What is it?

THE STACK

dw is a “stack” / spec - specific configuration of specific fws, tools, etc responsible choices one might use to build a reliable crud app

GOALS

DW DX/workflow goals … want to be

easy to learn (to help teams get up to speed quickly)
efficient (to enable tasks to be completed as quickly as possible)
consistent (to prevent teams from wasting time relearning how to do their work)
transparent (to allow bugs to be diagnosed and solved easily)
resilient (to ensure what works today also works next year)
** on a scale of skateboard to aircraft carrier, it’s a cargo van **
- it doesn’t solve EVERY problem, but it has really good solutions for the problems it does solve.
perfectly suited for quick prototyping - able to produce usable functionality quickly without the fear of it breaking unexpectedly (reliable and fast to produce)

Dw goal - build a robust system boilerplate that’s easy to modify & maintain guiding principles / Design decisions - do the predictable obvious thing, nothing too clever (makes debugging & maintenance easier, onboarding new devs, etc) designed to be flexible enough to fit a variety of use cases and architectures, work with a variety of services (hosting providers, cdn, images, mailers, etc)

goal: easier (as easy as) installation/deployment than wordpress … esp want to be easier than laravel

Dw goal - make it just as easy to build a custom crud app as it is to configure a generic 3rd party cms to suit your needs if you’ve evaluated any cms, you’ve likely hit the frustration of the various configuration nightmares and learning new concepts and thought “i could just build something like this in the same amount of time as it would take to learn it)

Bundled components Modular

Plug n play system Assembled for low-friction usage (dev workflow, process)

pragmatic web application runtime web app sdk

develop w confidence Type safety for components

(saas) application starter kit Base for building custom applications

starter for building CRUD apps with astro

unified CRUD pattern (reasonable workflow that doesn’t change)

you down with UGC? dw is designed to support user-generated content (specifically photo uploads) out of the box! bring your own cloud storage (bunny, s3/r2) or serve on your own server (support for local storage on a vps)

dw core focus on handling user-generated content - so many boilerplates help you do basic stuff, but what about when you need “normal” functionality for user generated content? like you want your users to be able to drag/drop photo uploads w/ crop? this is a full stack solution for problems like that

dw collections (ex demo “links”)

full-stack forms & components for crud operations on specific tables (with space to add your own customizations)
handles the basic data lifecycle that should take care of 80%* of use cases (creating a collection and managing records for it)

Dw right mix of structure & flexibility Structure of cms / admin / prebuilt auth, etc Freedom to build whatever you need (if your client has custom needs, plug your own code in, build onto what we’ve started)

Curated tools bundle

Dw carefully chosen (/vetted /curated) dependencies (/tools/solutions) Dw tried to make the most “normal” decisions (re: tooling solutions) (Astro tw daisy etc) Straightforward and obvious choices Not too clever or devious (nonstandard)

do what you can (try to do everything) with the provided libs (alpine, tailwind, etc)

carefully curated collection of libraries / packages and dev tools Designed to provide facilitate productive and enjoyable workflow while building a strong reliable performant application, and having fun along the way! Helps you build fast too! Easy to change adapt as business /client needs change

Dw curation - most development problems are already solved We’ve wired together all the “best” ones (made some pretty good decisions about what to use and how to use it) Dw curation ethos Try to make the most normal and obvious decions (tailwind mysql etc) Straightforward and unsurprising, simple and clear, straightforward and understandable, smart but not overly clever) Professional grade

like diy electronics kit (fm transmitter etc)

building saas like building ikea

it’s like rocket fuel for astro apps

Modular “pre wired” “full-stack” components

this vibe - https://www.yankodesign.com/2024/12/04/modular-numpad-concept-adds-some-teenage-engineering-industrial-aesthetic-to-your-workflow/?ref=labnotes.org
- Purpose specific functionality blocks with my preferred solutions
- Designed to provide fast (easy, fun, smooth, productive, manageable, efficient) workflow built on top of reliable (and well chosen) technology / solutions

similar (in spirit) to filament php (components designed to work together)

designed to make the process of building certain kinds of functionality as easy (same level of complexity) as putting together ikea furniture (not always ~~easy~~ and fast, but it’s able to be done by one or two people who can follow directions and understand concepts of how things are assembled) same vibe - https://idea-instructions.com/quick-sort/?ref=labnotes.org

