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Tools

What I use. Curated, not comprehensive.

Software I rely on every day, organized by what it actually does. Most of these I install for clients, too, when it makes sense. Some links are affiliate, most aren't; I only list things I'd put on my own machine.

46 tools across 11 categories.

5 tools

AI Assistants & Agents

What I actually reach for, and what I tune for clients.

Claude

Freemium

Daily driver for long-form thinking, code, and writing.

  • LLM
  • Daily Driver

Pair-programming agent in the terminal, does most of the heavy lifting on builds like this site.

  • Coding Agent

Browser relay that lets AI agents click, read, and act on pages on your behalf, the backbone for tool-use and agentic automations.

  • Agent
  • Browser
  • Tool Use

5 tools

Privacy & Security

What I install on my own machines and recommend to clients first.

No-account VPN, buy with cash, generate an account number, no email required.

  • VPN
  • No-log

Polished consumer VPN with broad device support, what most clients want when they want a VPN.

  • VPN
  • Consumer

Cross-device password manager from Nord, easy to bundle with NordVPN for clients who want one login for everything.

  • Password Manager

Virtual card numbers per merchant, kills recurring-charge surprises.

  • Cards
  • Privacy

Default browser. Built-in ad and tracker blocking, sane defaults.

  • Browser

4 tools

Networking & DNS

Where the domains live, what's in front of them, and how the devices reach each other.

DNS, CDN, and WAF in front of nearly every site I touch, fast, generous free tier, hard to beat for security at the edge.

  • DNS
  • CDN
  • WAF

Where most of the domain registrations live, including this one.

  • Domains
  • Registrar

Zero-config mesh VPN built on WireGuard, wires every device into one private network without port-forwarding gymnastics.

  • Mesh VPN
  • WireGuard

Travel and home router with built-in WireGuard, the whole network rides through your VPN of choice. The right way to do work-from-anywhere.

  • Router
  • Hardware
  • WFA

4 tools

Hosting & Cloud

Where I run things, and where I help clients run theirs.

Default for small Linux servers, predictable pricing, simple console, this site runs on a DO droplet.

  • VPS
  • Linux

Best price-to-performance for EU-based projects and bigger boxes.

  • VPS
  • Dedicated

Specifically for Gemini API access, BigQuery, and Workspace integrations.

  • Cloud
  • AI APIs

When clients are a Microsoft shop and need Entra/365 integration.

  • Cloud
  • Microsoft

5 tools

Websites & Apps

What I build sites and small apps with, same stack you're looking at.

Content-first website framework. Ships near-zero JavaScript by default.

  • Framework

Web server in front of every site I run.

  • Server

Default database for anything that needs to remember things.

  • Database

GitHub

Freemium

Source of truth for every repo I work in.

  • Git
  • CI

4 tools

Auth & Identity

Sign-in, accounts, and SSO for client apps.

Clerk

Freemium

Drop-in auth for client apps, saves weeks vs. rolling your own.

  • Auth
  • SaaS

Simple, offline TOTP codes, what I install when a client just wants the basic six-digit codes and nothing else.

  • 2FA
  • TOTP

2 tools

Payments & Finance

What handles money on the apps I build and run.

Default payments processor. Clean APIs, sane fees, real reporting.

  • Payments

Mobile in-app purchases without rolling your own subscription engine.

  • Mobile IAP

5 tools

Email & Communication

Inbound, outbound, and signing.

Resend

Freemium

Transactional and broadcast email with a developer-friendly API.

  • Email API

When clients live in 365, calendar, mail, and shared inboxes without forcing them to switch.

  • Mail
  • Microsoft

Where most enterprise and federal clients meet, meetings, chat, and shared files in one window.

  • Chat
  • Video

3 tools

Remote Support

How I help clients without driving across the state.

Self-hosted remote desktop. Free, encrypted, no third-party in the middle.

  • Remote
  • Self-Hosted

Battle-tested VNC client when I need a no-frills connection.

  • VNC

Zoom

Freemium

When the client just wants a normal screen share with audio.

  • Video

6 tools

Data & Developer Tools

What's open on my machine when something breaks.

Daily-driver editor. Strong extension ecosystem, first-class Git, fast on big repos.

  • IDE

Snappy, low-friction editor for quick edits, scratch files, and giant log dives.

  • Editor

Multi-database GUI, one app for Postgres, MySQL, SQLite.

  • DB GUI

API testing and documentation without the bloat.

  • API

Programmatic web scraping that respects rate limits and robots.txt.

  • Scraping

Architecture diagrams that come out clean and version in git.

  • Diagrams

3 tools

Writing & Notes

Where I think and where the runbooks live.

Local-first markdown notes. Every client engagement gets a vault.

  • Notes
  • Markdown

Fast cropped screenshots for runbooks and bug reports.

  • Screenshots

When a PDF needs to be marked up, signed, or stitched.

  • PDF

Want help with any of these?

I'll set them up properly.

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