# Playbooks

> Step-by-step plans for a solo founder, an agency, a startup, a small business, a university, or a science lab, with house rules and prompts to copy.

A playbook is a plan for running AI Agents for your work, written for one kind of business. Each one tells you which assistants to use, which house rules to set, what to do on Day 1 and in your first week, and which prompts to paste.

The rule that ties them together is the same in every playbook: what happens after the work depends on your **house rules**. These are the rules in your company brief plus what you allow without asking under Auto-approve in [Settings](https://stellarfirm.ai/app/settings). A solo founder may let the Coder merge small fixes after checks pass. An agency may keep every client-facing step behind Approve. Each playbook picks a [merge policy](/docs/ceo/house-rules#merge-policy): review only (the default), merge after CEO approval, or auto merge on green. Shipping to production is a separate rule on that page. You choose, and you can change it any time. Read [house rules](/docs/ceo/house-rules) first if you have not yet.

## How to use a playbook

1. Pick the playbook closest to your business. It does not need to be exact.
2. Read the **Preflight** and finish it before you start.
3. Copy the suggested house rules into your company brief, and edit them to fit.
4. Follow **Day 1**, then **First week**, pasting the prompts as you go.
5. Settle into the **Steady orbit** rhythm, and tighten or loosen your house rules as trust grows.

> [!TIP]
> Start with stricter house rules than you think you need. It is easy to allow more later, and it is calming to watch the Coder earn it.

## The playbooks

| Playbook | For | Team size |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Solo founder](/docs/playbooks/solo-founder) | One person building a product alone | 1 |
| [Agency](/docs/playbooks/agency) | A studio running several client projects | 3 to 25 |
| [Startup](/docs/playbooks/startup) | A small product team shipping to production | 3 to 30 |
| [Small business](/docs/playbooks/small-business) | A shop, a practice, or a service business with a few websites or tools | 2 to 20 |
| [Create your eShop](/docs/playbooks/eshop) | Your own online shop | 1 |
| [Real estate agency](/docs/playbooks/real-estate) | An agency that lists, markets, and shows homes | 1 to 30 |
| [University](/docs/playbooks/university) | A university, a school, or a teaching and research lab, led by the Teacher and the Scientist | 1 to 50 |
| [Science lab](/docs/playbooks/science-lab) | A research group or a lab, led by the Scientist | 1 to 50 |

## The common shape

Every playbook has the same four stages.

| Stage | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| Preflight | Sign in, connect your source host, and write your first house rules. |
| Launch | Run your first goal, watch it in Jobs, and approve the risky step. |
| First week | Build the habits: small goals, reading diffs, and tuning your house rules. |
| Steady orbit | A weekly rhythm that keeps the work running with little effort. |

## Assistants in the playbooks

Every AI Agent Assistant is ready to hire, so every step in every playbook is one you can do today. Each playbook starts with the assistants that matter most for that kind of business: the Coder for a startup, Marketing and Sales for a real estate agency, the Teacher and the Scientist for a university or a science lab. The rest of the team is there when you need it.

> [!TIP]
> Ready-made companies set up a whole office for you in one go: assistants, house rules, a starter brief, and prompts. Pick one from the Marketplace in [the app](https://stellarfirm.ai/app). A playbook gives you the same plan to set up by hand.

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Source: https://stellarfirm.ai/docs/playbooks