Infrastructure

Stack

Current tooling choices and why. These are defaults—override with reason.

Principles

Optimize for AI-assisted development

Choose tools that work well with AI coding assistants. Utility classes > separate CSS files. Convention over configuration. Strong TypeScript types.

Minimize moving parts

Every tool is a thing that can break. Start with the smallest stack that works. Add complexity only when the pain of not having it exceeds the pain of maintaining it.

Free tiers for validation

Don't pay for infrastructure until you have paying users. Most tools have generous free tiers. The goal is signal, not scale.

Standard > clever

Use boring technology. The goal is shipping products, not learning new frameworks. Save experiments for the product, not the infrastructure.

Development

Tools for building and shipping

CoworkAI Assistant

Desktop AI agent that can read/write files, run code, browse web. Primary development interface.

Claude CodeAI Assistant

Terminal-based alternative for when Cowork is too heavy. Good for focused coding sessions.

CursorEditor

VS Code fork with AI built in. Useful for exploring codebases and quick edits.

Git + GitHubVersion Control

Standard. GitHub for hosting, Actions for CI/CD where needed.

Frontend

Default choices for web apps

Next.js 14Framework

App Router, server components, good defaults. Vercel makes deployment trivial.

ReactUI

Comes with Next.js. Component model works well with AI-assisted development.

Tailwind CSSStyling

Utility classes are AI-friendly. No context-switching between files.

VercelHosting

Zero-config deployment for Next.js. Free tier covers early-stage projects.

Backend

Data and authentication

SupabaseDatabase

Postgres with auth, real-time, and storage built in. Generous free tier.

ClerkAuth

Drop-in auth with good UX. Handles the hard parts (MFA, social login, org management).

Anthropic APIAI

Claude for natural language processing, function calling, structured extraction.

Operations

Running and monitoring

Vercel AnalyticsAnalytics

Basic web analytics included with Vercel hosting. Good enough for early stage.

SentryError Trackingadd later

Add before production launch with real users. Skip during validation.

StripePaymentswhen needed

Standard for online payments. Checkout handles most use cases.

Alternatives to Consider

Instead of	Consider	When
Next.js	Astro (content-heavy), Remix (complex data), Svelte (smaller bundle)	Project has specific needs that Next.js handles poorly
Supabase	PlanetScale (MySQL), Neon (serverless Postgres), Firebase (real-time first)	Need specific database features or existing preference
Clerk	Auth.js (self-hosted), Supabase Auth (simpler), Auth0 (enterprise)	Don't need Clerk's advanced features or want to self-host
Vercel	Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, Railway	Cost concerns at scale or non-Next.js project

Monthly Cost (Validation Phase)

Hosting

Vercel free tier

Database

Supabase free tier

Auth

Clerk free tier

AI API

$20-50

Usage-based

Total: ~$20-50/month until you have real traffic