// journal · field notes
Notes on building, shipping, and definitely AI supported
Field notes from a solo builder. AI, product, engineering, and the unglamorous parts that actually move the needle.
// all articles
41 articles
- vibe-codingApr 28, 2026
Best Vibe Coding Tools in 2026 (What Practitioners Actually Use)
The best vibe coding tools in 2026 organized by project stage: UI prototypes, existing codebases, planning, zero-friction experiments, and deployment.
11 min readread - cursorApr 28, 2026
Cursor vs Windsurf: Which AI Coding Tool Should You Use?
Cursor vs Windsurf is not a permanent identity choice. The honest breakdown: Cursor for existing codebases, Windsurf for greenfield builds. Here is why.
12 min readread - vibe-codingApr 28, 2026
What Is Vibe Coding? (And Why Most Explanations Get It Wrong)
Vibe coding is a real way to build software by letting AI generate most of the code while you steer through prompts, feedback, and taste. Here is what it actually means.
15 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
Lovable Review 2026: the Honest Take After Shipping 20+ Projects
An engineer's honest Lovable review after 20+ production projects. What it nails, where it breaks, real 2026 pricing, and who should and shouldn't use it.
18 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
Lovable Alternatives: What to Use When Lovable Isn't the Right Fit
Seven honest Lovable alternatives compared by a practitioner who ships with all of them. Covers Bolt, Cursor, v0, Replit, Base44, and when to use none of the above.
18 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
The Best AI App Builder in 2026: A Practitioner's Honest Take
An engineer who ships production AI apps explains what the best AI app builder means in 2026 -- decision matrix, failure modes, and real pricing.
19 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
How to Hire an AI Developer: the Honest 2026 Guide
A complete decision framework for hiring an AI developer in 2026 — engagement models, interview questions, red flags, portfolio review, and rate expectations.
17 min readread - lovableApr 24, 2026
How to Rescue a Lovable App That's Stuck in Production
The playbook we use when founders call us with a broken Lovable app in production: the 6 ways they break, a 30-minute audit, and the fix patterns.
10 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
From Lovable to Next.js: A Senior Engineer's Migration Playbook
Honest, phase-by-phase guide to migrating a Lovable SPA to Next.js — covering SSR, Supabase SSR auth, SEO, and real time estimates by app size.
18 min readread - ai-developmentApr 24, 2026
AI Pair Programming in 2026: a Working Practice, Not a Demo
AI pair programming has matured past autocomplete. A practitioner's guide to the four modes, the tools that actually work, the failure modes nobody talks about, and how to keep humans and bots on the same contract.
18 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
Lovable vs Bolt vs Cursor: A 2026 Practitioner's Comparison
Lovable, Bolt, and Cursor compared by someone who has shipped production apps with all three. Honest trade-offs, exact failure modes, and a decision matrix.
18 min readread - lovableApr 24, 2026
SEO for Lovable Apps: the Real Options in 2026
Lovable builds React SPAs that Googlebot sees as an empty div. Three real ways to fix it: edge worker prerender, Next.js migration, or Prerender.io.
8 min readread - lovableApr 24, 2026
Lovable Agency vs Freelance Lovable Expert: Which to Hire in 2026
Decision framework for choosing between a Lovable agency and a freelance Lovable expert, with honest rate comparisons and failure modes.
10 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
The Best AI Coding Assistant in 2026: What Actually Ships Code
An engineer shipping with Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, Windsurf, Aider, and Continue ranks them honestly -- real pricing, comparison table, decision tree.
18 min readread - lovableApr 24, 2026
How to Hire a Lovable Developer in 2026
A practitioner's guide to hiring a Lovable developer: skills that matter, where to find them, rates, and red flags.
8 min readread - generalApr 24, 2026
How Much Does It Cost to Hire an AI Developer in 2026?
AI developer rates in 2026: £80–£400/hr depending on seniority, geography, and engagement shape. Tables, hidden costs, and honest comparisons.
13 min readread - agentic engineeringApr 19, 2026
Agentic Engineering: How One Operator Shipped 99 PRs in 24 Hours
A field report on agentic engineering: 99 PRs, 230 commits, 80,000 LoC across 12 production repos in 24 hours — and the seven orchestration patterns that make it possible.
23 min readread - mcp serverApr 17, 2026
MCP Server Architecture: How Production MCP Servers Are Actually Built
Four layers every production MCP server needs — transport, JSON-RPC shape, tool definitions, and guardrails. With real code for rate limiting, circuit breakers, and structured errors.
8 min readread - hire ai developerApr 17, 2026
How to Hire an AI Developer in 2026 (Playbook + Red Flags)
The filter I use: scoping, skills checklist, sourcing, 5 interview questions with real answers, 2026 rate bands, and the 3 red flags that have burned every client.
8 min readread - mcp serverApr 17, 2026
12 Real MCP Server Examples You Can Actually Use (2026)
Not a list of cool MCPs to try — the 12 I actually run in Cursor every day, with the real mcp.json config for each and notes on which transport to pick.
7 min readread - freelance ai developerApr 17, 2026
Freelance AI Developer vs Agency: Cost, Speed, Risk Compared
For 80% of AI projects under $150k, a vetted freelance senior ships faster and cheaper. Honest 2026 rates, the hybrid model that beats both, and a decision checklist.
