A guided, self-paced Build Path - from hardware that fits you and your budget to a home server shaped around your life: useful self-hosted apps and personal tools, built step by step with your coding agent. Once it's yours, it's the base a personal AI agent at home is built on - that's the next path, not this one.
WHERE THE PATH ENDS What you have when you finish - not what you watched, what runs:
Search "home server" and you're instantly deep in Proxmox versus Ubuntu, contradicting forum threads, one-line install scripts, and advice written for people ten years in. Every answer sounds confident. None knows you, your hardware, or which step you're on.
The problem isn't missing information. It's overload - with no order, no context, and no next step.
Build My Homelab is built by Ilan Kushnir - the maker behind KWS Rack - out of one home server that has to work every day. Pick any of them and see the real thing.
"AI can build you tools shockingly fast now. But a tool with nowhere to live stays a demo. Your home server is where those tools become part of your life."
...and much more. A home server keeps absorbing the next useful thing - these are just the ones worth showing.
Ilan built Pumpy with Claude Code, and it runs from this very server - for him, his friends and his family. It works better for him than any generic fitness app for the simplest reason: it was built around exactly how he trains - and when his needs change, the app changes the same week.
See Pumpy for yourselfIt is a real, running app - open it and judge it yourself.
The ebooks and the audiobooks were already on this server. ReadPort is what Ilan built on top of them: it mounts those folders read-only, works out which ebook and which narration are the same work, and times one against the other - so he can switch from the page to the voice mid-sentence, or read along while it plays. Open source, one container, and nothing leaves the machine.
See ReadPort for yourselfAlso real, also running on the same home server - and yours to self-host.
Ilan's own agents - Hermes and Astra - run from this server, wired to his projects, his tools, his task board and a long-term memory. Not a cloud chatbot with amnesia - a partner that knows the house it lives in.
Where this actually sits: Build My Homelab does not build this - it builds the server underneath it: the machine, containers, access and backups. The agent is a separate path that starts from a finished homelab, and unless you host a model yourself, the thinking still happens at a provider - your prompts and tool context go with it.
Where the next path starts ↓Lights, door lock, blinds and TV - plus the network and a mesh of sensors. Because the brain lives at home, not in a cloud, the automations that stay inside the house keep running when the internet is down. The ones that reach a cloud service still need it, and so does remote access from outside.
It sits on a backed-up base, so these are automations you set up once and can bring back after a power cut - not a fragile late-night install nobody can rebuild.
Media, photos, documents, bookmarks, file sync - the self-hosted world has a serious app for almost anything. One home server runs a surprising number of them at once, and each one can retire another monthly subscription.
Browse the catalog - selfh.st/apps ↗Ilan's personal kanban. Built around exactly how he plans his work - and wired to his AI agent, so tasks get added, sorted and closed as part of the conversation, not in yet another form.
That is the whole point of the path: not "learn Linux" - end up with things like these, running quietly at your place.
One computer is enough to start - and the best one is usually the one already sitting in your drawer. An old laptop, a Raspberry Pi, a mini PC: starting small is the recommendation here, not a compromise.
Already own serious gear? Bring it - the path adapts. And the same path grows to a bigger machine, or a cluster, whenever you decide you want one.
The range the path covers - join at any point
None of these is required before you start. The path meets you at whichever step you're on - or helps you pick the first one.
Three people, three different starting points - in their own words.
"Seven years of learning what belongs in a home lab - and what only adds noise."
Illustration of the setup, not a photo of Dave's hardware
"One mini PC and a switch. Now it runs the family clinic."
"A backend developer with no clue about infrastructure. It fit like a glove."
I've been building home labs for about seven years - Raspberry Pis first, then more hardware and infrastructure approaches than I can count, including Kubernetes at home. I made real mistakes, and I learned where complexity earns its keep and where it only gets in the way.
Through those years I worked as a software team lead and tech lead. Architecture and infrastructure were my day job, and I brought the same seriousness home. Today the lab runs systems other people use - including the KWS Labs pages you're reading right now.
