Writing
Anton Shubin, Senior Full-Stack Engineer & Tech Lead. Notes from client work and the tools I build. How I work
For founders
· 8 min read
preact-components: a Preact component library without shadcn or Radix
Why I own my UI components instead of using shadcn, Radix or MUI: a Preact component library in ten JSR packages, rendered on the server, keyboard handling written by hand, with a live guide. What is in it, how to try it, and what is not done yet.
· 11 min read
Deno Platform Template: distilling 80+ client projects into one repo
What I learned shipping the same SaaS skeleton over and over for paying clients. Group core, personal groups, REST + CQRS, offline sync, an outbox processor — and a deliberate decision to ship it as a template, not a framework.
· 9 min read
Cost-Disciplined SaaS Infrastructure: Managed Cloud, Dedicated, or Hybrid?
A founder-readable framework for choosing managed cloud, dedicated, or hybrid SaaS infrastructure based on workload, team, compliance, recovery, and total cost.
AI and MCP
· 8 min read
Opus 5.5 vs Sonnet 5: the pricier model wrote my code for about half the cost
I priced five days of my coding-agent transcripts across four Claude models: 203 PRs and 411 reviewer agents. Opus 5.5 lists at twice Sonnet 5's price, yet cost about half as much per changed line once I compared like with like. Here is why, and what I changed.
· 15 min read
Building MCP Servers with Deno: A Practical Guide
Why Deno is the right runtime for Model Context Protocol servers, the architecture I use, a working CalDAV example, and what I learned shipping four MCP servers in production.
· 5 min read
How ChatGPT Can Help You Design System Architecture for Your Applications
ChatGPT as your architecture copilot: generate system diagrams, compare databases, spot security gaps before they ship. Real prompts that work.
Self-hosting
· 7 min read
mig: a lightweight meeting scheduler because Calendly alternatives are overkill
One owner, one URL, one feature: book a time slot. A single Deno binary, JSON-file storage, SMTP confirmations with ICS attachments, cancellable links signed with SHA-256 HMAC. Built because I needed a static meeting link, not a database.
· 8 min read
rostok: scaffold a self-hosted homelab from a curated service catalog
The CLI I built to remove 80% of the friction between 'I want to self-host X' and 'X is running, secrets are committed, deploy is one command'. One wizard, a few prompts, and the same IaC structure I use for my own infrastructure.
· 6 min read
zond: a 10 MB probe bridge so Gatus can see through your SSO proxy
Health checks behind Authelia fail because Gatus cannot follow SSO redirects. Zond sits beside your services on the Docker network and answers 200 or 503 — no auth bypass, no internal URLs leaked, one config file.
· 9 min read
The missing piece in a self-hosted CalDAV stack: a web UI for Tasks.org
Tasks.org syncs Android tasks to CalDAV. There is no web UI for that data. The fix is a stateless PWA on top of the CalDAV server you already run — and the architecture that made it boring to ship.
Archive
Older posts, kept as written. Each one says when it was written.
· 5 min read
Setting Up Your Own CI/CD Server with Drone CI
Running your own CI/CD with Drone CI on a $10 VPS. Docker Compose setup, pipeline config, GitHub integration — skip vendor lock-in, keep your builds private.
· 7 min read
Dev tricks, Part 1: The Importance of Code Formatting with Prettier
Are you tired of staring at messy, unformatted code that looks like it was written by a herd of chaotic monkeys? Fear not, because Prettier is here to save the day!
· 7 min read
How to Keep Sane When Developing a SaaS Startup Solo? Part 1: Mindset and Mental Health
Take care of yourself first and work hard then
· 15 min read
My journey from an office job to freelance to my startups
While traveling and enjoying life
· 5 min read
Why you have to ship your idea today and with shittiest code possible
Or why so many developers abandon their attempts to release a product
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