What I Use
Tools, hardware, and software I use day-to-day. This page is manually maintained and occasionally out of date.
Editor & Terminal
PhpStorm
My primary editor for PHP and Laravel work. The refactoring tools and deep Laravel integration are worth the subscription.
VS Code
For everything that isn't PHP — config files, quick edits, and frontend work. Also my fallback when PhpStorm feels slow.
Warp
Terminal emulator. The block-based output and command history make digging through long build logs much less painful.
Oh My Zsh
Zsh with the usual suspects: git plugin, autosuggestions, syntax highlighting. The muscle memory at this point.
Development Stack
Laravel Herd
Local PHP environment. Replaced Valet for me — zero config, fast, and the Pro version handles multiple PHP versions per-project cleanly.
TablePlus
Database GUI. Works well with MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. The multi-tab layout is genuinely useful when you're comparing data across environments.
Hoppscotch / Postman
API testing. Hoppscotch for quick checks, Postman for anything that needs a saved collection.
Ray
Spatie's debugging tool. Once you use it for Laravel debugging you don't want to go back to dd().
Services & Hosting
Laravel Forge
Server provisioning and deployment. Almost every Laravel project I run in production goes through Forge. The zero-downtime deployments save a lot of headaches.
GitHub
Version control and CI/CD. GitHub Actions for automated testing and deployment pipelines.
Fathom Analytics
Privacy-first analytics. No cookie banners, no data selling. I care about this on my own site and I recommend it to clients.
1Password
Password manager. Non-negotiable for any developer handling client credentials.
Hardware
MacBook Pro (M-series)
The battery life and performance made the switch easy. Running local PHP development without a fan spinning is genuinely nice.
External Monitor
One large monitor rather than multiple small ones. Less context switching, more vertical space for code.