Uses | Ben Robertson

Uses

The tools I use to build, run, and grow ColorBliss as a solo founder. Part of the uses.tech collection.

Editor & terminal

I use Cursor because the best models and agent workflows keep landing there, so my setup keeps getting better without me chasing every new AI tool. Two years in and I still don't want to switch.↗ cursor.com

I only use Ghostty for machine setup/config work when I'm not in a repo, or for SSH sessions into servers.↗ ghostty.org

Oh My Zsh with Starship for the prompt. fnm for Node, pyenv for Python, zoxide for cd. Laravel aliases (mfs, tst, cr) for day-to-day.↗ ohmyz.sh

Cross-shell prompt. Fast, shows git status and context without clutter.↗ starship.rs

Smarter cd—remembers where I go and jumps there with a few keystrokes.↗ github.com

Node version manager. use-on-cd so the right Node is active per project without thinking.↗ github.com

Fonts & themes

Editor font

Menlo, Monaco, Courier New, monospace in Cursor. System monospace stack—no extra font to install.

Cursor Light. I code during the day so I like a light theme.↗ marketplace.visualstudio.com

I use a custom theme that matches this website. It helps me feel like I'm publishing while I'm writing, which I like.↗ obsidian.md

The ColorBliss stack

When ColorBliss started as mostly Next.js, Supabase felt like the default backend for JS. If I started now I'd probably do more in Laravel, but Supabase has been reliable so I stuck with it.↗ supabase.com

I moved backend work to Laravel after traffic spikes exposed queueing and API rate-limit pain. Built-in queues, retries, and rate controls gave me much better observability and control.↗ laravel.com

The app dashboard is still in Next.js. With the scope narrower now, it feels straightforward to manage.↗ nextjs.org

I moved the marketing site from Next.js after struggling with front-end performance and JS management. Astro made Core Web Vitals easier and keeping marketing separate from the app is simpler.↗ astro.build

I've always liked WordPress for content management. I do a lot via API and Cursor skills now, but I still like having wp-admin as home base.↗ wordpress.org

After Octo was acquired by NVIDIA, I moved workloads to Replicate and FAL. I keep overlap between providers and round-robin requests.↗ replicate.com

No strong preference between FAL and Replicate right now; I use both.↗ fal.ai

Mostly image generation now. I used it more for text in the past, but moved that part to Cerebras for speed.↗ platform.openai.com

I moved the prompt improver to Cerebras to cut latency. It became fast enough to offer real-time prompt improving directly in the UI.↗ inference.cerebras.ai

I use Netlify because I already had a long-standing account, plus a lot of friends there. It's fun keeping it hosted in that ecosystem.↗ app.netlify.com

Forge handles server setup and deploys cleanly from GitHub. As a solo founder, it's exactly what I want to avoid babysitting infra.↗ forge.laravel.com

Is there a real alternative to Stripe? Not sure. It just works for subscriptions and payments.↗ stripe.com

Analytics, SEO & marketing

How I do SEO for ColorBliss →

I started on SEMrush, but backlink data felt less accurate/up-to-date for what I needed. Ahrefs has been better as I've focused more on authority and backlinks.↗ ahrefs.com

Bento is awesome. Jesse (the founder) has been super helpful, and seeing how fast he ships has taught me a lot about running my business.↗ bentonow.com

I picked Resend early because it was the recommended path with Supabase/Next auth flows. It works, and I also use it for small side projects.↗ resend.com

Product analytics.↗ posthog.com

Managing Meta ads inside Cursor. Still trying it out.↗ pipeboard.co

Thinking & productivity

I do use a daily note in Obsidian. It's also the main source of this website. Every note on this site is a file in obsidian that has a published = true attribute in the frontmatter.↗ obsidian.md

I use Linear (imperfectly) for tracking features on ColorBliss and collaborating on work for the contracting I do.↗ linear.app

Launcher, snippets, quick actions. Replaced Alfred.↗ raycast.com

I like having the ChatGPT app on my phone and desktop for quick questions on business and random stuff.↗ chatgpt.com

Hardware

14-inch, Nov 2024, M4 Pro, 48 GB. Recently upgraded from a macbook air for beefier processing power and it's been great.↗ www.apple.com

LG Ultra HD Display

27-inch, 3840×2160.↗ www.lg.com

Kinesis Freestyle Pro

Split ergonomic keyboard. I felt a big difference in the tension in my shoulders after upgrading to this a few years ago. Before that, I used the microsoft ergonomic keyboard. It was good for my wrists, but not my shoulders.↗ kinesis-ergo.com

Herman Miller Sayl

Chair. Very comfortable. I rarely use the standing desk since I bought this.↗ www.hermanmiller.com

Logitech camera

Webcam for calls.↗ www.logitech.com

Logitech MX Vertical

Ergonomic vertical mouse.↗ www.logitech.com

Digital condenser microphone for calls and content.↗ www.shure.com

One cable for everything—monitors, drives, peripherals.↗ www.caldigit.com

Autonomous sit/stand desk

This was the cheapest convertible standing desk that I could find at the time and has served me well for almost ten years.↗ www.autonomous.ai

Bluetooth speaker, walnut. Desktop audio.↗ audioengine.com

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