Army of One

in #ai • last year

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Introduction

Before AI matures enough to take all our jobs, it will first grant superpowers to those of us who want to learn

Using the right tools, a single person can achieve what once required an entire team!

What you'll gain:

  • Automation of repetitive tasks
  • Increased productivity
  • Cost reduction

What you need:

  • DeepSeek R1 - Low API cost
  • Make.com - Free Plan to start
  • VSCode + Cline - Free

In this article, I'll show you how to combine the power of these tools to create your own automation ecosystem.

DeepSeek: Powerful Assistant

What is DeepSeek?

DeepSeek is an advanced AI model that released a breakthrough R1 version on January 20, 2025, revolutionizing automation and programming capabilities. DeepSeek-R1 offers:

  • Performance matching or exceeding OpenAI-o1 in reasoning tasks
  • 671B parameters (37B active) utilizing MoE (Mixture of Experts) architecture
  • Exceptional programming abilities (96.3 percentile on Codeforces)
  • Advanced mathematical capabilities (79.8% in AIME 2024, better than OpenAI o1-1217)
  • Fully open-source model with MIT license allowing commercial use

What sets DeepSeek-R1 apart from other AI models? Primarily its advanced reasoning and analysis capabilities that match or exceed closed commercial models. The model uses state-of-the-art MoE architecture, enabling significantly better performance while maintaining reasonable deployment costs.

The cost of using DeepSeek R1 is just $2.19 per million output tokens, 
compared to $60 per million tokens for the o1 model.

DeepSeek Applications

  1. Code and Content Generation

    • Text generation
    • Complete function and module creation
    • Automatic unit test generation
    • Existing code refactoring

  2. Debugging and Optimization

    • Code error analysis
    • Performance optimization suggestions
    • Security issue identification

  3. Documentation and Explanations

    • Automatic documentation generation
    • Detailed code explanations
    • Usage example creation

Make.com: Automation Hub

Make.com Basics

Make.com (formerly Integromat) is a powerful no-code platform for process automation. It offers:

  • Intuitive drag-and-drop interface
  • Over 1500 ready integrations
  • Advanced data processing capabilities
  • AI tool integration

Key Automation Features

  1. Workflows

    • Visual automation creation
    • Conditional task execution
    • Complex business scenario handling

  2. AI Integrations

    • Connection with language models
    • Automatic text and image processing
    • Sentiment analysis and data classification

  3. Data Management

    • Automatic system synchronization
    • Data transformation and validation
    • Backup creation

1. Content Publication System

graph LR
    A[DeepSeek] -->|Generates content| B[Make.com]
    B -->|Formats| C[Blog]
    B -->|Customizes| D[Social Media]
    B -->|Optimizes| E[SEO]

Implementation:

  1. Use DeepSeek for initial content generation
  2. Configure Make.com workflow:
    • Automatic text formatting
    • Adding images and metadata
    • Publishing on various platforms
  3. Monitor results and adjust process

2. Automatic Website and Application Creation

Step by step, from installation to a working application with full automation.

Pro tip: When you have installation, understanding, or usage issues - ask deepseek chat for free

Step 1: Environment Setup

Tool Installation

  • Download and install Visual Studio Code
  • Install Cline extension from marketplace

DeepSeek R1 Configuration

  1. Open VSCode
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
  3. Type: Cline: Open Settings
  4. Select DeepSeek R1 as model
  5. Paste your API code

Step 2: Website Creation

  1. Create new project folder in VSCode
  2. In Cline write: "Create a responsive landing page for [description] company"
  3. DeepSeek R1 will generate file structure: 
    project/
├── index.html
├── styles.css
├── main.js
└── assets/

Step 3: Automation with Make.com

  1. Create a new scenario in Make.com that will act as your project's automatic guardian:

    Step 1: Change Monitoring

    • Add "Watch Folder" module
    • Point to your project folder
    • Set check frequency (e.g., every 15 minutes)

    Step 2: Automatic Deployment

    • When new or modified file appears
    • Make.com automatically pushes changes to hosting
    • You can choose Netlify, Vercel, or GitHub Pages

    Step 3: Notifications

    • After successful deployment
    • Sends message to Slack or email
    • Includes information about changes made

Tip: You can add conditions, e.g., deploy only when HTML or CSS file changed

Step 4: Functionality Development

  1. In Cline you can request new features:
    • "Add contact form with validation"
    • "Optimize page performance"
    • "Add scroll animations"
  1. DeepSeek R1 will generate appropriate code that you can directly deploy. For simpler tasks, you can switch to the cheaper but also smart deepseek-chat in Cline.

