Uses
Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.
I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I'm being productive when I'm really just procrastinating. Here's a big list of all of my favorite stuff.
Workstation
Mac Studio, M1 Max, 64GB RAM (2021)
Powerful desktop computer for all of my needs.
16-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 16GB RAM (2021)
Previously I had an Intel Mac and wanted to make sure I was future proof. Decided to get close to the base model M1 Pro as if I was going to work at my desk I would prefer a more powerful machine, so there was no need to max out the laptop.
2x LG 32UD60-B 4K Monitor 32
Not the best monitors for color correction but generally as a primary web engineer that interfaces with designers who spec out all of the colors for me, color correctness was less of a worry.
Kinesis FreeStyle Edge
I have never had pain in my hands from typing all day, however I wanted to make sure that I was prepared just in case, so I slowly trained myself to use a split ergo keyboard to make things easier on me in the future.
Apple Magic Trackpad
Something about all the gestures makes me feel like a wizard with special powers. I really like feeling like a wizard with special powers.
Development tools
Visual Studio Code
Pretty much the go to IDE these days.
Warp
Warp is quickly becoming my favorite terminal
Postico
Nothing really beats Postico for accessing postgresql databases locally or remotely.
Yaak
Local-first API client for quick REST and GraphQL testing.
Productivity
Raycast
Before I would have said Alfred but Raycast has slowly been taking over most of my tooling.
AI
Cursor
Primary editor for prompting, refactors, and fast iteration.
ChatGPT
Drafting, brainstorming, and quick explanations when I need a second brain.
t3.chat
Quick prompts and lightweight sessions without extra setup.
Codex
Focused coding help for structured changes and reviews.
OpenCode
Interactive CLI-style flow for multi-step engineering tasks.
Claude Code
Long-form reasoning and deeper refactors when I need more context.