The Build My Homelab program is that journey, distilled into an ordered path: the sequence I wish someone had handed me, with the dead ends removed and every step ending in something you can verify.
I started the Build My Homelab program with about the smallest setup you can have: one mini PC and a small network switch. I'm not an infrastructure person - we run a family dental practice - and I mostly wanted to see whether any of this was really within reach.
It pulled me straight in. Following the path turned into a genuine dive into home servers, and the useful part arrived faster than I expected. Today my server runs the appointment scheduling for the practice, along with a growing amount of our back-office work.
What makes it different from buying software is that everything is shaped around how we actually work. Because I can build the small apps we need with AI and then host them myself, the tools match the practice instead of the practice bending to fit a product someone else designed.
And it's all built the way the path teaches, with a real backup mechanism behind it - which is the part that lets me sleep. I'm not afraid of losing anything, because I've restored it myself and I know it works.
I'm Dor. I came to the Build My Homelab program having just discovered the world of home servers, and despite my experience as a backend developer, I had no real idea about any of it. The program fit me like a glove.
The moment I started, the whole infrastructure world opened up - simply, and gradually enough that it never felt like a wall. It genuinely captivated me. I worked out what hardware I actually needed, went and bought a mini PC that fits those needs, and I'm about to put the Raspberry Pi that had been lying around to work as well.
Beyond the program itself being fun, the infrastructure I built became a foundation. I went deep into AI agents: three separate agent instances run at my home right now, each for a different job - some personal, some for work.
Then there's the whole self-hosted open-source world I had never really looked at. I've built myself stacks of tools I never knew could be free, running at home permanently, always available to me.
We believe anyone can build a home server - with a clear Blueprint shaped around their goals, experience and hardware. The missing ingredient was never talent; it's organized, personal guidance.
At the end of this path, a sentence is waiting for you:
"I built my own server at home."
In your voice, about your machine - earned one verified step at a time.
Ready to earn it? Founding Access is one payment for the whole guided path - the full price and terms are in the offer below.
Not video chapters, not articles. One small loop, repeating from the first lesson to the last upgrade:
Why this step matters - one mental model, one diagram, no filler.
A recommended default with its reasons. Not ten options - one, and why.
A ready prompt card for your agent, with context, boundaries and warnings.
One check you can see with your own eyes: it works, or it doesn't.
A field or two in your Server Passport. Your server stays documented, always.
A capability you didn't have yesterday, stated plainly.
Exactly one clear step forward. Not a menu. No getting lost.
And from Next - back to Brief. That's how a server gets built: loop after loop, no dangerous leaps.
Every stage ends with something you can point at: a system running, a restore you performed yourself, a decision written down.
Hardware that fits your budget, the system set up properly, Docker, and your coding agent wired in - recorded from day one.
Running: a server you reach from across the room.Your first apps, picked from your personal plan and run with Compose the way you set it up.
Running: your first useful app - and you understand how.A dashboard front door and friendly names instead of IPs - and your call on how far that door opens: private remote access, or home-network-only.
Working: your dashboard behind one friendly name - reachable away from home if you choose private remote access, at home only if you'd rather keep it there.Monitoring, real backups - and a restore you've done with your own hands.
Verified: you restored it yourself - and know you can again.More capable hardware, heavier apps, maybe one deliberately published service.
Comes later, once the earlier stages are solidA home AI agent, a personal-apps lab, a physical lab around KWS Rack.
Continues from your finished first pathA KWS Rack V2 planner is available from Stage 01 if you have a 3D printer. No printer? A shelf or a purchased 10-inch rack is every bit as valid - the path never requires one.
A short questionnaire learns what excites you, your experience, your budget and the hardware you already have - then shapes your KWS Blueprint.
The stage order is fixed on purpose - each stage stands on the one before it. Your plan decides what comes first inside it: which apps, how deep, what your roadmap holds. Personalization is prioritization, not exclusion - whatever you don't start with stays reachable later, on the same path.
