Field Notes
Notes from the Workshop
Build notes from my production EdTech, retirement software, and AI tools. I publish the exact changes that worked, the failures that cost time, and the trade-offs behind each decision.
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5 min readMigrating a Next.js portfolio off Vercel to Coolify
Cutover steps from Vercel to a homelab Coolify, what broke, and why operational coherence beat the symbolic cost savings.
vercelcoolifycloudflare-tunnelnextjssolo-founder
6 min readWhat I changed in next.config.mjs when leaving Vercel
Three diffs that earn their place: output standalone, edge runtime switch, explicit compression. Plus the security headers you stop getting for free.
nextjsverceldockercoolifysolo-founder
4 min readGitHub Deploy Keys Are Unique by Public Key, Not by Repo
GitHub rejects a deploy key already attached to another account or repository. Here is how to identify the conflict, create a new key, and reconnect Coolify.
githubdevopssolo-foundergotcha
5 min readThe Coolify monorepo webhook that silently skipped 3 of 4 apps
When one Coolify monorepo app stays stale, separate webhook filtering from stale output. Here is the diagnosis, forced deploy, and live verification.
coolifymonorepodeploygotchasolo-founder
6 min readWhy I write this blog in MDX instead of using a CMS
Zero monthly cost, same git workflow as code, type-checked frontmatter, and no preview environment juggling. Trade-offs are real but acceptable for a solo site.
mdxblogtoolingsolo-founder
5 min readWhy I run two analytics tools: Umami for pageviews, PostHog for funnels
Self-hosting Umami for pageviews and using PostHog Cloud for funnels costs me almost nothing and keeps each dashboard answering exactly one question.
analyticsumamiposthogsolo-founder
6 min readOne Cloudflare Tunnel for a Fleet of Small Next.js Apps
I route 10+ hostnames through a single cloudflared daemon on a Coolify host. Here is the config shape and why it works better than one tunnel per app.
cloudflare-tunnelcoolifytraefiksolo-founder
6 min readSelf-hosting MinIO for free S3-compatible storage on your homelab
A record of the MinIO instance I run on Coolify, updated for the project's source-only Community Edition and unmaintained legacy binaries.
minioself-hostedstoragehomelabsolo-founder
5 min readSelf-hosting Umami in two hours, dropping GA4 across the fleet
I replaced GA4 with a self-hosted Umami instance across six production sites. Setup took two hours, data stays on my Postgres, and I no longer need cookie banners.
umamianalyticsself-hostedsolo-founder
4 min readAdGuard-Only Docker DNS: A Footgun for Self-Hosted Builds
When your Coolify host points Docker containers at a single AdGuard DNS server, any hiccup breaks builds and runtime fetches. Here is the diagnosis and the tradeoffs.
dockerdnshomelabcoolifygotcha
2 min readWhy this blog exists, and who it is actually for
Field notes from a solo founder shipping six production sites in three sectors. What I write here, what I do not, and why it might be useful to a few of you.
metawritingindie