What I use.

The Roots starter theme. Blade templates, Tailwind v4, Vite. Every site I build from scratch starts here.

The language everything runs on. Typed functions, match expressions, named arguments. Nothing exotic.

CSS utility framework. Token-based, no config file needed. Fluid type with clamp(), mobile-first always.

Asset bundler. Fast, simple config. Handles CSS, JS, and image hashing for cache-busting.

The IoC container that makes Sage feel like a proper application. Service providers, Blade directives, view composers.

Command-line tools for WordPress. Database exports, plugin management, custom commands. Most deploys never touch wp-admin.

PHP dependency manager. Every project has a composer.json. No manual library downloads.

PHP code style fixer. Runs in CI before every deploy. Catches whitespace and formatting issues automatically.

My primary editor. VS Code-compatible with an AI layer that actually helps rather than gets in the way. Everything on this site was planned and built with it.

Version control and CI/CD trigger. Every project lives in a GitHub repo. Pushes to main kick off builds and deploys automatically.

Automated build and deploy pipeline. Runs Composer, npm, and rsync on every push. Zero manual uploads.

Database GUI for local MySQL and SQLite. Useful for inspecting WordPress tables without writing raw SQL.

Terminal. Nothing special — zsh with a minimal prompt. SSH into servers, run WP-CLI, tail logs.

Managed WordPress hosting for client sites. Solid uptime, decent caching, easy SSH access. PHP 8.3 support is there when you ask for it.

Theme deployment method for this site. CI builds a zip, publishes it as a release, and wp-admin pulls it over HTTPS. No FTP.

Local WordPress database for development and Cloud Agent environments. No MySQL required, no Docker overhead. The sqlite-database-integration plugin handles it.

Site traffic, page performance, and audience data. Linked through Google Tag Manager.

Single container for all tracking scripts. One snippet on the page, everything else managed in GTM.

CRM and contact capture. Picks up form submissions and tracks visitor activity for follow-up.

Bing Webmaster Tools for search performance. Microsoft UET for ad conversion tracking.

Facebook and Instagram ad measurement. Planned — not fully active yet.

Display and heading font. Clean, reads well at both large and small sizes. The workhorse.

Body text font. Slightly warmer than Inter. Works well at the 1.1–1.2rem range.

Code font. Used in blog post code blocks and the monospace CSS variable.

Design when a client needs wireframes or component specs before I build. Not a daily tool for me — I prefer designing in the browser.

Syntax highlighting for blog post code blocks. VS Code Dark+ theme. Copy button added via a small custom JS module.

Canvas and model-driven apps for Microsoft 365 environments. Used at previous roles and on client work when it's the right tool.

Workflow automation. Approval flows, SharePoint triggers, Teams notifications. Useful when a team already lives in M365.

Common data source for Power Apps. Lists, document libraries, and permissions.