Uses

What I use to build, think, and ship. Opinions included.

Computers

  • MacBook Pro 14" (2024) — M4 Max, 128GB RAM, 2TB SSD. Primary dev machine.
  • Gaming PC — Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5090, 64GB RAM
  • Proxmox cluster — 2x ASUS NUC 15 Pro+, 192GB total RAM. Runs 15+ services via LXC, provisioned by Terraform and Ansible. No web UI clicks.

Development

  • Cursor — primary editor. VS Code fork with AI that understands multi-file context.
  • Codex — primary AI dev tool. Runs tasks asynchronously in a sandboxed environment, which means I can hand off entire features and review the diff. Better for autonomous work than tools that need you watching the terminal.
  • Claude Code — for interactive coding sessions and codebase-wide refactors.
  • Ghostty — terminal. GPU-rendered, no Electron, fast. Paired with zsh on a Nix-darwin managed system.
  • Chrome — browser
  • TypeScript, Go, Rust, Python — in that order by frequency. TypeScript for web and AI tooling, Go for backend services, Rust for performance-critical tools, Python for data pipelines.

Productivity

  • Linear — issue tracking. The only project management tool that doesn't feel like punishment.
  • Obsidian — second brain. Local markdown files, no vendor lock-in, full-text search across everything.
  • 1Password — passwords, secrets, and SSH agent. Handles all SSH operations so I never touch key files directly.
  • Kestrel — context-aware AI desktop assistant I built. Reads my screen, records meetings, runs MCP tools. Open source.

Services

  • Vercel — hosting for this blog and web projects. Edge functions for OG image generation.
  • Cloudflare — DNS, CDN, and R2 for object storage.
  • GitHub — code and CI/CD via Actions.
  • Tailscale — mesh VPN. Connects laptop, homelab, and cloud without exposing ports.
  • Backblaze B2 — off-site backups for the homelab. $6/month for peace of mind.

Hardware

  • Wooting 80HE — keyboard. Hall effect switches with rapid trigger. Originally bought for gaming, now I can't type on anything else.
  • Logitech MX Master 3 — mouse. The horizontal scroll wheel is underrated.
  • HiFiMAN HE1000 Stealth — headphones. Planar magnetic, open-back. The best purchase I've made for long work sessions.

Network & Homelab

Self-hosted alternative to cloud infrastructure.

  • Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max — router with 10G and IPS/IDS. Six VLANs segment lab, IoT, media, and guest traffic.
  • Layer 3 Pro Max 24 PoE — switch. 10G fiber uplinks, inter-VLAN routing, powers cameras and APs over PoE.
  • Synology RS822+ — NAS. 8x 16TB in RAID 6. Backups, media, and security footage at 30-day retention.
  • Running — Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Paperless-ngx, Prometheus, Grafana, Loki. All in LXC containers, all deployed via GitHub Actions on merge to main.