# Rat's Nest keeps the code public and the inventory private

> For agents: start with the [agent guide](https://ratstack.sh/llms.txt). Every page is Markdown by default; add `Accept: text/html` for HTML.

Free workshop: [how to burn a trillion tokens and get good results](/tokenmaxx#interested).

> "Rat's Nest is my own purpose-built on-prem cloud to support my development, business, and content creation work."
>
> Joel Hooks

Rat's Nest succeeds joelclaw, Joel's earlier agent system.
It uses rat-stack and [Alchemy](/lore/infrastructure-as-effects) to declare infrastructure as code.

Joel builds Rat's Nest in public.
A series will document the build.
The project has no public repository yet.

## Public code, private inventory

The design rule is **public code, private inventory**.

- Hostnames, IPs, sites, ports, and machine inventory live outside the repo.
- A fence built from the private inventory blocks those details from public commits.

[The fence](/lore/the-fence) explains how rules become enforced checks.
[Cartridges](/lore/cartridges) explain rat-stack's service and infrastructure pattern.

See [Rat King](/lore/rat-king) for the encrypted AT Protocol agent network.

## Lore on this page

- [The fence](/lore/the-fence)

## Linked from

- Agent guide → An Effect stack so pure (aspirational) Kit Langton will blush. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/llms.txt)

- Change log → What changed in the files served here, newest first. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/log)

- Full agent guide → An Effect stack so pure (aspirational) Kit Langton will blush. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/llms-full.txt)

- Rat King binds agents into one encrypted network → Rat King plans an encrypted AT Protocol agent network built on rat-stack. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/lore/rat-king)

- Rat Stack lore | rat-stack → Short, source-grounded notes on the ideas and decisions behind rat-stack. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/lore)

- Source change history (log.md) → The generated change log as Markdown. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/log.md)