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Technical articles, career insights, and lessons learned from building products at scale. React, Next.js, and full-stack development.

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Building a Gmail CLI for Claude Code (And Why the MCP Wasn't Enough)

I built my own Gmail tool for Claude Code because the MCP wouldn't give me what I actually needed: a log of every write, correct thread headers, and something that works on my Mac Mini. Six phases, one day, one commit per phase.

April 17, 202612 min readclaude-code, cli, gmail, python, tools, build-in-public

I Moved All My SSH Keys Into 1Password. Here's How.

A practical guide to migrating SSH key management to 1Password's SSH agent, with per-project key routing for multiple GitHub accounts.

April 16, 202610 min readssh, 1password, security, developer-tools, workflow, git, macos

Agency by Day, Indie by Night

What it actually looks like to run agency client work and indie products simultaneously -- the commit timelines, the energy management, and why the two roles cross-train each other.

March 27, 20268 min readindie-hacking, agency-work, building-in-public, career, engineering

The Sync Engine From Hell

How I built a Google Calendar sync engine, watched it create 300+ phantom events overnight, and rebuilt it in a single day. A cautionary tale about trusting third-party APIs with your metadata.

March 25, 20269 min readengineering, google-calendar, sync-engines, indie-hacking, building-in-public

One Codebase, Two Products, Two Markets

How I turned one WhatsApp transcription app into two products for two countries with different brands, pricing, and languages.

March 14, 20268 min readindie-hacking, build-in-public, strategy, next-js

Making Your Website AI-Readable

How I added llms.txt, allowed 21 AI crawlers, and made two websites discoverable by language models in an afternoon.

March 12, 20267 min readseo, ai, next-js, indie-hacking, build-in-public

Shipping a WhatsApp Bot Without the Business API

How Falavra uses Baileys and the unofficial WhatsApp Web protocol to transcribe voice messages — architecture, trade-offs, and what breaks.

March 10, 202611 min readwhatsapp, architecture, node-js, indie-hacking, build-in-public

I Used Claude Code to Clean My Entire Computer

Claude Code is a coding tool. I used it to organize 120+ files, verify backups byte-for-byte against an external SSD, and sort a five-year-old document graveyard — all in two hours.

March 8, 20267 min readclaude-code, ai, productivity, build-in-public, indie-hacker

I Haven't Opened Canva in Six Months

How I use Claude, plain HTML, and Figma MCP to design and publish Instagram content — without ever touching a design tool. The entire pipeline, from conversation to carousel.

March 4, 202610 min readai, claude-code, figma, instagram, design, workflow, indie-hacking

Automating My YouTube Debut

Most people start a YouTube channel by hitting record. I started by building a CLI tool that generates thumbnails, scaffolds scripts, and uploads videos — all from the terminal. Here's why that's not as backwards as it sounds.

March 1, 20267 min readai, claude-code, youtube, workflow, indie-hacking, typescript

Why AI Works Different for Brains That Work Different

The analytics dashboard told a story I didn't expect. One month of AI-assisted development outpaced an entire year. The explanation isn't just 'AI tools' — it's about neurodivergence, craft, and what happens when the tools finally match how your brain works.

February 28, 202612 min readai, productivity, career, neurodiversity, claude-code, indie-hacking

CLAUDE.md Is Your Most Important Config File

I manage 33 CLAUDE.md files across client projects, indie products, and personal experiments. Here's what I've learned about writing instructions that actually make AI coding tools useful.

February 23, 202612 min readclaude-code, ai, developer-tools, workflow, productivity, indie-hacking

How I Brand Entire Product Lines Using Recraft AI, Figma, and Claude Code

A practical guide to generating production-ready brand identities for multiple products using AI-powered vector generation, Figma design systems, and Claude Code orchestration — with real examples from the Hel Rabelo and Helsky Labs rebrand.

February 22, 202613 min readbranding, ai, recraft-ai, figma, claude-code, design, indie-hacking

Refactoring a Next.js Dashboard: What I'd Do Differently

Lessons from rebuilding the Helsky Labs Dashboard from v1 to v3 -- brand systems, data visualization, and what I learned about dashboard architecture along the way.

February 21, 202611 min readnext-js, refactoring, dashboard, recharts, supabase, tailwind, architecture

macOS App Distribution: Code Signing, Notarization, and Auto-Updates

Everything I learned shipping DropVox outside the App Store -- Developer ID certificates, hardened runtime, notarytool, Sparkle updates, and the GitHub Actions pipeline that automates it all.

February 20, 202615 min readmacos, code-signing, notarization, sparkle, distribution, indie-dev, devops

WhisperKit on macOS: Integrating On-Device ML in SwiftUI

A practical guide to integrating WhisperKit for local speech transcription in a SwiftUI macOS app -- model management, memory handling, and real-world performance.

