How it works
Save R&D blueprints and skills to your library. Connect Vander Labs to your AI once. From then on, your AI starts new plans from research that is already done and loads the right skill by itself.
What a blueprint is
An R&D blueprint holds the research behind a product, company, program structure or workflow that someone already worked through with their AI: the decisions and why they were made, the dead ends and why they fail, the facts that were checked (each with its source and date), the numbers, the open questions, what must be re-checked before relying on it, and how to apply it to a new situation. Every claim is tagged [verified] (checked against a source), [tried] (tested in practice) or [hypothesis] (reasoned, not tested), so your AI knows how far to trust it.
When you start planning something new, your AI looks for a blueprint first and starts from it, instead of spending hours and tokens rediscovering the same answers and walking into the same dead ends. Each blueprint page shows how far the project really got (research only, built, launched or earning), when it was researched and when it should be re-checked.
What a skill is
A skill is a short document that tells an AI assistant how to approach one kind of task: what to ask first, how to work through it, what to hand back, and what to check before finishing. Skills on Vander Labs are written in an open format (a SKILL.md file with a name, a description and markdown instructions), so they work with any assistant that supports it. An AI with a good skill follows a clear method instead of improvising from the average of the internet.
Three steps
- Browse and save. Each blueprint page shows its stage, market, dates, key decisions and how much of it is proven; each skill page shows what your AI will learn, the steps it follows, its limits, and a related video on the topic. Save the ones you want to your library. The Free plan holds up to 5; Pro holds as many as you like.
- Connect once. On the Connect page you get a private connector URL. Add it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Claude Code as an MCP server (the page shows the exact steps for each). The connection runs over HTTPS using the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for giving AI assistants access to tools and documents.
- Just ask. When you start brainstorming or planning, your AI searches the blueprints and starts from a close match. When you ask for something that matches a skill in your library, it loads the skill and follows it. You do not have to remember which one applies or paste anything. You can also name one directly if you prefer.
Publish your own R&D
If you have worked something out with your AI, a startup you researched, a program structure, a workflow nobody else has written down, you can publish it as a blueprint. Ask your AI: "Turn this project into a Vander Labs blueprint." It reads the format through the connector, writes the decisions, dead ends and checked facts, leaves out secrets and personal data, and saves a draft in your studio. Nothing is public until you read it, submit it and a reviewer publishes it. When other members' AI starts from your blueprint, you are paid. How to write a blueprint has the format.
Does it save tokens?
Loading a blueprint costs your AI a few thousand tokens for a typical one and up to about 15,000 for the longest, about what reading a long article costs. Redoing the research costs far more: the searches, the false starts and the long back-and-forth before the plan is solid. We can not measure the saving for you, because Vander Labs never sees your conversations; the Skill Index shows which entries members' AI reports as having worked.
Free, trial and Pro
On the Free plan your AI receives a preview of each blueprint and skill: the start of the SKILL.md, never more than 40% of it, and your AI is told to say so. Pro loads every public blueprint and skill in full. You can try Pro free for 7 days, once per account, with no card; the trial ends by itself and nothing is charged. Plans and prices are on the pricing page.
What your AI sees
Your AI sees the list of blueprints and skills in your library (names and descriptions) so it knows when one applies, and the text of one when it loads it. When you ask it to save a blueprint draft, the text it writes is stored in your studio, privately, until you submit it. It does not see other members' libraries, and Vander Labs does not see your conversation. The connector records which skill was loaded, when, and the name of the AI client that asked. After a task, your AI can also report through the connector's report_outcome tool whether the skill worked, partly worked or failed, with an optional short note and no personal data. That record powers your activity feed, creator royalties and the Skill Index, which ranks every public skill by review, outcomes, repeat use and reach. It is used for nothing else.
Keeping the connector private
Your connector URL is a secret, like a password. Anyone who has it can load skills from your library. If you paste it somewhere you should not have, or you just want a fresh one, reset it from the Connect page or Settings. The old URL stops working immediately.
Who writes them
A blueprint or a skill is only as good as the judgment inside it, so every page says who wrote it. They come from two places:
- Vander Labs Originals, including the launch catalog, are written by the Vander Labs team with AI assistance and published under the Vander Labs name. They carry the Vander Labs Original label.
- Creator blueprints and skills are written by the people who publish them, often together with their own AI. We review each one before it goes live.
We never present a skill written with AI as one person's work.
Members pay a subscription, and half of each member's net fee (what is left after payment fees and tax) is shared across the skills that member's AI used that month. The share for a creator's skill goes to that creator; the share for a Vander Labs Original stays with Vander Labs. That is the whole model. There are no ads and no data brokering.
What Vander Labs is not
It is not a chatbot, and it does not run your AI. You keep using the assistant you already have, on your own account, with your own limits. Vander Labs adds the research and the skills, nothing more.
Ready to try it? Start with the blueprints or the skills library, or read how creators publish.