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What I
Run On

The hardware, software, and services behind the home lab, the work, and the rest of it. Not exhaustive — just what I'd actually recommend or that's genuinely interesting.

Development Machine
Mac Mini / MacBook Pro
Two machines, two jobs. The Mini handles infrastructure — self-hosted services, runners, home lab workloads. The MacBook Pro is the dev machine I'm actually writing code on.
hardware
Claude Code
My current favorite agent. Terminal-native, MCP integrations let it reach into the rest of the stack in ways that actually change how I work.
ai tooling
Codex
In regular rotation alongside Claude Code. I switch back and forth depending on the task — both have their strengths and I don't commit to just one.
ai tooling
Ollama
Local model runtime. Running various open models for tasks that don't need cloud — code review, summarization, home automation scripting.
local ai
OpenCode
TUI coding tool with plugin support. Pairs well with local models via Ollama when I want to keep things offline.
ai tooling
Infrastructure & Self-Hosted
OrbStack
Docker and Linux VM management on Mac. Replaced Docker Desktop — faster, lighter, and doesn't demand your soul on startup.
containers
Gitea
Self-hosted Git. This site is deployed from a Gitea Actions runner on a Mac mini. Full control, no external dependencies for the pipeline.
self-hosted
Raspberry Pis
Multiple. Each has a job. Network monitoring, local services, automation endpoints. The Pi graveyard is real but so is the Pi fleet.
hardware
DigitalOcean
For the things that can't live on-premise — external services, droplets that need a real IP, managed databases when warranted.
cloud
DreamHost
This site's host. Simple shared hosting for a static site — does exactly what it needs to.
hosting
Home Automation
Home Assistant
The brain of the house. Slowly migrating everything that used to live in corporate cloud apps into local automations I actually control.
home lab
Zigbee & Matter Devices
Sensors, switches, plugs — a mix of brands unified under Home Assistant. Local protocols preferred over cloud-dependent alternatives.
hardware
Local Media & Music
Shifting away from streaming services toward local libraries. More control, no licensing surprises, no feature removals.
home lab
Local AI Assistants
Home automation scripting and voice assistants backed by local Ollama instances. The infrastructure obsession extends to the house.
local ai

This list is maintained manually.