7 min readread - mcp serverApr 17, 2026
MCP Server vs REST API: When to Use Which (Honest Take)
MCP is not a REST replacement. Decision table, real code from both, side-by-side comparison across 10 dimensions, and the hybrid pattern that ships in production.
8 min readread - ai developerApr 17, 2026
AI Developer for Startups: Staffing at Each Stage
Stage-by-stage staffing map: pre-seed freelance, seed founding engineer, Series A platform team — 2026 rates, skills by stage, and the token-cost math that kills AI products.
7 min readread - mcp serverApr 17, 2026
How to Use MCP Servers in Cursor (2026 Setup Guide)
The actual working config for ~/.cursor/mcp.json — two transports, env-var secrets, the 5-minute setup flow, and the debugging loop for the red dot.
7 min readread - AI costsMar 20, 2026
The Brevity Rule: Cut AI Costs ~10% With One Config Change
Six lines of instructions, zero information loss, and nearly 10% off my AI bill. The exact rule, the numbers behind it, and why verbose responses bleed budget twice.
3 min readread - AI productivityFeb 25, 2026
AI Won't Replace You. Mediocrity Will.
Everyone's worried about being replaced by machines. The real threat is complacency. AI is a power tool — dangerous in lazy hands, unstoppable in skilled ones.
2 min readread - vs code extensionFeb 17, 2026
Building Our Own VS Code Extensions: Custom Workflow Solutions That Actually Work
Discover how we transformed our VS Code experience with custom extensions tailored to our workflow frustrations.
2 min readread - cursor rulesFeb 9, 2026
Streamline Your Development Workflow with Reusable Cursor Skills
Transform repetitive development tasks into reusable, one-command automations using Cursor skills, saving time and ensuring consistency across your projects.
3 min readread - git hooksFeb 9, 2026
Ship It: The Safer, Faster Way to Commit and Push Code Without Breaking Things
Automate your pre-push workflow with Ship It for seamless code quality and consistency. Experience faster, safer deployments in JavaScript/TypeScript projects.
4 min readread - ai coding assistantFeb 9, 2026
CaptureContext: Empowering AI Bots with Front-End Insight
Discover how CaptureContext bridges the gap in AI front-end development by providing AI bots with essential visual context, improving bug diagnosis and resolution.
4 min readread - websocket nodejsFeb 7, 2026
Building Stable Web-to-Desktop Real-Time Connections
Exploring how we built a production-stable real-time sync between a web app and a desktop app using WebSocket. Key takeaways include dual-channel architecture, handling reconnection, and ensuring stability.
12 min readread - infisicalFeb 7, 2026
How We Migrated from Local Env Chaos to Infisical—AI-Led, MCP-Powered
Our journey from scattered secrets across various environments to a unified Infisical setup, with AI-driven migrations and MCPs.
5 min readread - mcp serverFeb 4, 2026
How I Fixed AI Tool Chaos with Web App and Auto-Updating MCP Workflows
Struggling with scattered MCP configs, agent modes, and tool workflows, I centralized everything into a versioned foundation repository with auto-updates and visibility dashboards. This transformed a fragile, six-location mess into a predictable, auto-synced system that cuts setup time from 45 minutes to zero and surfaces real tool health instead of silent failures.
2 min readread - core web vitalsJan 27, 2026
Extreme Performance: Getting to Lighthouse 100 on Real Apps
Practical techniques for achieving perfect Lighthouse scores in production. No tricks, just engineering.
2 min readread - multi agent systemsJan 26, 2026
Building Multi-Agent Systems That Actually Work in Production
Learn how to design, test, and deploy reliable multi-agent systems that scale. Practical patterns from real production deployments.
2 min readread - supabase deploymentJan 23, 2026
Fly.io + Supabase: The Reliability Stack That Scales
How to build rock-solid applications with Fly.io and Supabase. Architecture patterns, deployment strategies, and common pitfalls.
2 min readread - product designJan 14, 2026
Design Is Decisions, Not Decoration
Good design isn't about making things pretty. It's about making hard choices — what to cut, what to keep, and what to make impossible to ignore.
2 min readread - solo founder stackDec 10, 2025
The Solo Founder Stack I Use to Ship at Scale
No team. No meetings. No excuses. The exact toolkit — from IDE to deploy pipeline — that lets one person ship production apps in under a week.
2 min readread - selling outcomesNov 5, 2025
Your Clients Don't Want Code. They Want Outcomes.
Developers who pitch architecture lose deals. Developers who pitch outcomes win them. How to reframe your work in the metrics clients actually care about.
2 min readread - shippingOct 14, 2025
Stop Perfecting. Start Shipping.
The graveyard of great ideas is full of perfect plans that never launched. Why velocity beats polish, and how to rewire your brain for output over overthinking.
2 min readread - CI/CD pipelineSep 15, 2025
How We Made Our CI/CD Pipeline 10x Faster (From 62 Minutes to 6)
The four boring changes — parallel tests, Docker layer caching, Terraform, live metrics — that cut our CI/CD pipeline from over an hour to six minutes.
3 min readread
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