The Always-On Kit: turn a spare computer into an always-on assistant box

Your laptop sleeps. Your assistant doesn't have to. A step-by-step guide plus tested scripts that turn a computer you already own (old laptop, mini PC, Raspberry Pi 5, Mac mini) into an always-on box: auto-restart, phone access, a heartbeat that alerts you when it goes quiet, and hard cost caps. No new hardware, no deposit, no subscription.

Why people get it

1. Keep the machine you have. The hardware part of "always-on" is a spare computer and a few dollars a year in electricity. A Pi 5 costs about $5 a year to run 24/7, a Mac mini about $6.50 (public power specs × the US average electricity price, sources in the guide).
2. It keeps going, and it stops when you say. A service that restarts your agent after a crash, a heartbeat that pings your phone when the box goes quiet, and one command to stop everything from anywhere.
3. Caps before surprises. Daily budget, crash-loop limit, part-time hours, memory and CPU ceilings, and a safety checklist for leaving an agent on overnight.

What's inside

• The guide (PDF, 13 pages plus a cover): picking a machine, a 20-minute headless setup for Debian/Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi and macOS, keep-awake, auto-restart, phone access, the heartbeat, cost caps, the safety checklist, and an honest "pre-built box vs DIY" comparison table.
• Scripts: install.sh, keepalive.sh, the Linux service file, the macOS launch agent, heartbeat.sh, uninstall.sh and one settings file.
• caps.md: copy-paste cost caps and the kill switch.
• TESTS.md: every test we ran, with the exact command, output and date.

What we tested

Every script ran on our Linux test bench (Debian 12, systemd 252) on October 4, 2026: crash restarts, the crash cap, the kill switch, the budget cap, the heartbeat's ok and failure pings, and the service file under real systemd. All 20 checks passed and the log is in the download. The macOS launch agent was checked as a valid file but not run on a Mac, and we didn't test Pi hardware or a real power cut. The guide says which steps come from vendor documentation.

FAQ

Does this include an assistant or agent?

No. It keeps the one you choose running: anything you can start with one command in a terminal.

Do I need to know Linux?

You need to be OK copying commands into a terminal. Every command is in the guide, in order. Budget about 40 minutes the first time.

Will it work on my old laptop?

Most laptops from the last ten years are fine. The guide covers closing the lid without sleeping, and battery care for a laptop that's always plugged in.

Is a Raspberry Pi enough?

For most agents, yes: they wait on the network more than they compute. Check that your agent's tools run on ARM, and use an SSD rather than a memory card.

How is this different from buying a pre-built always-on box?

A pre-built box costs hundreds of dollars and may ship months from now. This uses a computer you already have and works today. The guide has a side-by-side table built only from public prices and specs.

What if it doesn't work for me?

Write to us through the store page with what you tried and what keepalive.log says. We'll help, and we fix the guide when a step is unclear.

— Isaac Oppenheimer Studio