JARVIS HUD // BUILDER SERIES
Building Jarvis: Designing an AI Control Plane
Designing an AI control plane for verifiable automation
Jarvis is an experimental system designed to make automated actions observable, accountable, and safe to operate. Instead of letting AI agents directly execute tasks, Jarvis routes proposals through a control plane that manages approvals, execution, and traceable receipts. Every action becomes part of a transparent timeline that can be inspected and replayed.
Mission Context
At CTRL+Strum, most projects start the same way: with curiosity, a little chaos, and a strong desire to build something interesting.
Jarvis is no exception.
This series documents the design and development of Jarvis HUD, an AI-native mission control system for agents, automation, and digital workflows.
Instead of focusing on watching someone type code for hours, the Jarvis Builder Series focuses on the philosophy and architecture behind the system — how decisions are made, why certain designs are chosen, and what actually happens when things don’t go according to plan.
Think of it less like a coding tutorial and more like a mission log for building a complex system in real time.
System Objective
Jarvis is being built as a control plane for AI-driven systems.
As AI agents become more capable, a major problem appears very quickly:
How do we know what they actually did?
Automation is powerful, but without transparency it becomes dangerous.
Jarvis is designed to solve that problem.
The goal is to create a system where automated actions can be:
- observed
- approved
- verified
- replayed
Every action performed by an agent generates a traceable receipt, ensuring the system remains transparent and accountable.
Core Architecture
At a high level, Jarvis acts as a control plane between agents and the systems they interact with.
Agents / Systems
↓
Ingress API
↓
Approval Layer
↓
Execution Engine
↓
Action Receipts
↓
Trace Timeline
↓
Jarvis HUD
System Architecture: Jarvis separates the control plane, execution layer, receipts, and observability into distinct parts of the system.
Ingress API
Agents or external systems send events into Jarvis through the Ingress API. Requests are authenticated and validated before entering the system.
Approval Layer
Before potentially destructive actions are executed, a human approval step can be required. This ensures automation remains under control rather than fully autonomous.
Execution Engine
Once approved, the execution engine performs the requested action through system adapters.
- code changes
- system updates
- automation workflows
Action Receipts
Every action produces a receipt containing information like:
- what action occurred
- when it occurred
- the result
- the trace identifier
Receipts are stored as append-only records to maintain a complete audit history.
Trace Timeline
The trace system reconstructs the full chain of events that led to an action. This makes it possible to see exactly how and why something happened.
Jarvis HUD
Finally, everything is visualized through the Jarvis HUD interface — the mission control dashboard for the system.
Series Format
Going forward, every episode in the Jarvis Builder Series follows the same structure.
Pre-Build: The Plan
Each episode begins with a mission briefing. We define what we’re building, why it matters, and how it fits into the overall architecture. This keeps the build focused and prevents scope creep.
Build Highlights
Instead of recording hours of coding, the series focuses on the interesting engineering moments — architectural decisions, unexpected problems, and design changes during the build. The goal is to highlight the thinking process behind the system, not just the typing.
Post-Build Debrief
At the end of each episode we review what we accomplished, what we learned, what changed from the original plan, and what the next step will be. This turns every episode into a complete engineering cycle.
Prototype Note
Some of the earliest Jarvis videos were recorded before this Builder Series format was established.
Those videos are still part of the story, but their structure is a bit different.
Think of them as the prototype phase.
Going forward, the series will follow the new structure:
Roadmap
Phase 1 — Control Plane
The first phase focuses on the core infrastructure needed to safely execute automated actions.
- ingress events
- approval gating
- execution engine
- action receipts
- trace timeline
Phase 2 — Observability
Once the control plane is stable, the next step is improving visibility.
- trace visualization
- system health panels
- activity streams
Phase 3 — Agent Ecosystem
Later phases will explore more advanced features like:
- agent orchestration
- task queues
- real-time activity visualization
One concept currently being explored is the Agent View, which visualizes the system as a live network of agents performing tasks — almost like observing an ant colony of autonomous agents at work.
Why Build This in Public
Building systems in public has two major advantages.
First, it forces clarity.
Explaining architecture decisions publicly is one of the fastest ways to test whether an idea actually makes sense.
Second, it creates a record of the process.
Software projects often appear polished and finished from the outside, but the reality is much messier.
By documenting the build process, this series captures the real engineering journey — the successes, the mistakes, and the decisions in between.
Jarvis is still early in development, but the foundation is already in place.
Over the coming missions we’ll continue expanding the system one piece at a time.
If you’re interested in:
- AI systems
- automation architecture
- developer tools
- or simply watching something weird and ambitious get built
you’re in the right place.
Welcome to the Jarvis Builder Series.
Mission log: initialized.
– Ben Tankersley
CTRL+Strum
Where music, technology, and weird science collide.
> Last note sent by Ben Tankersley