Laravel
DailyFull-stack PHP framework for business systems and APIs.
Toolkit
Tools I use across backend, frontend, infra, AI, and design.
Most used
Where the business rules live
Full-stack PHP framework for business systems and APIs.
Lightweight Laravel-style framework for smaller API services.
OAuth2 server package for Laravel applications.
Lightweight authentication package for SPAs and APIs.
Laravel admin panel builder for internal tools.
Primary backend language for Laravel and Lumen work.
Background job system for asynchronous work.
Dashboard and monitor for Laravel Redis queues.
Real-time event broadcasting client for Laravel.
First-party Laravel WebSocket server.
Built-in task scheduling system for recurring jobs.
Collection of widely-used Laravel utility packages.
Dependency manager for PHP projects.
Where the business rules live
Full-stack PHP framework for business systems and APIs.
Used for CRM/ERP backends, queues, validation, auth, admin workflows, and production APIs.
Lightweight Laravel-style framework for smaller API services.
Used for lean REST APIs, internal services, and integrations where full Laravel is unnecessary.
OAuth2 server package for Laravel applications.
Used for token-based APIs, third-party integrations, and machine-to-machine authentication.
Lightweight authentication package for SPAs and APIs.
Used for SPA login flows, API tokens, and first-party frontend authentication.
Laravel admin panel builder for internal tools.
Used for CMS panels, CRM admin screens, settings pages, resources, and operational dashboards.
Primary backend language for Laravel and Lumen work.
Used for APIs, business rules, workers, integrations, and legacy system maintenance.
Background job system for asynchronous work.
Used for emails, imports, sync jobs, webhook processing, AI calls, and scheduled automation.
Dashboard and monitor for Laravel Redis queues.
Used for watching job throughput, failed jobs, worker counts, and queue health in production.
Real-time event broadcasting client for Laravel.
Used for live notifications, presence channels, and pushing server events to frontend clients.
First-party Laravel WebSocket server.
Used for self-hosted real-time broadcasting without third-party WebSocket services.
Built-in task scheduling system for recurring jobs.
Used for daily reports, sync jobs, cleanup tasks, and time-based automation inside Laravel.
Collection of widely-used Laravel utility packages.
Used for roles/permissions, media library, activity logging, query builder, and data transfer objects.
Dependency manager for PHP projects.
Used for locked installs, package upgrades, autoloading, and clean deployment builds.
Apps, portals, and public interfaces
Framework for structured enterprise frontends.
Used for CRM dashboards, ERP portals, role-based screens, and long-lived admin apps.
Typed JavaScript for safer frontend and Node code.
Used for models, API contracts, components, hooks, guards, and fewer runtime surprises.
Reactive programming library used heavily in Angular.
Used for debounced search, API streams, polling, forms, and multi-step UI state.
React framework for public sites and hybrid rendering.
Used for SSR, ISR, landing pages, content pages, API routes, and SEO-heavy interfaces.
Component library behind modern Next.js interfaces.
Used for landing pages, dashboards, reusable components, and interactive UI flows.
Utility-first CSS framework for fast UI builds.
Used for responsive layouts, dark mode, design systems, and quick production polish.
Fast frontend build tool and dev server.
Used for rapid prototypes, modern React builds, and lighter frontend tooling.
Practical UI building blocks
Angular UI component library based on Ant Design.
Used for CRM dashboards, admin panels, forms, tables, modals, and enterprise-style interfaces.
Angular component library with rich UI widgets for business applications.
Used for data-heavy screens, tables, dialogs, filters, calendars, and admin interfaces.
Material Design component library for Angular apps.
Used for standard forms, dialogs, menus, date pickers, tables, and internal app screens.
React/Next.js component system built around copyable primitives.
Used for modern landing pages, dashboards, admin screens, and fast UI prototyping.
Accessible low-level React primitives behind many modern component systems.
Used for accessible dialogs, dropdowns, popovers, tabs, and shadcn/ui-style components.
Clean icon library for React/Next.js and web interfaces.
Used for navigation, CTAs, admin UI states, empty screens, and compact visual cues.
Manual checks plus automated regression safety
Modern PHP testing framework with a clean syntax for Laravel projects.
Used for testing backend APIs, business rules, and regression-prone workflows.
Standard PHP testing framework used across Laravel and legacy PHP projects.
Used for unit tests, feature tests, service classes, API behavior, and older codebases.
Browser automation and testing tool built into Laravel.
Used for end-to-end testing of Laravel-rendered UI flows, forms, and authenticated pages.
JavaScript testing framework for unit and component tests.
Used for testing Next.js utilities, React components, hooks, and API logic.
