Uses
The exact stack, AI tools, infrastructure, and recommendations I use day-to-day in 2026. No affiliate links. Updated whenever something changes.
Build stack
What I reach for first when starting a new project for a Kurdistan business in 2026.
Default web framework. Server components keep the bundle small, App Router maps perfectly to multilingual routing, and the Cloudflare Pages adapter is mature now.
Strict mode on, every project. The dictionary type pattern (forcing every locale to have every key) catches missing translations at build time.
Postgres + Auth + Row-Level Security. RLS is the killer feature for multi-tenant apps — tenancy isolation enforced at the database, not the application.
Edge runtime serves Kurdistan from EU/Middle East data centers — measurably faster than US-origin SaaS. Free tier covers most projects until they're profitable.
Default styling. RTL support via logical properties (ms-/me-/ps-/pe-) is essential for Arabic/Kurdish — never use left/right directly.
AI tools (paid + free)
What I actually use to ship AI products in 2026 — not what's hyped on Twitter.
Primary LLM for tasks needing nuance, long context, and multilingual handling. Best Kurdish performance in my testing for Sorani.
Cheaper for high-volume routing and triage. Pair with Claude for the actual answer when quality matters.
Daily-driver editor. The Composer + agentic edits are 10× faster than copy-pasting between ChatGPT and VS Code.
Streaming, tool-use, structured outputs. Provider-agnostic so I can swap models without rewriting glue code.
Best speech-to-text for Arabic. Kurdish is workable for Kurmanji, weak for Sorani — for Sorani I add a post-processing layer.
Infrastructure & ops
Tools I trust to run production for paying clients in Kurdistan.
Error monitoring. Generous free tier covers most SMB volumes.
Privacy-friendly analytics. No cookies, no GDPR theatre, accurate counts.
Code hosting + CI via Actions. Cloudflare Pages connects directly.
International payments. For local IQD/USD I use bank transfer + FastPay; Stripe is for international subscription billing.
WhatsApp is the customer service channel in Kurdistan. Cloud API is finally good enough for production.
Writing & thinking
Where I think out loud and where I keep my notes.
Local-first markdown notes. My second brain — every project, client, idea lives here.
Long-form drafting. The focus mode actually helps me finish blog posts.
Hardware
What I work on day to day.
- MacBook Pro 14" (M-series)
Daily driver. The fanless silence and battery life make remote-from-Duhok work realistic.
- External 4K monitor
Dual-language work demands real screen real estate — RTL Arabic on one window, English code on another, always visible.
- Reliable mobile hotspot
Kurdish internet has good days and bad days. The 5G hotspot is non-negotiable infrastructure.
Books I recommend to clients
Not affiliate links — books I've actually given as gifts to clients in Kurdistan.
- The Mom Test — Rob Fitzpatrick
How to talk to customers without lying to yourself. Mandatory reading before validating any product idea.
- The E-Myth Revisited — Michael Gerber
Why the technician + manager + entrepreneur split breaks small business owners. Most painful and accurate book in my recommendation list.
- Designing Data-Intensive Applications — Martin Kleppmann
If you're going to build anything multi-tenant, this is the textbook. Heavy but worth it.
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