Uses

This is my current developer setup — the tools, hardware, and workflow I use for building Laravel applications, REST APIs, and backend systems.

Core Stack

My work is primarily focused on backend systems and SaaS applications:

  • Laravel + PHP
  • MySQL
  • Docker
  • REST APIs
  • Linux / VPS environments

Editor

I keep my editor setup minimal and fast for backend-heavy workflows.

  • Visual Studio Code – My primary editor for daily development

  • Antigravity – AI-assisted coding

  • PhpStorm – Used for large Laravel codebases and deep debugging

  • Theme: Monochrome (GitHub Edition)

  • Fonts:

    • Menlo (current)
    • JetBrains Mono

Tools

These are the tools I use daily for development, debugging, and collaboration.

  • Herd, Docker – Local development environments (Docker keeps everything consistent with production)
    → If you’re working with Laravel, Docker is worth learning early.

  • Chrome (primary), Zen Browser (experimental) – Browsing and testing

  • ClickUp – Project and task management

  • Discord – Dev team communication

  • Slack – Office communication

  • Postman – API testing and debugging

  • Sequel Ace, DBeaver – Database management

  • CleanShot X – Screenshots and quick recordings

  • Apple Notes – Quick notes and lightweight documentation

Terminal

My terminal setup is focused on speed and simplicity.

  • iTerm2 – Stable and reliable terminal
  • Warp – Modern terminal with better UX (used occasionally)
  • Zsh + Oh My Zsh (bira theme) – Shell environment

Setup

Primary (macOS)

My main development machine for all backend work.

  • Apple MacBook Pro M1 14” – 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
  • LG 32UN650 – 32” 4K Monitor
  • Rapoo Optical Mouse – Mouse
  • Rapoo E9050L – Wireless Keyboard
  • Orico USB-C Hub – (ORICO-TC4U-U3)
  • Transcend 1TB Portable SSD – (TS1TESD370C)
  • Adata A680 1TB Portable HDD – (AHD680-1TU31-CBK)
  • OnePlus Bullets Z2 – Wireless Neckband
  • Orico Laptop Stand

Secondary (Light Gaming / Testing)

Used for testing environments and occasional gaming.

  • ViewSonic VX2276-shd – 22” IPS Monitor
  • AMD Ryzen 5 8600G – RDNA3 760M iGPU
  • G.SKILL S5 32GB DDR5 – 5200MHz RAM
  • 256GB NVMe SSD
  • 512GB SATA SSD

Homelab & Infrastructure

I run a dedicated self-hosted homelab environment for staging production backend services, automated CI/CD runners, background queues, and telemetry:

  • Hardware Node: Dedicated Linux Server (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, 7.5GB RAM & 232GB NVMe SSD)
  • Container Orchestration: 41+ active Docker containers managed with Docker Compose & Traefik Reverse Proxy
  • Networking & Ingress: Tailscale Mesh VPN for internal node communication + Cloudflare Tunnels (cloudflared) for secure zero-trust external endpoints
  • Database Consolidation: Single shared production MySQL instance (mysql-shared on port 3307) powering multiple SaaS apps (saving ~1.1GB RAM & 10GB disk)
  • CI/CD Ephemeral Runner Engine: Custom Node.js webhook-based launcher receiving GitHub webhooks and spawning on-demand --ephemeral Actions runners (replacing 6 idle runners and saving ~715MB RAM)
  • App Runtimes & Caching: FrankenPHP & Swoole application servers, Redis (queues & caching), and ClickHouse (OLAP event analytics)
  • Services & Tools: Mailpit (SMTP debugging sandbox), Portainer CE, Nextcloud, Jellyfin media server
  • Monitoring & Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Loki & Node Exporter monitoring stack
  • Local AI Agents: llama-server (Qwen LLM) & Hermes AI agent

Virtualization

I use virtualization heavily for testing and running isolated environments.

  • VMware Fusion Pro (macOS)
  • VMware Workstation (Secondary setup)
  • Ubuntu Server – Homelab and containerized workloads

Workflow Philosophy

I prefer simple, fast, and production-aligned tools.

Most of my setup is optimized for:

  • Backend development (Laravel, APIs)
  • Consistent environments (Docker)
  • Real-world testing (VMs, homelab)

I avoid overcomplicated setups — if something slows me down, I replace it.

Currently Exploring

  • Dockerized Laravel workflows
  • API performance optimization
  • Homelab setups with Linux

Note: I primarily use macOS and experiment on Linux and Windows.