Component testing library that tests behavior over implementation.
Used for asserting UI interactions, form flows, and rendered component output in Next.js.
Angular's built-in unit testing stack.
Used for testing Angular services, pipes, guards, and component logic in isolation.
Modern end-to-end browser testing framework for Next.js and React.
Used for testing login flows, dashboards, forms, and critical user journeys in Next.js apps.
Browser testing tool for frontend and integration flows.
Used for form-heavy UI checks, dashboard flows, and frontend regression coverage.
Legacy Angular E2E testing framework for older Angular projects.
Used for maintaining existing legacy Angular test suites, not as a modern recommended default.
Keeping the codebase boring in a good way
JavaScript and TypeScript linting for frontend projects.
Used for catching unsafe patterns, import issues, React mistakes, and style drift.
Opinionated formatter for frontend and config files.
Used for consistent formatting so reviews focus on logic instead of whitespace.
Static analysis tool for PHP codebases.
Used for catching type mistakes, dead paths, risky assumptions, and Laravel service bugs.
Laravel-friendly PHP code style fixer.
Used for formatting Laravel code consistently before commits and releases.
Testing contracts, payments, and third-party services
API client for development, testing, and documentation.
Used for auth flows, REST endpoints, collections, environment variables, and smoke checks.
Lightweight API client for REST and GraphQL requests.
Used for quick endpoint checks, payload debugging, and sharing simple API requests.
Secure tunnel for exposing local development servers.
Used for testing webhooks, callbacks, mobile previews, and third-party integrations locally.
Request inspection tool for webhook payloads.
Used for debugging third-party callbacks, payload shapes, headers, and retry behavior.
API contract documentation and exploration tooling.
Used for documenting endpoints, request schemas, responses, and frontend integration contracts.
Schema format for validating structured payloads.
Used for webhook validation, config validation, and safer API payload handling.
Payment processing platform for cards and subscriptions.
Used for payment intents, webhooks, subscription billing, and card tokenization.
Philippine e-wallet payment gateways.
Used for local payment collection, QRph flows, and e-wallet checkout integration.
Buy now, pay later platform common in the Middle East.
Used for BNPL checkout flows, installment options, and Tabby webhook handling.
Transactional email delivery service.
Used for sending queued emails, notifications, and system alerts from Laravel applications.
SMS and communication API platform.
Used for OTP delivery, SMS notifications, and mobile verification flows.
Storage, inspection, and fast lookup
Primary relational database for CRM/ERP systems.
Used for production application data, reporting queries, indexes, and transactional workflows.
Desktop tool for MySQL administration and schema work.
Used for schema design, query review, EXPLAIN plans, and database inspection.
Web-based MySQL administration tool.
Used for quick database checks on legacy hosting and simple admin tasks.
In-memory data store for queues, cache, and sessions.
Used for Laravel queues, cache, rate limits, locks, and session storage.
Visual GUI for inspecting and managing Redis data.
Used for browsing keys, monitoring queues, inspecting cache, and debugging Redis state.
Relational database with strong SQL and JSON support.
Used when projects need JSONB, stronger querying, or PostgreSQL-native hosting.
Fast search engine for app-level search experiences.
Used for searchable records, filters, dashboards, and lightweight site/application search.
Laravel search abstraction for indexed models.
Used for connecting Eloquent models to Meilisearch-style search indexes.
Fast desktop database client for daily inspection.
Used for browsing data, checking migrations, running queries, and comparing environments.
When something breaks at 2 AM
Debugging and inspection tool for Laravel applications.
Used for reviewing requests, queries, jobs, exceptions, mail, notifications, and cache activity.
Laravel log inspection interface for application errors.
Used for checking production exceptions, failed requests, stack traces, and recent runtime issues.
Self-hosted uptime monitoring tool.
Used for monitoring websites, APIs, SSL status, and service availability.
Error tracking and release-aware exception monitoring.
Used for frontend/backend exceptions, deploy regressions, stack traces, and production alerts.
Browser debugging suite for frontend work.
Used for network tracing, performance checks, layout debugging, console errors, and Lighthouse runs.
Step-through debugger for PHP applications.
Used for tracing legacy bugs, inspecting runtime state, and debugging complex backend flows.
How the product is actually being used
Analytics platform for website and product events.
Used for traffic trends, conversion events, page performance, and content insights.
Tag management layer for analytics and tracking scripts.
Used for deploying GA4 events, marketing pixels, and tracking changes without code redeploys.
Session replay and heatmap analytics tool.
Used for spotting UX friction, rage clicks, scroll behavior, and landing page issues.
Edge-level traffic and security analytics.
