Technologies
Below is a list of some of our favorite and most-used technologies for building web applications for clients.
1. AI / LLM
Why this matters: Controversial, misunderstood, and overhyped though they may be, AI and LLMs are transforming industries and society. Used carefully and responsibly, they are still a valuable tool for innovation and progress. We design and deploy LLM-powered features with a focus on safety, performance, and maintainability, leveraging managed model providers and an SDK-first approach for rapid iteration. Preferred defaults: Vercel AI SDK + AI Gateway for multi-model orchestration; Anthropic and OpenAI as primary model providers.
Anthropic (Claude)
Model Provider AI model provider known for strong reasoning, long context windows, and safety-focused design.barkup
LLM Data Format & Editing Toolkit Our open-source toolkit for letting LLMs author and edit typed trees as HTML, with every feature gated on a pre-registered benchmark before it ships.Claude Code
AI Coding Agent Anthropic's agentic coding tool; a daily part of how we build, review, and maintain software.Deepgram
Speech-to-Text API Speech-to-text API with fast, accurate transcription models built for developer integration.exe.dev
Agent Development Environment Cloud Linux VMs built for running coding agents — sandboxed, internet-addressable, with scoped GitHub access.Herdr
Agent Orchestration / Terminal Multiplexer Terminal multiplexer for orchestrating multiple coding agents, with persistent sessions and agent-state views.Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Agent Interface Standard Open standard connecting AI agents to tools and data; we build and run public MCP servers.OpenAI (ChatGPT / GPT models)
Model Provider State-of-the-art language and multimodal models for chat, content generation, and code tasks.Vercel AI Gateway
AI Gateway / Observability Managed gateway unifying access to multiple AI model providers with observability.Vercel AI SDK
AI SDK TypeScript toolkit for building AI features with streaming UI and multi-provider support.2. API & Integration
Why this matters: Clear, type-safe APIs prevent integration drift, reduce incidents, and make feature delivery predictable. We design APIs for clarity, performance, and safety—favoring type-safe schemas, real-time capabilities, and standards-based integrations. Preferred defaults: GraphQL for complex domains, tRPC for TS monorepos, Webhooks for eventing, Zod/Valibot for schemas.
GraphQL
API Protocol Query language enabling strongly-typed schemas and precise data fetching for APIs.NanoID
Identifier Generation (IDs, Tokens) Tiny library for generating cryptographically strong, URL-friendly unique IDs.Resend
Transactional Email Developer-first transactional email API with React/HTML templates and strong deliverability tooling.tRPC
Type-safe RPC Type-safe RPC framework for full-stack TypeScript apps with end-to-end type inference.Valibot
Schema Definition & Validation Lean, fast schema library for parsing and validation with strong TypeScript inference.Webhooks
Event-driven Integration Event-driven integration pattern for connecting systems and automating workflows.WebSockets
Real-time Transport Protocol for low-latency, bidirectional communication in real-time applications.Zod
Schema Definition & Validation Popular schema validator with excellent developer experience and ecosystem integrations.3. Auth & Security
Why this matters: Security is trust—modern auth and session practices protect users and keep compliance teams comfortable. Security is foundational. We standardize on modern auth, strong session management, and defense-in-depth controls to protect users and systems. Preferred defaults: BetterAuth for app auth, token-based sessions with rotation, 2FA (TOTP + WebAuthn), Arcjet for edge protection.
Arcjet
App Security Edge security platform protecting against bots, abuse, and credential stuffing.BetterAuth
Authentication Modern authentication solution with clean APIs and strong multi-tenant support.DOMPurify
Content Sanitization (XSS Protection) Fast, well-audited library for sanitizing HTML and SVG against XSS attacks.1Password
Secrets & Credential Management Secrets vault that pairs with Varlock to keep environment secrets out of plaintext files.Renovate
Dependency Update Automation Automated dependency updates with configurable scheduling, grouping, and auto-merge.Snyk
Developer Security Platform Developer security platform for dependency, code, container, and IaC vulnerabilities.Socket.dev
Software Supply Chain Security Software supply chain security that detects malicious and risky open-source dependencies.Token-based Authentication
Auth Strategy Auth strategy using short-lived access tokens with refresh rotation for stateless scaling.Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Account Protection Account protection using TOTP apps, WebAuthn/passkeys, and backup codes.Varlock
Environment & Secrets Management Schema-driven environment variable management with validation, typing, and secret safety.4. Backend & Runtime
Why this matters: Choosing the right runtime and hosting improves reliability, security, and developer velocity from day one. We choose runtimes and hosting that balance security, developer experience, and performance. Our defaults favor fast iteration locally and reliability in production, with growing adoption of secure-by-default platforms. Preferred defaults: Bun for local dev, Node.js for production, Vercel for hosting and edge.
