My Web Development Workflow: Tools of the Trade
A look at the exact tools, frameworks, and services I use to build, deploy, and grow my web projects — from IDE to CDN.
Efficiency in web development is not about working faster — it is about eliminating the friction between an idea and a live, production-ready product. Over the years, I have refined a workflow built around tools that genuinely earn their place. Here is exactly what I use and why.
IDE & AI: Antigravity IDE + ChatGPT
My primary coding environment is Antigravity IDE, paired with ChatGPT and the built-in Antigravity AI assistant. This combination has been a genuine multiplier for my productivity.
AI-assisted coding is not about replacing engineering judgment — I still architect solutions, make structural decisions, and catch the subtle bugs that automated tools miss. What it does is eliminate the low-value repetitive work: boilerplate, documentation drafts, and the “I know what I want but I can’t remember the exact syntax right now” friction that slows every developer down.
The result is that I spend more time on the problems that actually require a human engineer, and less time on the ones that don’t.
Framework: Astro
Astro is my go-to framework for content-heavy and marketing sites. My reasons are consistent across every project I have used it on:
- Performance by default — Astro ships zero JavaScript by default, with components hydrating only when needed. The PageSpeed scores reflect this immediately.
- Excellent SEO — Server-rendered HTML means search engines and AI crawlers see your full content on the first request.
- Flexible component model — I can use React, Svelte, or plain HTML/CSS within the same project without lock-in.
For FreeConstructionCalculator.com and this portfolio site, Astro was the obvious choice.
Backend & Auth: Appwrite
For user authentication and database management, I use Appwrite. It handles the full auth lifecycle — sign-up, login, session management, password resets — out of the box, with clean SDKs that integrate well with Astro.
Not having to build and maintain auth infrastructure from scratch saves days of development time and, more importantly, reduces security surface area.
Deployment: Vercel + Cloudflare
My deployment stack is a two-layer setup:
- Vercel handles hosting and continuous deployment. Push to main, and it is live within seconds. The DX (developer experience) is still the best in the space for Jamstack/Astro projects.
- Cloudflare sits in front of everything as my CDN, security layer, and DNS provider. Cloudflare’s free tier alone provides DDoS protection, edge caching, and HTTPS — capabilities that used to require serious infrastructure investment.
Indexing & Payments: Google Search Console + PayPal
Two tools that often get overlooked in developer workflow posts:
- Google Search Console is essential for ensuring my projects are actually being crawled, indexed, and ranking for the right terms. You cannot improve what you cannot measure.
- PayPal handles global payment processing for projects where monetisation is in scope. It is widely trusted, integrates cleanly, and handles currency conversion without requiring a complex merchant account setup.
The Full Stack at a Glance
| Layer | Tool |
|---|---|
| IDE | Antigravity IDE |
| AI Assistant | ChatGPT, Antigravity AI |
| Framework | Astro |
| Backend / Auth | Appwrite |
| Hosting | Vercel |
| Security / CDN | Cloudflare |
| Search Indexing | Google Search Console |
| Payments | PayPal |
Why Stack Discipline Matters
The worst developer workflows I have seen aren’t the ones using the “wrong” tools — they are the ones using too many tools with no coherent philosophy. Every tool you add is a dependency to maintain, a billing relationship to manage, and a context-switch in your day.
My stack has converged to this set because each piece solves a specific problem better than the alternatives I have tried, and they work together without fighting each other. That coherence is what makes development feel smooth rather than like constantly putting out fires.
If you are building something and want to discuss tooling choices, I am always happy to talk through the trade-offs.