dev tools
image compressors, code snippet renderers, diffing tools -- the small utilities that save ten minutes a day.
spec out top feature request
Goal: find the three most-requested features in this open-source project's GitHub issues, then draft a short spec for the top one. Steps: search the repo's issues, rank by reaction count and comment volume, identify the top three, pick the highest-impact one, and write a one-page spec with scope, edge cases, and a rough implementation plan. Show your work.
build real-time collaboration
Add a real-time collaborative layer to an app: live cursors plus click-to-drop comment pins, like Figma. Use WebSocket (Socket.io or native ws). Requirements: other users' cursors shown live, comments appear for everyone instantly, graceful reconnect with no ghost cursors, debounced cursor updates. Build it end to end, then prove sync works with two simulated clients before calling it done.
build a habit tracker
Build the scaffold for a habit-tracking web app. Stack: React front end, Node/Express API, Postgres, email-and-password auth. Features: user signup, create/edit/delete habits, daily check-ins, a streak counter, and a weekly summary view. Build the database schema first, then the API, then the UI. Wire them together and note anything I'd need to configure to run it.
create a black hole scene
Build a single-file WebGL scene: a black hole with gravitational lensing that visibly bends a starfield behind it, plus an accretion disk with color based on temperature. Add orbit controls. Quality bar: this should look like a science visualization, not a shader tutorial. Build the file.
build physics scenes in html5
Build three HTML5 canvas scenes with computed physics, no libraries, one file each: (1) a bridge collapsing and dropping a vehicle into water with displacement, (2) cloth falling over an invisible object, (3) a stack of blocks toppling from a nudge. Physics computed not animated, 60fps, reset button, and comment the equations. Don't ask questions first.
build a browser game
Build a single-file browser game: a top-down arena where the player dodges and shoots waves of enemies. WebGL or canvas, no external assets. Include: real movement momentum, enemy hit reactions, screen shake on impact, a score counter, and a restart button. 60fps target. Make it feel responsive, not floaty. Build the whole thing.
rubber duck, but sharper
walk through this function line by line and tell me the exact moment the state stops matching what I expect. don't summarize -- narrate it like you're stepping through a debugger.