Astro on rails

like laravel / rails for Astro Dw like laravel - have a “go-to” solution for everything you’d want to do with this stack (chosen vetted solutions, but not necessarily done with OUR code), tools that work nicely together

fw written by (and for) someone who writes apps Tried a lot of shit I hated, know what works best for me, know the kind of workflow I want)

Dw laravel for Astro more like Statamic for Astro, but… Like tanstack but different stack Dw build dev stack equivalent of Toyota 4Runner / sequoia Reliable dependable useful thing that just works but is still a delight to use (good style, works real good, no bullshit) The web frameworks for (artistic) js crackheads (with jobs and deadlines) Web artisans with […]attitude problems

it’s essentially the same idea as laravel breeze (auth/login flows) but also includes components/conventions for specific things (processing photos, form submissions, text editors, modals, etc)

A reliable setup (boilerplate) you can trust so you don’t have to start over for every new project

“a pretty nice way to make web apps” “helpful strategies for building web apps” / opinions / conventions

fewer decisions you have to make … don’t worry about it! Avoid the pitfalls that can come with development (overthinking and over engineering solutions while making lower-level decisions) The bulk of the technical decisions are already made (80%) focus on the (20%) things that make your app unique (logic, service) Build your project quickly and spend more time with your family and friends (Spend less time making boring decisions and more time …)

astro / dw advantages (over laravel, rails)

jsx components!
plug & play w/ any framework components (can use react, vue, svelte)
easier deployment w/ modern platforms (and relatively easy vps setup, depending on your vps)
normal file based routing and (relatively) sane app org
tailwind integrated
guiding principles (conventions, opinions)
functional modular components (for our chosen/blessed FE & BE technologies) - plug & play full-stack components
FAST and efficient (and fun!) workflow
MY toolkit for building saas producs quickly
- modular pre-configured full-stack components
Saas starter kit with table stakes features

fast and fun way to build reliable and ambitious(?)[feature-complete, capable] server rendered crud applications and web sites

Pre-wired “table stakes” functionality for saas & web products
- ex: Auth, photo galleries, alerts, modals, billing primitives, user mgmt, form validation, etc
Full stack components
Modular interchangable(?) pieces / functionality / abstractions (primitives, generics)
“professional grade” starter kit for building full-stack server-rendered applications with astro and a (tastefully/carefully) curated configuration/collection of helpful tools & libraries

my “sweet setup” for building apps with various configurations “want a turn-key “full crud app” w/ form handling and db updating w/ my collection of favorites. would love to have users & auth figured out too”

Building a reliable stack that makes it easy to take advantage of new opportunities (change directions, adapt to market shifts) Built to ship AND ALSO Built to last

building dw to be my go-to for saas-like products something i’m adept at using that’s capable and modern focus on leverage and building speed fewer problems that i have to solve

FOCUS ON DEV SPEED, BUILD SOMETHING THAT WORKS
- will pay for reliable solutions
- horse apps don’t need to have HUGE scale to work (be effective)
- don’t want to get lost in the weeds solving problems i don’t need/want to solve
  - don’t want to fuck with infra or security AT ALL
- want “table stakes” functionality that i don’t have to “invent”
  - 2fa, image uploads, job queues, email service, etc
focus on building complex features fast & shipping, building the “normal” kinds of apps everyone expects these days

“a great way to make crud apps”