Pick the builder you are - the plan below changes with it:
Every stage ships a prompt card written for your coding agent: your server's context, this stage's goal, and exactly how to verify the result. Each card continues the same coherent build - not five approaches across five chats.
You are my build companion for setting up Tailscale on my home server. ## Context - OS: Ubuntu Server LTS (fresh install, updated) - Apps run with Docker Compose under /opt/kws/stacks - My dashboard (Homepage) works on the local network - I am a beginner: explain every command in one sentence before I run it ## Goal Reach my dashboard from my phone, away from home, privately. ## Hard rules 1. Do NOT suggest port forwarding or exposing anything to the internet. 2. Do NOT ask me for passwords, keys, or tokens. If a login is needed, tell me to complete it myself in the browser. 3. One step at a time. After each step, tell me exactly how to verify it worked before we continue. Start by checking what we need to install, and wait for my output.
One habit the cards teach from day one: facts about your server go into the chat - secrets never do.
Guided doesn't mean done for you. Before you take the launch offer, check the sheet - honestly, in both directions.
The path includes explanations, prompt cards, verification checks and a structured Stuck Report for when something fails. It is not unlimited personal support - and no promise that Ilan personally solves every router, ISP or hardware problem.
You should - a lot. This path is built around AI, not against it. But answering questions and building a system are two different jobs:
In short: your agent builds. The path gives it direction, context and sequence.
Everything above is the product: the guided path, the plan, the verification, the recovery. One offer, one price - nothing to configure or compare.
Blueprint Build Map Build Verify Record Recover Continue
The same move at every stage, in the path's one fixed stage order - your Blueprint decides depth and priorities, never the sequence.
Founding Builders receive 48-hour early access and 20% off the launch price of the next two KWS Labs Build Paths.
What you'll build with (not included): a computer you already own or hardware you choose with the path, plus a personal coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or an equivalent tool. We help you pick the hardware and use your agent safely. Hardware and third-party AI subscriptions are purchased separately.
Not yet - checkout is not open, and no payment is collected anywhere on this page. What you can do today is leave your email: you get one message the day it opens, at the founding price shown above, and you decide then. No payment, no card, no obligation - and your address is never passed on.
Not yet - checkout opens very soon, and no payment is collected anywhere on this page. What you can do today is reserve the founding price: confirm your email and you get the checkout link first, with $99 held for you for 48 hours after it goes out, even if the 250 founding places fill in the meantime. No payment, no card, no obligation - you decide when the link arrives.
Yes. Checkout is open: $99 one-time, on our payment provider's secure page, and your access code follows to the email you pay with. Not for you? Full refund within 14 days of buying, as long as you've completed no more than two stages - see the next question.
You get a refund, and the rule is written down before you pay rather than decided afterwards: ask within 14 days of buying, while you have completed no more than two stages of the path, and the refund is full and unconditional. No explanation asked for. Progress is read from the portal's own record of completed stages, the one you can see yourself, so neither of us has to take the other's word for it. The limit exists because this is digital content: two stages is enough to judge the writing, the depth and the tone, and far short of having taken the whole thing. Founding Builders get more than that - if the stages promised at the time of your purchase are not delivered, you can ask for a full refund at any time until they are, whatever your progress. The full clause is in the Terms.
"Lifetime" means access for as long as Build My Homelab remains commercially available and supported by KWS Labs. Concretely: you pay once, and every future update to this Build Path - new lessons, revised stages, catalog additions - is included with no upgrade fee. It does not mean other, separate KWS Labs products are included.
One payment. No subscription, no renewal, no recurring anything from KWS Labs for this product. Two honest cost notes so nothing surprises you: hardware is yours to buy separately (the path helps you choose it, and starting with a machine you already own is a first-class option), and a coding agent or other third-party AI tool may carry its own subscription with its own vendor - that is never included in, or billed through, Founding Access.
