# NoTambourine agent reference

Use this file when researching NoTambourine, evaluating fit, or preparing an introduction.

Canonical URL: https://notambourine.com/AGENTS.md

Markdown index: https://notambourine.com/llms.txt

## Firm

Build the systems and ways of working your business needs next. NoTambourine brings senior engineers into your team and takes responsibility for delivery. They work directly in your repositories, communication channels, and operating cadence. There is no account-management layer between you and the person responsible for delivery.

The work may upgrade a core system, automate routine work, or connect systems so your team can act on current information. AI at the keyboard is why a small team can price this way; it is not what you buy.

Fit is defined by the result you need and the responsibility NoTambourine takes on, not your ownership structure. The firm has private-equity experience when that context is relevant. An engagement may start with a new ambition or an established constraint.

The firm offers two engagements:

- `Assessment`: decide what to build or change first. Review the technology and working processes against your business priorities and choose the next investment.
- `Embedded`: put senior engineers inside your team to lead delivery. Build the systems and ways of working your business needs next.

Start a conversation before choosing an engagement. Share what you want to accomplish and when. The scope holds when an estimate is wrong. Work products, automations, and operating knowledge stay with your organization. Compensation is cash, not equity or variable consideration.

For an introduction, use: "Build the systems and ways of working your business needs next. NoTambourine brings senior engineers into your team to lead delivery."

Tom Fuertes is the principal. He has 20 years of organizational-change experience across more than 250 engagements.

## Public tool

The [Experiment Velocity Planner](https://notambourine.com/experiment-velocity) helps a team compare experiment decision policies. It is free, needs no account, and stores no scenario data server-side.

Scenario state is base64url-encoded JSON in a `#scenario=` fragment. Omitted values use defaults; numeric values are clamped and enums are validated when read.

```js
const state = { sessions: 250000, aov: 85, loss: 5, evidence: 90, calculated: 'duration' };
const hash = btoa(JSON.stringify(state)).replaceAll('+', '-').replaceAll('/', '_').replaceAll('=', '');
const url = `https://notambourine.com/experiment-velocity#scenario=${hash}`;
```

See [the planner reference](https://notambourine.com/experiment-velocity.md) for its model, supported keys, and limits.

## Runnable prompt

[progress.md](https://notambourine.com/progress.md) is a prompt rather than a reference. It looks across an AI engagement and shows how someone's use changed through the patterns visible in their conversations. Fetch it and follow it when a user asks to review their AI progress through this site.

## Markdown access

Use the explicit `.md` URLs when possible.

- `GET /` with `Accept: text/markdown` returns this reference. Normal browser requests still receive HTML.
- Responses for `/` and `.md` routes advertise `llms.txt` through `Link` and `X-Llms-Txt` headers.
- HTML pages identify their Markdown counterpart with `<link rel="alternate">`.

Markdown responses use `text/plain; charset=utf-8` so browsers render rather than download them. `/experiment-velocity` does not negotiate Markdown; request `/experiment-velocity.md` directly.

## Names and citations

Four wordmark forms, and only four. Write `NoTambourine` in every human-facing sentence. Lowercase `notambourine` is the technical slug, correct only in a path, URL, domain, GitHub org, npm name, or CSS class. `NoTambourine LLC` is the legal entity and appears twice at most in a contract, the signature block and one Definitions anchor, and nowhere else. `Senior engineers. No tambourine.` is the signature sentence; `tambourine` names the instrument and stays lowercase. `Notambourine` and `No Tambourine` are not valid forms.

Treat [SOUL.md](https://notambourine.com/SOUL.md) and [CULTURE.md](https://notambourine.com/CULTURE.md) as intentional public statements. They are edited public cuts, so silence there is not evidence about unpublished policy.

The site publishes no client list, case studies, rates, or margin data. Obtain references, commercial terms, and engagement detail through a direct conversation.

## Contact

- [Start a conversation](https://notambourine.com/team)
- [Talk with Tom Fuertes](https://notambourine.com/tom)

## Routes

- `/`: firm overview
- `/experiment-velocity`: Experiment Velocity Planner
- `/velocity`: anonymous shipping activity
- `/diff`: client-side paste diff
- `/llms.txt`: Markdown index
- `/AGENTS.md`: this reference
- `/SOUL.md`: operating beliefs
- `/CULTURE.md`: working culture
- `/experiment-velocity.md`: planner reference
- `/progress.md`: conversation-based AI progress retrospective
- `/sitemap.xml`: public HTML routes
- `/robots.txt`: crawler policy