Part technical framework, part methodology for development (guiding principles) (tied to a specific set of tools, adaptable and extendable boilerplate and scaffolding, pre-wired full stack components
( Conceptual ) full stack primitives for crud operations (components, functions, boilerplate code, conventions/opinions/guardrails)
- a “happy path” for you to follow
turn-key starter kit, want to be able to build
- apps like jcdv, sdaa, otp, cb, blu, oip
  - one-off quick & dirty admins like admin.reining
  - turn-key intranet/dashboard
- public sites like MST & OMA (that have authentication functionality)
- ?? - eqp admin, eqp client, crag client
Lamp based web sdk
- self-hosted BAAS + full-stack primitives
plugin architecture (free + premium components)

full-stack components / fully integrated pieces of code designed to work together Dw slices - full stack components

features

pre-wired application base
auth
schemas
UGC image handlers (uplading, compression, resizing, cdn integration, caching, etc)
- robust & secure (27 layers!!!) image caching proxy and transformation service, backed by cdn (and optional image transformation service) of your choice

features list

turn-key (ish) base for admin (forms, tables, content)
astro config w/ @ path rendering
fully (?) typed custom components and backend abstraction functions
integrated photo uploads (saving in db)
- single and gallery

stack designed to ship

Js stack for solo devs who ship
good stack for building turn-key saas businesses
Easy to use / maintain tech chooses
Curated library collection / config
Covers the basic saas functionality
- Workflow Lets/encourages you build features quickly

features

turnkey prewired functional system
Auth (w pw & social oauth)
form handling
Input validation
photo uploads
Auth rules (rbac)
workflow / opinions / guard rails
Reasonable preconfigured base upon which to build

Getting all the foundational minutiae (fungible, repeated) code out of the way (solving those problems) so you can focus on writing product code (focus on business logic, don’t worry about foundation/infrastructure/architecture)

full stack saas toolkits for degens Chaotically running toward a solution
Someone else figured out the reliable parts , edge cases, etc
All you have to do is show up and solve the problems

For building ambitious web apps with ease

not just for BIG enterprise apps, it’s great for small sites that just need the basic structure (the boring problems are already solved) focus on being minimal, small, lightweight, fast (performance), fast (development speed), easy & cheap to deploy

dw for building bespoke web apps

“web development is hard … but it doesn’t have to be”

here’s a poem i wrote about this:

photo uploads are hard
auth rules are hard
form validation is hard all this stuff is hard it’s not rocket science, but it’s not apple pie i spent time fighting with this shit so i don’t have to again! made these solved problems! for me! fuck you! it’s a good stack, but there’s A LOT involved in getting it to work the way I need it to

easy on-ramp for more “advanced” features (queues, real-time streaming, elastic search/meili , etc)

“good enough” components

component vibes

goal is to have something that works, is fast, and feels good to use
easy enough to maintain and extend
reiable, dont’ have to worry about it breaking under stress
doesn’t have to be “bespoke” / “craft” / “couture” ui, it just needs to look normal
generic but nice, bonus points for more “luxury” aesthetics, but not required

who is it for?

not for novices

you have to be a developer to wield this effectively
it’s for professionals who are making professional-grade applications

Dw for building internal tools, intranets, company/organization portals custom ERP software, internal tooling

Dw perfect for building formware apps https://twitter.com/tonyennis/status/1725803647374635444?s=46&t=l7wRi4wE6KFhNZJNnPZNmg

goal - takes care of all of this shit:

” CRUD is step 0.
Real backend devs should know:
• Caching
• Auth & AuthZ
• Rate Limiting
• Queues & Workers
• Observability
• Scaling
• Security Master these. That’s how you ship systems, not just features. - https://x.com/pixperk_/status/1915984267143770380

detailed breakdown - https://insidious-brother-a00.notion.site/Backend-Essentials-1e258f789ad080a294e7cf459a90b1f1

go-to toolkit / boilerplate for building apps in 2025 & beyond — astro + better-auth + mysql + kysely + tailwind & a handful of other tools, deployed on a vps

Typescript on whales Thanks for all the fish Rails for Astro ssr

basic structure and pre-wired back-end functionality (so you’re not starting from scratch every time) high level abstractions

What is it?

GOALS

Curated tools bundle

Astro on rails

Documentation

Components

Admin

Field Guide

Tutorials

Resources

Project