Founding Builders receive 48-hour early access and 20% off the launch price of the next two KWS Labs Build Paths. That benefit is deliberately bounded: it covers exactly the next two Build Paths, and nothing else about future products is promised. Founding price available to the first 250 paying customers.
No. Build My Homelab is a separate product - a guided Build Path from the same maker. KWS Rack stays exactly where it lives, and nothing about its published files changes. A printed rack is a beautiful home for your server, and the path includes an optional physical-lab stage - but on day one, a shelf works just as well.
No. You need technical curiosity and the willingness to run a command after it's been explained to you in one sentence. The path teaches each concept exactly when you need it - not in an intro lecture. If you've ever written code, managed a technical product, or set up a smart home, you have more than enough.
For most people: a used or new mini PC, or a computer already lying around. The Blueprint questionnaire recommends a hardware path for your budget and goals - including "don't buy anything yet, start with what you have". No hardware at all? The supported start is still a machine at home - a low-cost used mini PC goes a long way. This program builds a server in your home, so every lesson assumes a machine on your own home network. A server closet is not required, promise.
It can be done calmly, and that's exactly how the path is built: every step is explained before you run it, steps come in an order that makes sense, and each one ends with a verification you can see. Risky or advanced actions are never treated casually - they arrive only after the basics that make them sensible. We won't promise zero risk; these are real systems, and you remain responsible for your own machine and data. The path's job is to make sure you're never guessing.
No - and you don't have to reach it from outside at all. Stage 04 makes remote access a real decision with two complete answers: home-network-only, where the dashboard and apps stay reachable on your own network and nothing new is installed for access, or private remote access through Tailscale, an encrypted route between your own devices with no router ports opened. Home-network-only is a finished build, not a lesser one, and remote access can be added later without redoing anything. Publishing a service to the public internet is a third thing entirely: an optional later stage, meant only for people who truly need it, and it comes with its own careful sequence.
Full transparency, so you don't find out midway:
"Not yet" always means "not now, and here's why" - never a locked door without an explanation.
Better to say it here than after you sign up. This path isn't for you if:
If one of those is you - you'd likely be disappointed, and we'd rather save us both the time.
You need an AI assistant. A terminal coding agent - a tool such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor that can run commands and build alongside you - is the smoothest fit. A capable chat assistant (like ChatGPT or Claude) also works: it advises while you execute the commands and paste back what you see. You don't need to be an expert with either: an agent-readiness check is the first thing on the path, and the prompt cards work in any capable assistant, not just one.
English. The lessons, the Blueprint and every prompt card are written in English - most infrastructure documentation and error messages are English, so English prompts keep everything in one language for your assistant. An earlier Hebrew edition exists and may return later, but the path launches in English.
Every stage has an escape lane: a Stuck Report template that produces an orderly failure report - what you expected, what happened, and the relevant log with secrets stripped - ready to paste into your agent. Getting stuck is part of learning; staying stuck isn't.
Early in the path you build a backup and run a full restore drill - you break it on purpose and bring it back. After that, a mistake isn't a disaster, just another lap of the loop. Genuinely risky stages simply don't unlock before that safety net exists.
Questions answered? The last step takes one minute and no money.
Tell me when it opens No payment today - checkout isn't open yet.Checkout isn't open yet, and no payment is taken anywhere on this page.
Build My Homelab is finished and opening very soon. Leave your email and you get one message the day it does, at the founding price - the exact price and full terms are in the offer above.
Checkout isn't open yet, and no payment is taken anywhere on this page.
Build My Homelab is finished and launching very soon. Confirm your email and you get the checkout link first, with the $99 founding price held for you for 48 hours after it goes out - even if the 250 founding places fill in the meantime. The exact price and full terms are in the offer above.
One payment - $99, the whole path, every future update to it. Secure checkout on our payment provider's page; your access code follows to the email you pay with.
One email, one list, one purpose: to tell you when it opens. Nothing here takes a payment, and leaving your address commits you to nothing at all.
Two separate lists, on purpose: the founding list and general updates ("Updates only" tab). Neither ever signs you up for the other.
