# The tools I actually use.

I prefer fewer, better tools over a sprawling stack. Every item on this list earned its spot by surviving real work. I update it only when something actually changes — not when a new trend shows up.

## Workstation

- **15” MacBook Pro (2019, Intel, 16GB RAM)**: Primary machine. Quiet under load, reliable, and still gets the job done for everything short of heavy local model work.
- **15” Lenovo Legion Y550 (Intel i7, Nvidia 1050Ti, 32GB RAM)**: My Linux workhorse. I like having a proper Linux environment for anything that benefits from full control over the stack.
- **11” iPad Pro with Apple Pencil**: Where I think in longhand. Specs, diagrams, and messy early drafts start here before they become code or prose. A paper-like screen protector makes the difference.
- **Herman Miller Embody Chair**: Worth every dollar. I sit in it for long stretches and it pays itself back in how my back feels at the end of the day.

## Editor and IDE

- **Cursor**: My primary editor these days. The tight AI integration fits how I actually build now — drafting with an agent, reviewing diffs, and keeping the human in the loop on the decisions that matter. I moved to it once the AI-assisted workflow outgrew bolting plugins onto a traditional IDE.
- **JetBrains Suite**: Still in the toolbox for anything that benefits from deep language-specific tooling — PHPStorm, PyCharm, DataGrip, CLion. A decade of muscle memory doesn’t go away, and the refactoring and debugging stack is still best in class when I need it.

## AI in the loop

- **Claude and Claude Code**: My primary AI pair. I drive most of my AI-assisted work through Claude Code in the terminal — it fits the way I actually build, instead of forcing me into an editor-centric workflow. I rely on it for exploration, scaffolding, and as a thinking partner on hard architectural calls.
- **Spec-driven development**: Not a tool, a method. I treat specifications as the source of truth and have AI agents execute against them. The spec is what I write and review carefully; the code is what the agent produces from it. This is how I actually ship at the pace I do.

## Thinking and writing

- **GoodNotes**: Where my long-form notes, planning, and daily task tracking live. I keep a yearly planner inside it and revisit it often.
- **Freeform**: My infinite whiteboard. I use it when I need to spread out and see a problem at once instead of scrolling through a linear document.
- **Figma**: Started as a design tool, stayed as a virtual whiteboard for cross-functional collaboration. The real hook was collaboration, not the design surface.

## Staying organized

- **Trello**: Simple, fast, and collaborative. I’ve tried heavier tools and kept coming back to this one because the UX gets out of my way.