My tools

I've found that the best tools are those that minimize cognitive load. My stack reflects this philosophy.

Development

• Cursor: My code editor of choice. It has changed how I work in ways I couldn't have imagined before using it.
• NextJS + Tailwind: Web framework of choice. The benefit of having styles in colocated in your code makes development with ai much easier.
• Prototyper UI: Provides components that both humans and LLMs understand well.

Design

• Prototyper: For UI design, letting me traverse solution trees quickly. I can visualize and build simultaneously, collapsing what used to be multiple steps.
• Sketch: for vector graphics such as logos, branding, and anything not UI related.

Infrastructure

• Ollama: I like to run small models locally. There's a freedom in not sending every prompt to the cloud.
• Kamal: Refreshingly simple deployment - Docker-based without the overhead of Kubernetes. You feed it IP addresses and it does the rest.

Productivity

• Ghostty: Gives me a terminal that's both powerful and fast, whilst respecting the standard MacOS terminal principles.
• Apple Notes: Handles my thoughts - not the most feature-rich, but it's always there.
• Remarkable Paper Pro: Digital tools are powerful, but there's something irreplaceable about reading on a surface that isn't constantly trying to get your attention.

This stack isn't perfect, but it's mine. The tools complement each other in a way that lets me focus on building rather than configuring.