Uses

VS Code

Primary editor — dark theme, always. I keep it lean with only the extensions I actually use.

Geist Mono

Editor font. Clean, readable at small sizes, designed specifically for code.

Prettier

Format on save. Non-negotiable. Eliminates all style debates.

ESLint

Catch errors before runtime. Configured strictly — I treat warnings as errors.

GitLens

Inline blame, history at a glance. Indispensable when tracing down a regression.

Tailwind CSS IntelliSense

Autocomplete + class sorting. Speeds up styling significantly.

Auto Rename Tag

Renames closing tag automatically. Saves 5 seconds 40 times a day.

Error Lens

Surfaces errors inline on the line they occur — no alt-tab to the Problems panel.

Cursor

My primary editor setup. The tab-completion and inline edits are the best I've used. I use it for refactoring, exploring unfamiliar APIs, and drafting components.

ChatGPT (GPT-4o)

For reasoning through architecture decisions, writing/reviewing SQL, and anything that needs a back-and-forth conversation.

Claude

Long-context tasks — reading and summarizing large codebases, drafting documentation, reviewing PRs end-to-end.

Vercel AI SDK

For streaming AI features in Next.js when a project needs them.

GitHub Copilot

Occasional second opinion when Cursor suggestions aren't clicking. Useful for boilerplate-heavy files.

Chrome

Primary browser for development. DevTools is still the best in class.

React Developer Tools

Component tree inspection, props/state drill-down, profiler for render performance.

Lighthouse

Performance, accessibility, SEO audits. I run it on every major PR before merging.

Network tab

My primary debugging tool for API issues — payload shape, timing, headers, CORS.

Figma

Daily. I use it both to build from existing designs and to sketch my own before writing a line of code.

FigJam

Architecture diagrams before I start any non-trivial feature. Drawing the component tree first saves significant refactoring time.

Framer Motion

My go-to for production animations. The mental model just clicks for me.

Next.js 15 (App Router) + TypeScript

Starting point for every web project. App Router co-locates data fetching with components. TypeScript prevents entire categories of bugs.

Tailwind CSS + Shadcn/UI

Tailwind for utility-first speed; Shadcn for accessible, unstyled primitives I can customize without fighting a design system.

Vercel

Deploy target of choice. Preview URLs per branch, instant rollbacks, Edge Runtime when needed.

MongoDB Atlas or PostgreSQL on RDS

Atlas for flexible, document-shaped data. PostgreSQL (on RDS) when the data is relational and needs joins and indexes.

ESLint + Prettier + Husky pre-commit hooks

Enforces code quality before a commit lands. Eliminates the 'I'll clean it up later' problem.

GitHub Actions

Lint + type check + build on every PR. If it doesn't pass CI it doesn't merge.

Lighthouse CI on PRs

Catches performance regressions before they hit production — not after a user complains.

Josh Comeau

The best CSS course I've taken. His interactive explanations of layout algorithms finally made flexbox and grid click.

Kent C. Dodds

The definitive source on testing patterns. His philosophy — test behavior, not implementation — changed how I write tests.

Theo (t3.gg)

Keeps me current on the Next.js + TypeScript ecosystem. Good signal-to-noise ratio on what's worth adopting.

Next.js & Vercel documentation

Primary reference. Well-maintained, accurate, and the examples are production-quality.