// uses

What I actually
run, day to day.

The full stack — editor, frameworks, hosting, analytics, AI, design tools. Updated when something changes, not when a listicle tells me to. Things outside this list, I either haven't shipped with or wouldn't recommend.

Computer + everyday tools

  • M-series MacBook Pro — Daily driver — long battery + Apple Silicon perf for builds
  • iTerm2 — Terminal — Solarized-dark + minimal chrome
  • Arc / Chrome — Chrome for serious dev (DevTools), Arc when reading
  • Raycast — Launcher + clipboard manager + window mgmt
  • 1Password — Vault, SSH agent, signed commits

Editor + AI pairing

  • Cursor / VS Code — Editor with the usual extensions
  • Claude Code — CLI agent for non-trivial multi-step changes
  • ChatGPT custom GPTs — See fakedm.com for one of mine
  • GitHub Copilot — Inline completions where Claude is overkill
  • gh CLI — Issues, PRs, releases without leaving the terminal

Frameworks + stacks

  • Astro — This site. Content-heavy multi-page with islands of interactivity
  • Next.js — Product apps (SquishyMind)
  • Vite + React + TS — Realtime apps (Big Black Cards)
  • Vue — Past stacks; still keep in rotation
  • three.js — WebGL when motion needs depth (hero on this site)
  • Twine + Harlowe — Long-form interactive fiction (DefyDestiny.com)

CMS + content platforms

  • Webflow — Marketing-team-friendly CMS work, used for FuhNNY, Excuse My Blank, Poetry Obscura
  • WordPress + BuddyBoss — Community sites (wack.dev) and editorial (AntiPretty)
  • Sanity CMS — Structured editorial — Self Hurt Guide
  • Contentful, Drupal, Craft, Joomla — Used in past engagements, kept in rotation

Hosting + infrastructure

  • Netlify — This site + several others. Auto-deploys, edge functions, caching headers
  • Vercel — SquishyMind (Next.js)
  • Cloudflare — DNS + edge config + CDN tuning
  • DigitalOcean + Coolify — Self-managed Docker for the WordPress + community stack (wack.dev, AntiPretty, DND Cards)
  • GitHub + Actions — Source + CI
  • Apple Podcasts — Player Zero distribution

Analytics + experimentation

  • GA4 + GSC + Looker Studio — The standard dashboard stack I ship for client analytics
  • BigQuery — When GA4 raw data ownership matters
  • Optimizely, VWO, Mutiny, Hotjar — CRO + UX research — pick the right one per engagement

Marketing tech

  • Marketo — Enterprise martech (admin)
  • Salesforce + Dynamics — Campaign attribution / lead routing
  • HubSpot, ActiveCampaign — Mid-market alternatives
  • Clearbit — Firmographic enrichment for ABM personalization
  • Drift — Automated chat flows
  • GTM — Tag management for event tracking

AI + automation

  • Anthropic Claude — Primary model for non-trivial work
  • OpenAI (GPT-4o-mini, gpt-image-1) — Bot personas in BBC, AI card art in DND Cards
  • DALL-E — Image generation in Fake DM
  • ElevenLabs — Voice for BBC host + AI bots
  • Airtable — Card decks + content backends for BBC, fast-iteration data

Design + media

  • Figma — Design + handoff
  • Adobe Creative Cloud — Photoshop / Illustrator / Premiere when needed
  • sips (built-in) — Quick CLI image resize/convert — used on every hero image in this site

// what should i try

Got a recommendation?

If there's a tool you can't stop using and think I'd swap something for it, send it my way.

Tell me about it →