February 19, 202613 min readswift, swiftui, whisperkit, machine-learning, macos, on-device-ai

Building a Local-First Pipeline: yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and Whisper in Electron

How Falavra orchestrates three external tools into a seamless transcription pipeline inside Electron -- job queues, IPC, temp file management, and the architecture that keeps it all together.

February 17, 202611 min readelectron, architecture, pipeline, yt-dlp, ffmpeg, whisper, falavra, local-first

Electron in 2026: When It's Still the Right Choice

I shipped a native Swift app and an Electron app in the same month. Here's why I chose Electron for Falavra — deliberately, after evaluating the alternatives, and without apology.

February 16, 20269 min readelectron, desktop-apps, architecture, falavra, sherpa-onnx, native-modules

From Senior Frontend to Shipping Native Apps

After 11 years of React and Next.js, I shipped native apps in Swift and C#. What transferred from frontend, what didn't, and what surprised me.

February 14, 202611 min readcareer, swift, swiftui, csharp, electron, frontend, full-stack, indie-hacking

Shipping Two Desktop Apps in Parallel as a Side Project

How I shipped DropVox (native Swift) and Falavra (Electron) while working full-time at a digital agency. The schedule, the trade-offs, and what I learned about sustainable side project velocity.

February 12, 202612 min readindie-hacking, dropvox, falavra, time-management, side-projects, building-in-public

A Practical Guide to AI and LLMs for Everyday Life

You don't need to be a developer to use AI well. A practical, honest guide to what LLMs and AI agents can actually do for you - and what they can't.

February 10, 20269 min readai, llm, productivity, guide, tools

How I Actually Use Claude Code (After 400+ Sessions)

A senior developer's honest breakdown of using AI coding tools in production - what I do, what Claude does, what went wrong, and the setup that makes it work.

February 8, 202615 min readclaude-code, ai, developer-tools, workflow, productivity

From Zero to Two Shipped Apps: My First Month as an Indie Hacker

How I went from years of building for others to shipping DropVox and TokenCentric in a month. Lessons, mistakes, and what's next.

February 6, 202612 min readindie-hacking, dropvox, tokencentric, building-in-public, helsky-labs

Building an Indie Hacker Command Center

How I built a centralized dashboard to monitor traffic, revenue, and subscribers across 8+ indie products using Next.js, Supabase, and the Umami API.

February 4, 202611 min readindie-hacking, nextjs, supabase, dashboard, analytics, recharts

Shipping DropVox 1.0: From Python Prototype to Native Swift

How I rewrote a Python menu bar app as a native Swift macOS product in 24 days, using WhisperKit for local AI transcription, and shipped it as a commercial indie product.

February 2, 202612 min readdropvox, swift, swiftui, whisperkit, macos, indie-hacking, rewrite

AI-Powered Commit Analysis: Building Gitography's Intelligence Layer

A deep dive into building a production-ready AI pipeline with Claude, BullMQ, and GitHub webhooks for semantic commit analysis in Gitography.

January 31, 202613 min readgitography, ai, claude, bullmq, nextjs, indie-hacking

Building TokenCentric: A Desktop App for Managing AI Context Files

How I built a free, open-source Electron app to manage CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules, and other AI context files across dozens of projects, and why macOS notarization nearly broke me.

January 28, 202610 min readtokencentric, electron, typescript, ai-tools, indie-hacking, open-source

Internationalizing BookBit: Adding i18n to a React Native App

How I added English and Portuguese support to BookBit using i18next, expo-localization, and a 3-tier persistence strategy across 357+ translation keys.

January 25, 202610 min readbookbit, react-native, i18n, expo, indie-hacking

Why I Choose Next.js for Every Project

I've shipped 12 products with Next.js. None of them are dead. Here's why I keep choosing it in 2026 — and the specific cases where I don't.

January 22, 20267 min readnextjs, react, frameworks, frontend, architecture

Building Wishare: From Frustration to Full-Stack Rails App

How a simple frustration with wishlist apps led me to build a full-featured Rails 8 application — and how Brazilian e-commerce sites nearly broke me.

January 20, 20267 min readwishare, rails, hotwire, indie-hacking

From Frontend to Full-Stack: My 11-Year Journey

What a Brazilian developer learned transitioning from jQuery to AI agents over 11 years. The skills that mattered, the ones that became obsolete, and advice for developers starting today.

January 17, 20269 min readcareer, full-stack, frontend, journey, advice

Building DropVox: A Local AI Transcription App for Mac

How I built a macOS menu bar app to transcribe WhatsApp voice messages using Whisper AI, from frustration to a full product with analytics and a blog.

January 15, 20265 min readdropvox, python, whisper, macos, indie-hacking