tools we build with
We don't use tools because they're popular. We use them because they disappear — the best tool is one you forget you're using because it just works.
1,072 services across 3 servers. CommonJS because it works, not because it's fashionable. Express because routing shouldn't require a PhD.
One database engine for everything. Relational when we need relations. JSON columns when we don't. No ORM — SQL is already a query language.
400+ pages with zero React, zero Vue, zero Angular. The browser has everything you need. We just use it.
197 proxy routes. One config file. Maps 51 domains to the right service. The internet's traffic cop, doing what it was built to do.
Tiered process management across a 3-server cluster. Core services boot first, infrastructure second, auxiliary third. No Kubernetes needed.
Zero-trust access to every service. No open ports. No exposed IPs. One tunnel, 51 domains, and the world thinks we're on the cloud.
One design system powering 6 themes across 5 domains. 24KB of CSS. No Tailwind, no SASS, no build step. Just CSS doing what CSS does.
Two Dell R720s and an R420. 282GB RAM. 96GB VRAM. 40Gb mesh. WireGuard VPN. No AWS bill. No cloud vendor lock-in. We own every byte.
// Our dependency philosophy const stack = { runtime: 'node', // it runs JavaScript. that's enough. database: 'postgresql', // 40 years of reliability. frontend: 'vanilla', // the browser IS the framework. proxy: 'nginx', // C code from 2004. still fastest. process: 'pm2', // keep it running. that's the job. framework: 'none', // frameworks are someone else's opinions. cloud: 'none', // we own the metal. orm: 'none', // SQL is already a query language. bundler: 'none', // <script src="app.js"> still works. }; // Total external dependencies: 47 // Total lines of our code: 5,700,000 // Ratio: we wrote 99.99% of what runs