scottgross.works

Caricature artist and Founder of the Leedz

[The Leedz @LeedzLyfe]

Sad times for the Italian and Jew-gene communities on the East Side of Cleveland. Fressers young and old are reeling from news that beloved Italian grocery Ferrara's Imported Foods is closing after 70 years on Mayfield Road. I'm grateful to have been able to eat their Sicilian slices and Italian sandwiches for 50 of them. RIP to Chic and everyone in the family who made this place the best to ever do it. #cleveland #gabagool

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

@LeedzLyfe best cannolis ever - hand-stuffed while you wait, so the dough stayed dry and crisp

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Who has been to an Ontario @towerbuzzers game? The team had me in the park as part of their amazing fan experience, and it was a HOME RUN! Thank you to everyone at ONT Field out in the IE!

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Check out my latest article: Gating for Autonomous Agents https://t.co/UhgGAWtUxh via @LinkedIn Reference article: https://t.co/y5v78ImNcD
Wilson Lin @wilsonzlin and thanks to @LeedzLyfe

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Check out my latest article: Functional Paradigm for AI Coding https://t.co/I8T5czED8y via @LinkedIn

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

@LeedzLyfe This is hilarious. Yes, every caricature vendor thinks he's doing himself and his friends a favor by sharing leedz for free with them. And living in a studio apartment and having no money.....

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

@jack The killer app for any craft service business is the 'Find Me a Gig' button. I'm building it using Goose from @square

[The Leedz @LeedzLyfe]

Agentic Sales Outreach Using Goose - Part 1.

The weekend I ported an outreach pipeline that works using Claude Code over to Goose. The markdown is agnostic and clearly defines the pipeline. The MCP tools were built. The goal was to pick the cheapest OpenRouter model that would run the agent correctly.

Three model attempts later, I figured out why nothing worked: Goose ships an LLM-based tool router that dynamically prunes which of your registered tools the model can see on any given turn. I had a bloated catalog of 22 itemized CRUD tools registered. Between 3 and 22 were being read, depending on the model. Skills files saying "every client found, call create_client immediately" hit -32002 not-found because the router hadn't surfaced create_client yet. Tool registered, server running, but the model couldn't see it.

The fix was to rewrite the MCP server to expose three workflow verbs instead of 22 database primitives. Then I culled the six platform extensions Goose ships that this pipeline never uses. Apps, summon, analyze, todo, skills, extensionmanager. All of them dump tool schemas into the working window whether you call them or not.

Now with the same Sonnet 4.5, same database, same pipeline, Goose is booting. Tool router has nothing to prune. The agent read my entire sqlite database and started the flow.

Goose Lesson @jack : design your MCP surface as workflow operations, not database operations. Models orchestrate outcomes. The CRUD belongs inside your workflow tool, not in the model's working set.

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

I'm building agentic workflows using goose from @Square

[The Leedz @LeedzLyfe]

Agentic Workflows on Goose from @Square Part 2

In my last post I largely solved context bloat and consolidated my MCP servers. This got goose up and running with DeepSeek instead of relying on expensive Claude credits.

However, a discount model quickly became the unreliable component. DeepSeek hallucinates tool calls. Confuses outreach text with marketplace listings. Drops required fields and 'loses the plot' of what its goal actually is.

So I built procedural defensive layers around the model. One is a python Tavily wrapper that strips response bloat (markdown noise, nav menus, image URLs) before the model sees it. 50 to 86% smaller scrape responses. To fix sharing with the Leedz marketplace I added hard validation and some hardcoded values to the js mcp server, to reject payloads that might be hallucinated or malformed in predictable ways.

Finally, I edited down the skills files. The .md files should read like recipes, not essays. Numbered steps. Each step is one tool call. No room for deliberation and rabbit-holes.

The model is unreliable, just like a person. So you bulletproof the pipeline and trust but validate. Just like real life. @jack

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Check out my latest article: Agentic Sales Outreach Using Goose - Part 1. https://t.co/8U3zlkgAK6 via @LinkedIn

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

@LeedzLyfe How does this compare to hermes orchestrator?

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

@LeedzLyfe @Square MCP is rough on context windows.

We try to avoid it in production where we can - loading dozens of tool definitions to use a couple of them adds up fast.

It's a bit like bringing a translator to speak Italian. Useful when you're exploring or stitching things together quickly.

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Check out my latest article: Agentic Sales Outreach Using Goose - Part 1. https://t.co/8U3zlkgAK6 via @LinkedIn

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Someone just dropped this inverview! #caricatureartist Matt Schmidt talks fair life, opening an art boutique, and low-fi beats. #hustleculture #salesleads #craftbusiness

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Vendors waste 80% of the leedz that come their way once they are booked. Meanwhile, you worked hard to build your network. Now leverage it!

#gigeconomy #sidehustle #weddings #weddingvendor #eventplanner #craftvendor #hustle #weekend #artist #vendor

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Caricatures are HOT. Can you make money drawing?

Mickey Garcia has been drawing caricatures nationwide for ten years. How does he do it?
#caricatures #sidehustle #weddings #weddingvendor #eventplanner #caricatura #birthdays #weekend #artist #vendor https://t.co/BvYH7WuYFq

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Night Markets = Your Secret Side-Hustle Goldmine?

I grabbed fellow #caricatureartist @mickeygtoons to DISH about LA’s night market scene. Every night 100's of vendors turn a random parking lot into a buzzing empire of food, trinkets, art, clothes & straight fire energy.

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Got a booking request that makes you go "Hell nah"?
Forward that email to [email protected]
Proof from the streets: chatted with caricature artist Rufus Z on Venice Beach.
What's the worst booking you've ever dodged?
#GigEconomy #VeniceBeach #SideHustle #VendorLife #LAHustle

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

In 2026 service vendors are on social media, making videos, doing their own SEO, doing their own sales. Why do we need Thumbtack and Gigsalad, anymore? To charge us for stale leads they sell to 30 other vendors?

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

Your a service vendor or party performer and you need a gig! [email protected]

[scottgross.works @ScottGrossWorks]

I'm not a programmer, I'm a caricature artist. But with Claude Code I was able to create a nationwide booking aftermarket for vendors like me. Wake up with nothing on the calendar? Find your next gig on the Leedz! [email protected] #smallwins #claude #sidehustle