Why I build my own tools

I don’t want my work capped by any one account, plan or vendor. So I build the parts that matter: several accounts on one setup, a job runner that works overnight, and a large coding model on my own laptop.

Why I build my own tools. Several accounts on one setup, a job runner that works overnight and checks everything, and a large coding model on my own laptop. The same habit as the tools I already publish. Why I build my own tools. Several accounts on one setup, a job runner that works overnight and checks everything, and a large coding model on my own laptop. The same habit as the tools I already publish.

I use Claude every day and I think it’s very good, especially at design and review. I still don’t want my work to depend on any one account, plan or vendor. If it does, someone else’s decision becomes my limit.

So I build the parts that matter myself.

None of that is new for me. I build the tools I need and publish the ones I can: a Markdown editor that exports PDF, Word and PowerPoint, a library for uploading large files in chunks and a tool for keeping a copy of a website. The AI setup is the latest of them, and the same habit.

Owning the tools has a price. I maintain every one of them, and when something breaks it is mine to fix. For now that’s a trade I’m happy with, because it means I can change my setup the day something around it changes.

More on Mullet

All writing about Mullet

Featured projects

All projects

More writing

All writing