Written 4 Sep 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card.

Keep a lab plan with a passkey, not an email

Lab plan is an optional checklist for what you already have and where the first weekend sits. Sign in with a username and a passkey. No email. No marketing trackers. House jobs still live on the house network.

This note is optional. The static notes on labthrift.com stand alone. Prefer paper or a text file? Skip the app. The live plan app is at plan.labthrift.com.

What Lab plan is

A private workspace on plan.labthrift.com. You can list the old PC and other gear you already own, tick weekend steps, sketch a closet map, keep house names and addresses, and pin later buys. Data stays in your plan. Export it as a file anytime. Delete the account and the rows go with it.

labthrift.com stays static notes. No accounts on the main site. Pi-hole, the file share, and local chat stay on the computer on the house network. Lab plan does not replace those jobs.

Username and a passkey

Pick a username. It is a handle, not an email. Sign in with a passkey on the phone or laptop you already use. No password. No phone number. No Google or Apple login.

A passkey is a credential the device keeps. Face ID, a fingerprint, or a device unlock proves it is you. The plan app never gets an inbox to reset you with.

Why there is no email recovery

Email recovery means storing an address and sending mail. Lab plan skips that on purpose. No identifying info beyond the username and the passkey material. No recovery inbox means nobody can reset the account by guessing an address.

Tradeoff: if every passkey is gone, the plan is gone. That is the deal. Export a copy before you wipe a phone if you care about the checklist.

Add a second passkey

While you are signed in, add a second passkey on another device you trust. Phone plus laptop is enough. If one device dies, the other still opens the plan. Do this before you retire a phone, not after.

Lose every passkey

Lost the only phone, wiped the laptop, and never added a second passkey? The account cannot be recovered. Start a new username if you still want a plan. The old rows are gone. That is why export and a second passkey matter.

What this is not

This is not a cloud home lab. It does not run Pi-hole, Samba, or Ollama for you. It is not required reading for the first weekend. It is not a reason to buy a new computer. It is not an email newsletter signup.

What next

Open plan.labthrift.com when you want the checklist. Haven't picked a machine yet? Start with what you already have. Ready to install? Your first weekend. More on how the sites fit together: About.

Skip

• Skip Lab plan if a notebook or a text file already tracks the weekend.
• Skip putting an email in the username field.
• Skip waiting for a "forgot password" mail. There isn't one.
• Skip running house jobs through the plan app. Keep Pi-hole and the share on the computer.
• Skip buying gear because a checklist pane exists.