// uses.md

/uses

The editor, terminal, hardware, and daily software I lean on to build full-stack web and mobile apps. Inspired by Wes Bos’s uses.tech tradition.

$ cat ~/.config/my-setup  ·  last reviewed 2026-05-13

[ ED ]

Editor & Coding

  • VS Code — daily-driver editor
  • Claude Code (CLI) — AI-assisted pair programming
  • GitHub Copilot — inline completions
  • Theme: dark / high-contrast (Tokyo Night-ish)
  • Font: JetBrains Mono — ligatures on
  • Key extensions: Prettier, ESLint, GitLens, Vetur / Volar (Vue), PHP Intelephense, Dart / Flutter, ErrorLens
  • Format-on-save: always
[ SH ]

Terminal & Shell

  • Windows Terminal — the main shell host
  • WSL2 / Ubuntu — for any *nix tooling, Composer, Laravel artisan
  • Bash — default shell
  • git, curl, jq, ssh as bread-and-butter CLIs
  • Tab title: shows current directory + git branch
[ ST ]

Stack & Languages

  • Frontend: Vue.js, Nuxt.js, Vuetify, HTML5/CSS3, JavaScript
  • Backend: PHP · Laravel · Node.js
  • Mobile: Flutter · Dart
  • Database: MySQL · SQLite (for prototyping)
  • CMS: Statamic, SilverStripe (when CMS is the right tool)
  • Tables & reports: Ag-Grid, jsPDF
[ AI ]

AI & Automation

  • Claude AI — primary AI pair-programmer (Sonnet for daily, Opus for deep work)
  • Claude Code — in-terminal coding agent
  • GitHub Copilot — in-editor completions
  • n8n — self-hosted workflow automation
  • Zapier / Make.com — quick SaaS-to-SaaS glue
  • Postman — API design & LLM tool-call testing
[ DS ]

Design & API

  • Figma — UI design, prototyping, design-system work
  • Adobe Suite (occasional) — Photoshop, Illustrator
  • Postman — REST API design and team-shared collections
  • Pixelmator / built-in tools for quick screenshot crops
[ BR ]

Browser

  • Chrome — primary, with separate work / personal profiles
  • Firefox Developer Edition — cross-browser testing
  • Vue DevTools — component / Vuex inspection
  • uBlock Origin — ad blocker
  • 1Password — credentials
  • JSON Viewer — pretty-print API responses
[ PR ]

Productivity

  • Notion — project notes, specs, second brain
  • Obsidian — daily notes, knowledge base
  • Trello / Jira — task management depending on team
  • Slack / Discord / Teams — team comms
  • Cal.com — meeting scheduling
[ HW ]

Hardware

  • OS: Windows 11 Pro · WSL2 Ubuntu for *nix work
  • Daily-driver laptop / desktop (work-issued + personal)
  • External monitor for second-screen view
  • Mechanical keyboard — reliable, tactile
  • Wired mouse — no batteries to fail mid-flow
  • Wired earbuds / headphones — calls + deep-work music
  • Mobile test device: Android — primary for Flutter WMS work
[ OP ]

Hosting & DevOps

  • Netlify — this portfolio (CI, forms, redirects)
  • GitHub — source-of-truth for everything
  • Docker — local-prod parity for Laravel + MySQL stacks
  • XAMPP — quick local PHP / MySQL stand-up
  • Firebase — auth, RTDB, Cloud Functions for mobile work
  • Composer / npm / Vite — package management
[ FX ]

Deep-work & Vibe

  • Coffee — non-negotiable
  • Lo-fi / chillhop playlists — default coding soundtrack
  • Cmd+P + focus mode — minimal UI, no distractions
  • Pomodoro-ish — 50/10 blocks for hard problems

What I use changes. This page does too — check back in a few months. See something missing? Drop me a line.