Uses

Tools, software, and hardware that Daniel uses for engineering and leadership work.

People ask what tools I use, so here's the list. Mostly focused on what helps me ship fast and stay focused.

Development

  • Editor: VS Code with Vim keybindings. Themes change weekly.
  • Terminal: iTerm2 + zsh + oh-my-zsh. Nothing fancy, but reliable.
  • Languages: TypeScript for most things, Python for scripts, Go for infrastructure tools.
  • Database Tools: TablePlus for GUI, psql for quick queries.
  • API Testing: Postman for complex workflows, curl for quick tests.

Infrastructure & DevOps

  • Cloud: AWS for most things, Cloudflare for edge/CDN.
  • Containers: Docker for local dev, Kubernetes for production.
  • CI/CD: GitHub Actions for most pipelines, CircleCI for legacy stuff.
  • Monitoring: Datadog for observability, PagerDuty for incidents.
  • IaC: Terraform for infrastructure, Ansible for configuration.

Productivity & Organization

  • Notes: Obsidian for personal knowledge base, Notion for team docs.
  • Tasks: Linear for team work, plain text files for personal TODOs.
  • Communication: Slack for team chat, email for async updates.
  • Calendar: Google Calendar with time blocking for deep work.
  • Browser: Arc for work (love the spaces), Chrome for testing.

Hardware

  • Computer: MacBook Pro M1 Max, 64GB RAM. Fast enough for anything I throw at it.
  • Display: LG UltraFine 5K. Single cable, plenty of screen space.
  • Keyboard: Mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches. Quieter than Blues, still tactile.
  • Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3. Best mouse I've used.
  • Audio: Sony WH-1000XM5 for calls, AirPods Pro for walking meetings.

This Site

  • Framework: Astro - Fast, content-focused, great DX
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS + Radix Colors for accessible theming
  • Hosting: Cloudflare Pages - Fast, global CDN, generous free tier
  • Analytics: Plausible - Privacy-friendly, no cookies
  • Source: View on GitHub
This page is inspired by uses.tech.