Bun
Runtime (Development) High-performance JavaScript runtime with fast install, test, and dev server capabilities.Deno
Runtime (Security-focused) Secure-by-default JavaScript runtime with native TypeScript support and web-standard APIs.Docker
Containers & Dev Environments Container platform for packaging apps into immutable images with consistent behavior.Git & GitHub
Version Control & CI/CD Version control and collaboration platform underpinning every project: history, review, and CI/CD.Mosh
Remote Terminal Mobile shell that keeps SSH sessions alive across network changes, sleep, and flaky connections.Node.js
Runtime (Production) Mature production runtime with deep ecosystem support for serverless and containerized workloads.Podman
Container Engine Daemonless, rootless container engine — Docker-compatible CLI without the root-owned daemon.Vercel
Hosting & Edge Hosting platform with preview environments, instant rollbacks, and Edge Runtime.5. Content Management / PIM
Why this matters: Centralizing content and product data shortens time-to-publish, lowers error rates, and keeps every channel consistent. Platforms that centralize product data, digital assets, and content, enabling omnichannel delivery, governance, and a single source of truth across websites, apps, and commerce. Preferred defaults: Pimcore for data-heavy catalogs; Sanity for bespoke editorial workflows; Hygraph for GraphQL-first federation.
barkdown
Markdown / DOM Codec Our open-source Markdown to DOM round-trip codec: edit markdown as a live DOM and serialize it back with provably no silent loss.Hygraph
Headless CMS (GraphQL-first) GraphQL-native headless CMS for content federation and multi-site delivery.Marked
Markdown Parser Fast, spec-tested markdown compiler powering bit-identical rendering across our CMS-driven sites.OpenDXP
Digital Experience Platform (PIM, DAM, CMS, Commerce) Community-driven, GPLv3 fork of Pimcore Community Edition for PIM, DAM, headless CMS, and commerce.Pimcore
Digital Experience Platform (PIM, DAM, CMS, CDP, Commerce) Enterprise platform unifying PIM, DAM, headless CMS, and customer data capabilities.Replicator
Content Management / Brand OS Our LLM-powered brand operating system: CMS, brand voice, and content APIs behind this site and client sites.Sanity
Headless CMS Customizable headless CMS with real-time collaboration and GROQ query language.woof-editor (beta)
Markdown Editor Component Our contenteditable markdown editor for Svelte 5, backed by barkdown's round-trip codec — WYSIWYG that never drifts on save.6. Core Web Foundations
Why this matters: Strong platform fundamentals (HTML, CSS, JS/TS) make apps faster, more accessible, and significantly easier to maintain. We ground every build in platform-native best practices: type-safe JavaScript, accessible HTML, and modern CSS. This foundation enables maintainable codebases, reliable refactors, and fast, inclusive user experiences. Preferred defaults: TypeScript strict mode; UnoCSS or Tailwind; semantic HTML with ARIA and WCAG 2.2 targets.
CSS (Modern Layouts)
Styles Modern CSS techniques including Grid, Flexbox, custom properties, and container queries.HTML
Markup Semantic markup foundation for accessibility, SEO, and progressive enhancement.JavaScript (ESNext)
Language Modern JavaScript with modules, async/await, and optimized build tooling.Tailwind CSS
CSS Framework Utility-first CSS framework enabling consistent design systems and rapid iteration.TypeScript
Language Typed superset of JavaScript enabling safer refactors and reliable API contracts.UnoCSS
CSS Framework On-demand atomic CSS engine with instant compile and flexible presets.Vite
Build Tool Fast frontend build tool powering dev servers and optimized production bundles across our projects.7. Databases & Storage
Why this matters: A reliable data layer is the backbone of performance, data integrity, and scale—without heavy ops overhead. Reliable data layers underpin fast, scalable web apps. We select managed, developer-friendly databases and storage that pair well with serverless/edge architectures, reduce ops overhead, and provide clear scaling paths. Preferred defaults: PlanetScale for MySQL workloads; Turso for edge-first SQLite; Upstash for Redis/queues; Vercel Blob for simple storage.
DigitalOcean Spaces
Object Storage (S3-compatible) S3-compatible object storage with global CDN and predictable pricing.Drizzle ORM
Database ORM TypeScript ORM supporting PostgreSQL, SQLite, MySQL, and CockroachDB with type-safe queries.PlanetScale
Serverless MySQL (Vitess) MySQL-compatible serverless database with non-blocking schema changes and branching workflows.Sharp
Media Processing (Images) High-performance Node.js image processing library for resizing, optimization, and format conversion.Turso (SQLite)
Distributed SQLite (Edge DB) Distributed, edge-optimized SQLite database with global replicas for low-latency reads.Upstash
Serverless Data Services (Redis, Kafka, QStash, Vector) Serverless data platform offering Redis, Kafka, queues, and vector storage.Vercel Blob Storage
Object Storage (Edge-integrated) Simple, durable blob storage integrated with Vercel projects and Edge Middleware.8. Frontend Frameworks
Why this matters: The right framework reduces complexity and improves Core Web Vitals, which translates directly into better UX and SEO outcomes. Frontend frameworks are essential for building interactive and dynamic user interfaces. They provide a structured approach to organizing code, managing state, and handling user interactions. Preferred defaults: SvelteKit for app-first builds; Astro for content-heavy sites; Nuxt when teams prefer Vue.
Astro
Frontend Framework Web framework delivering zero-JS by default with Island Architecture for content-rich sites.Svelte / SvelteKit
Frontend Framework Reactive JavaScript framework reducing complexity with compiler-first approach and full-stack capabilities.Vue / Nuxt
Frontend Framework Progressive JavaScript framework with Nuxt adding routing, SSR, and file-based conventions.9. Monitoring & Testing
Why this matters: Observability and tests catch regressions early, reduce MTTR, and enable confident, frequent releases. We ship with confidence by instrumenting apps end-to-end: unit and integration tests, accessibility checks, and production observability. Our approach emphasizes fast feedback loops, clear failure signals, and actionable telemetry. Preferred defaults: Sentry for errors/perf, Playwright for E2E, Vitest or Bun Test for unit, OpenTelemetry for tracing, Lighthouse CI for budgets.