Build your own tools
1 min read
A tool that only helps with one task in one project used to cost too much to build. Now it takes an afternoon, so I build a lot of them.
- animation
- knobs
- performance
- profiler
- data
- seed data
An animation is easier to get right with sliders for duration, delay and easing than by editing numbers and reloading. A performance problem is easier to find when you can see it. A screen filled with realistic data shows layout bugs that placeholder text hides.
The next step is to use AI to build the tool that builds the tool. A coding agent or a software factory is that kind of tool: describe the animation tuner, the profiler or the seed script, and it builds it.
you
agent
tool
Each layer makes the next one cheaper to build.