Step 5: API Integration

  1. Use Make.com to connect with external services:
    • Databases
    • Payment systems
    • Analytics tools

Tips for Effective Work

  • Use Cline snippets for quick generation of repetitive elements
  • Let DeepSeek R1 suggest code optimizations
  • Use Make.com for test and deployment automation

Creating a Simple Business Application

Step 1: Preparing CRM Application in VSCode

  1. Open VSCode with Cline extension and use the following prompt:

    "Create a simple CRM application with web interface that will include:
- Login panel
- Customer database
- Notes system
- Meeting calendar
Use HTML, JavaScript and Bootstrap for frontend."

  2. DeepSeek R1 will generate basic structure:

    crm-app/
├── index.html          # Login page
├── dashboard.html      # Main panel
├── clients.html        # Client management
├── css/
│   └── style.css      # Application styles
├── js/
│   ├── main.js        # Main logic
│   ├── auth.js        # Authentication
│   └── api.js         # Integrations
└── assets/            # Images and icons

Step 2: Process Automation in Make.com

  1. Create new scenario for CRM: 
    Trigger: "New client added"
Actions:
1. Save data in Google Sheets
2. Create contact in Mailchimp
3. Schedule follow-up in calendar
4. Send Slack notification

Step 3: Functionality Development with Cline

  1. Adding new features through prompts:

    "Add email notification system for:
- New leads
- Scheduled meetings
- Overdue tasks"

  2. External API Integration:

    "Integrate application with:
- Google Calendar API
- Mailing system
- Payment gateway"

Step 4: Optimization and Deployment

  1. Use Make.com for automation:

    • Cyclic data backups
    • Automatic updates
    • Performance monitoring

  2. Use DeepSeek R1 for optimization:

    • Code performance improvement
    • Security implementation
    • UI/UX adjustments

Tips:

  • Start with small functionality and gradually build up
  • Use Cline for rapid prototyping
  • Test each new feature before deployment
  • Automate repetitive tasks through Make.com

Costs and Optimization

Monthly Costs of Example Setup:

  1. DeepSeek

    • Chat: $0
    • API: $5-20 depending on usage

  2. Make.com

    • Free plan: 1000 operations/month
    • Basic plan: $9/month
    • Pro plan: $16/month

  3. Additional Free Tools

    • Hosting:
      • GitHub Pages (free static page hosting)
      • Cloudflare Pages (free plan with CI/CD)
      • Firebase Hosting (free plan up to 10GB/month)
      • Netlify (free plan with 100GB transfer)
    • Data Storage:
      • GitHub (up to 500MB per repository)
      • Google Drive (15GB free)
      • Firebase (free database up to 1GB)
      • MongoDB Atlas (free cluster up to 512MB)

Total Monthly Cost: from $5 to $20 (depending on chosen Make.com plan and API usage)

Cost Optimization:

  1. Use free plans where possible
  2. Automate most time-consuming tasks
  3. Monitor usage and optimize workflows

Best Practices

  1. Planning

    • Identify repetitive tasks
    • Define automation priorities
    • Document processes

  2. Implementation

    • Start with small, simple automations
    • Test each element thoroughly
    • Introduce gradual improvements

  3. Monitoring

    • Track automation effectiveness
    • Collect error data
    • Optimize based on results

Summary

Combining DeepSeek, Make.com, and other AI tools creates a powerful automation ecosystem accessible to everyone.

Open Source
Minimal Costs
Full Automation

The system you'll build:

  • Automates repetitive tasks
  • Increases productivity
  • Reduces operational costs
  • Allows focus on strategic actions

Tip: Start with small automations and gradually build your ecosystem.

Useful Links

Documentation and Resources:

Sources

Latest Articles and Documentation:

  1. Official DeepSeek R1 Documentation January 20, 2025
  2. Make.com - AI Automation Guide
  3. DeepSeek Research Paper
  4. Make.com Integration Guide
  5. DeepSeek-R1: Breakthrough in AI ReasoningJanuary 2025
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