Is "Just Use the Latest Version" Really the Right Call? Why We Pin Versions and Automate Updates with Dependabot

When managing versions of dependencies, GitHub Actions, and Terraform providers, it's tempting to simply chase the latest release at all times. This post walks through a real team discussion about whether to pin versions, and explains why "pin + automated bumps" with Dependabot gives you both safety and freshness.

Installing Ubuntu on the GMKtec EVO-X2: The Case of the Missing Wired LAN

I started building an on-premises AI server (local LLM + internal document RAG) on a GMKtec EVO-X2, a mini PC powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395. This is my day-one work log, covering the two traps I hit along the way: an install USB that refused to boot, and a wired LAN port the OS simply couldn't see.

Getting Started with FSD v2.1 (Feature-Sliced Design)

An introduction to Feature-Sliced Design (FSD) v2.1, a frontend architecture that organizes code by pages and entities rather than by responsibility. It covers the core concepts of layers, slices, and segments, along with handy tools like the Steiger architecture linter and the official Claude Skills for AI-assisted coding.

Rethinking Frontend Architecture from First Principles

A set of notes from going back to basics to figure out how to choose a frontend architecture. Rather than jumping straight to modern approaches like Feature-Sliced Design (FSD) or Vertical Slice Architecture, this post revisits the underlying principles—cohesion, coupling, and colocation—that should drive the decision.

[WSL Basics] Setting Up a Full Dev Toolchain on Ubuntu on WSL2 — Git / nvm / pnpm / AWS CLI / Terraform

In the previous post we got WSL2 and Ubuntu running on Windows — but a fresh Ubuntu is just a blank Linux box. This guide walks through setting up Git, nvm/Node.js, pnpm, AWS CLI v2, and Terraform, using only the steps documented in each tool's official docs.

Setting Up WSL2 on Windows to Run Ubuntu

To work comfortably with Terraform, the AWS CLI, and Docker, I set up WSL2 on Windows. This post walks through the exact steps I followed, along with how I resolved the errors I hit along the way.

Configuring IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO) with the AWS CLI

In earlier posts I set up AWS Organizations, IAM Identity Center, and Permission Sets. This time I connect the AWS CLI to IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO) so I can operate AWS from my local machine securely, without ever issuing long-lived access keys.

What Is AWS IAM Identity Center? A Best-Practice Approach to AWS Auth and Access Management Without IAM Users

After building a multi-account environment with AWS Organizations, the next thing I set up was AWS IAM Identity Center. This post covers why I adopted it instead of IAM users, plus how I actually configured it.

Multi-Account Design with AWS Organizations — Best Practices for Small Dev Teams

Before diving into service development, I did the initial AWS setup, using AWS Organizations to build a multi-account environment designed around Terraform-based IaC and GitHub Actions CI/CD. This post walks through the structure I built and the reasoning behind it.

Ditching .env Files for Bitwarden Secrets Manager

At coiai, our dev team used to be just one or two people, but as projects with six or more developers picked up, we had to rethink our environment setup. This post covers how we moved off .env files to a more secure way of sharing secrets with the team.