17 · In-house · AI integration · App development
vona Cockpit: running the website by chat and voice
Our website keeps growing – with a blog, an AI weekly review, an AI tools directory, job postings and a newsletter. The vona Cockpit brings it all together in a Mac app of our own: changes by chat or voice input, SEO and GEO always in view – and nothing goes online before it has been editorially reviewed and approved.
Own project (in-house) – built by vona for itself · project from 2026
Next stage, in use since October 2026: everything the Cockpit can do – from SEO to competitor analysis – on the go with an iPhone app, with the same approval step. Read more ↓
- In-house
- SwiftUI
- Claude Code
- Claude
- Python
- Astro
- Search Console API
- Human-in-the-loop
- Chat + voice
- change and extend the website by instruction – typed or spoken
- 14 areas
- from the weekly review to AI visibility in one app
- 0 steps
- go out without editorial review and approval
01 · Problem
vonalab.com is bilingual and alive: pages, a blog, a weekly AI review, an AI tools directory, job postings for Google for Jobs, a newsletter and ongoing work on visibility in Google and AI search. Every step had its own tool: building and checking in the terminal, uploading by command, Search Console, rankings and visitor numbers in the browser, the newsletter in a separate interface. That took time – and especially for steps with an outside effect, the risk of mistakes grew.
02 · Solution
A native macOS app in SwiftUI that does not replace the existing tools but brings them together in 14 areas. At its heart is the chat: what should change on the website is described in everyday language – typed or by voice input, and if you like, the app reads the answer aloud. Claude implements the change as a proposal, the Cockpit builds the site, checks it and shows it on the local server, on the phone too. New pages and sections come about this way just as small corrections do. Recurring workflows run on a schedule: the AI weekly review, new entries for the AI tools directory and the monitoring of search terms then sit in the app as drafts.
03 · SEO & GEO built in
Visibility is part of the workflow, not an afterthought. After every build, an SEO report checks all pages for issues. Search Console shows clicks, positions and the indexing status per URL, and the competition area shows the Google ranking compared with selected competitors. For visibility in AI search, the Cockpit asks AI assistants typical questions from prospects – set up for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini –, evaluates whether and how vona is mentioned, and turns this into a review report with reasons and recommendations.
04 · Editorially reviewed
Nothing goes online before it has been editorially reviewed and approved. Every change from the chat first appears as a proposal with all changed passages; commit, push and upload only run after explicit confirmation. For the weekly review, the app checks the transparency note, links and length automatically – a person checks the key statements against the sources, and only then can it be published. New entries for the AI tools directory arrive as drafts with sources and open points. After every upload, the Cockpit compares the live site with the reviewed version.
05 · How it came about
René Mattis designed the Cockpit; it was developed with Claude Code, Anthropic's AI coding assistant – in conversation, step by step. René set the structure, workflows and security rules and reviewed every change before it was accepted. The first commit dates from 2 October 2026; since then the app has grown with every new need. The fixed rules include: no password in the app, subscriber data is only displayed – never stored and never passed to the AI –, and in the chat Claude can change files but cannot run commands.
06 · Result
One place instead of many windows: the website can be changed and extended by chat or voice, visibility in Google and AI search is always in view, and recurring work is ready as a draft. Because every step with an outside effect needs approval, decisions stay with people. The Cockpit is an internal tool for vonalab.com – and itself an example of what we build with AI: the AI does the groundwork, people review and decide.
07 · Workflow
- Instruction: in the chat, typed or spoken
- Claude: changes files, no commands
- Build & check: build, SEO report, type check
- Preview: local server, on the phone too
- Approval: editorially reviewed
- ONLY AFTER APPROVAL: GitHub commit & push, vonalab.com upload, Live check compared with build
08 · Insights
Schematic, animated depictions of the app – redrawn instead of screenshots so that no client, account or subscriber data is visible. Where figures are examples, the depiction says so. The labels are translated for this page; the app itself runs in German.
Overview: live status, commit, upload, weekly review, Google index and the regular checks (EU AI Act, AI models) at a glance – and how everything fits together Chat: instruction by voice input, Claude implements it, the Cockpit builds and checks – it is only accepted after approval Pages: every page with SEO status, PageSpeed and Google index – clicking PageSpeed shows the result, “Improve in chat” turns it into an instruction Checks & reports: build and check, upload with dry run and confirmation, then the live comparison SEO report: all pages checked after every build, with details and notes per page Google Search: performance, insights and indexing status from Search Console (sample data) AI visibility: questions to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini, evaluation and review report (sample data) Competition: Google ranking, AI overview and suggestions from Claude based on the page comparison (sample data, competitors anonymized) Visitors: figures from Matomo on our own server – overview, pages, sources and visitors & technology (sample data, no cookies) Newsletter: subscribers from Listmonk view-only, newsletter built from tools and weekly review, sent only after confirmation (invented sample data) Weekly review: automatic checks, approval only after the key statements are verified, plus the sources of the weekly run AI tools: import from selected sources, research by Claude with open points and sources – every tool stays a draft until a person has checked it Jobs: job postings in German and English, as Google reads them – reported via the Indexing API only after confirmation History: everything traceable – every change can be undone, and the reversal only goes online after approval, like any change Settings: agency details, schedules, upload via SSH key – keys stay on the Mac only (credentials and addresses anonymized) The hub: where the Cockpit reads from, which AI services do groundwork and where it writes only after approval by a person
Next stage · in use
The whole Cockpit on the go.
Our iOS app lets us do everything the Cockpit can do while on the move: change the website by chat or voice, check SEO and GEO, analyse the competition, measure visibility in AI search, prepare newsletters and start research. The work is still done by the Mac at the agency – with the same tools, checks and rules. The iPhone is the remote control, linked by an encrypted, private connection.
01
React when it matters
An error on the website, a client question, a new offer: instead of waiting for the next office day, the change is prepared in minutes – from the train or after a client meeting.
02
SEO & GEO always in view
Clicks, positions and indexing from Search Console, visitor figures and visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini – and an improvement started right from there.
03
Competitors in view
Start the Google competitor comparison as soon as a competitor makes a move, and review Claude’s suggestions on the go.
04
Capture ideas instantly
Dictated by voice, built and checked as a draft on the Mac – approved straight from the iPhone or later at the desk.
05
Research and newsletters
Research on AI tools or universities runs on the Mac, the result lands on the iPhone. Newsletters can be prepared and sent after approval.
06
As secure as at the desk
Credentials stay on the Mac, the connection is private and not exposed to the internet – and nothing goes online without explicit approval.
Status: in use since October 2026. We use the app internally; it is not available on the App Store.
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