Eric Buck, and I’m building QIKA in Greater Cincinnati. This page is a running log of that work, posted as it happens: what we built, what we decided, and what we got wrong. Much of it covers the build and discovery process behind Eris, the self-model at the center of QIKA. Eris is in development. It isn’t a finished product, and when this log describes a capability, that capability is still being built and tested unless an entry says otherwise. Entries are short and dated, newest first. The AI team drafts some of them, and I approve every entry before it goes up. When we get something wrong, we correct it on this page and note the correction.
Week of Oct 19, 2026
Monday, Oct 19, 2026
- The first Heartlock product, the Bloodmoon Raven graphic tee, is set up in the QIKA Shop; the store isn’t open yet.
- Made our daily review of team chat more reliable. Internal tooling, in development.
- Drafted character images for the Xi Boo concept. They’re waiting for my review, and no final pick has been made.
Monday, Oct 19, 2026: catch-up entry (work from late August to mid-October)
- Took stock of Eris’s world-building pieces (late August). Eris has a small simulated world that runs step by step in working code. Several other world pieces turned out to exist only as names or design notes, with no code behind them yet. We wrote that down plainly rather than count them as built.
- Designed, on paper, a test of one question: can a compact symbolic representation keep making the right choice as the context changes, without rebuilding the full original? No test has been run, no pass marks are set yet, and there are no results. In development.
What we learned: a design note isn’t a working part. Every time we look, we sort what’s running from what’s only written down.
Week of Oct 12, 2026
Sunday, Oct 18, 2026
- Approved the two consultation intake forms: the AI System Clarity Diagnostic and the Workflow Architecture Intake. They aren’t open to the public yet. One response setting still has to be fixed before they go live.
What we learned: an approved form isn’t the same as a live one. We check the settings before we call anything open.
Friday, Oct 16, 2026
- Finalized the structure of the AI systems consultation funnel, built around two intake forms: the AI System Clarity Diagnostic and the Workflow Architecture Intake. The forms weren’t live yet. See Oct 18.
- Approved a week-one content plan: 3 posts a week, 1 video script, and 1 Substack outline.
- Confirmed qika.us as the central hub that everything links back to.