Used for traffic spikes, cache behavior, bot activity, and CDN-level visibility.
Cloud resources and delivery pipelines
Virtual servers for application workloads.
Used for hosting Laravel/Lumen APIs, workers, cron jobs, and supporting services.
Managed relational database service.
Used for production MySQL databases, backups, failover planning, and managed database operations.
Object storage for files and static assets.
Used for uploads, documents, generated exports, backups, and media storage.
AWS service for moving data between storage systems.
Used for planned file migrations, storage syncs, and moving large datasets safely.
DNS, CDN, cache, and edge protection layer.
Used for DNS, SSL edge behavior, WAF rules, cache purges, and traffic protection.
Container tooling for repeatable environments.
Used for local parity, service isolation, quick prototypes, and deployment packaging when needed.
CI/CD automation built into GitHub.
Used for builds, linting, deploys, smoke tests, and release workflows.
VPS hosting for smaller production workloads.
Used for portfolio hosting, smaller apps, Nginx stacks, and practical VPS operations.
Processes, servers, and release plumbing
Managed hosting platform for frontend applications.
Used for Next.js previews, quick deployments, and frontend hosting when it fits the project.
AWS DNS and domain routing service.
Used for DNS records, domain routing, hosted zones, and AWS-side infrastructure setup.
AWS monitoring, metrics, and log service.
Used for checking instance metrics, application logs, alarms, and AWS runtime visibility.
Web server and reverse proxy for production apps.
Used for SSL termination, proxying, redirects, static files, rate limits, and route handling.
Node.js process manager.
Used for Node services, Next.js runtime processes, restart handling, and quick process monitoring.
Process control system commonly used with Laravel workers.
Used for queue workers, long-running PHP processes, retries, and keeping background jobs alive.
Secure shell access and shell scripting for server operations.
Used for deployments, log tailing, service restarts, cron setup, and production debugging.
Fast native Laravel local development environment for macOS.
Used for running PHP, Nginx, and Laravel locally without Docker overhead.
Free SSL certificates and renewal automation.
Used for HTTPS setup, certificate renewal, Nginx SSL config, and secure production domains.
Server operating system used for production environments.
Used for shell operations, service management, file permissions, logs, and deployment debugging.
Planning, handoff, and team communication
Design and prototyping tool for UI handoff.
Used for reviewing layouts, spacing, component specs, prototypes, and designer handoffs.
Quick design tool for simple visual assets.
Used for lightweight graphics, social previews, thumbnails, and fast non-critical design work.
Workspace for notes, documentation, and planning.
Used for project notes, runbooks, discovery docs, checklists, and handoff materials.
Issue tracking tool for product and engineering teams.
Used for roadmap tasks, sprint planning, bug tracking, and clean async execution.
Team communication platform.
Used for async updates, deploy coordination, incident threads, and stakeholder communication.
Where the day actually happens
AI-powered code editor for faster development and refactoring.
Used for debugging, feature patches, code exploration, and working through large codebases.
Editor used as a reliable backup and extension host.
Used for quick edits, remote sessions, config work, and fallback development workflows.
Terminal setup for local and server work.
Used for deploys, logs, SSH, Git, scripts, build checks, and day-to-day shell workflows.
Version control for every codebase.
Used for branching, commits, reviews, diffs, releases, and rollback-friendly development.
Code hosting and collaboration platform.
Used for repositories, pull requests, issues, Actions, releases, and code review.
Useful when it saves real engineering time
LLM platform for assistants and structured generation.
Used for chat features, scoped assistants, content tooling, structured output, and workflow automation.
Long-context AI assistant for code and architecture work.
Used for code review, debugging, planning, refactors, and reasoning through complex systems.
Multimodal AI model for text and image/document tasks.
Used for document review, image understanding, research support, and secondary AI checks.
Visual workflow automation platform.
Used for connecting CRM events to email, webhooks, Slack, sheets, and scheduled automations.
Event-driven integration pattern between systems.
Used for CRM events, payment callbacks, notifications, lead syncs, and third-party integrations.
Framework for multi-step LLM workflows.
Used for experiments with retrieval, tool calling, and AI workflows that need orchestration.
Vector search, RAG, and Copilot — practical add-ons next to the AI tools in other rows
AI coding assistant inside the development workflow.
Used for boilerplate, autocomplete, tests, and faster implementation of repetitive code.
Managed vector database for semantic search and AI retrieval.
Used for building similarity search, RAG workflows, and AI-powered knowledge lookup.
PostgreSQL vector extension for storing and searching embeddings.
Used for semantic search, AI retrieval, and embedding-based matching inside database-backed apps.
Legend