--- title: 'My 2026 Developer Tech Stack' date: 2026-01-27 excerpt: 'The tools I use as CTO and product engineer at a Y Combinator-backed startup in 2026.' tags: [developer, startup, founder, tools] canonical: https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/developer-product-engineer-tech-stack-2026 --- # My 2026 Developer Tech Stack ## The Big idea This year, my work shifted from "write code" to "orchestrate systems." That means communicating well, taking great notes, and using AI tools to enhance my thinking rather than replace it. ## The Hardware I work on a 14" M2 MacBook Pro. I'm a big fan of the M-series chips - my M2 hasn't slowed down yet. I prefer portability over screen size since I do a lot of work from kitchen counters and coffee shops. At my desk, I run dual 27" 4K monitors with the Mac in clamshell mode, plus a Logitech MX Keys keyboard and MX Master 3 mouse - a setup that hasn't changed in years. I'm also getting more done on my phone than ever - currently a Pixel 10 Pro. I've been eyeing Nothing phones lately; their quirky-meets-minimal design ethos is appealing. E-paper devices have been in and out of my bag this year. A friend gifted me a Daylight Computer, which I use for reading and notes. I also briefly had a Boox Palma 2 - a *sublime* phone-sized e-reader I loved until its fragile screen broke. Glad I paid for the extended warranty. ## My Software Stack The biggest change from last year? My software stack changes regularly now. I've flipped between IDEs, switched note-taking apps, and dabbled with AI tools across the spectrum - from ChatGPT and Gemini, to Copilot and Cursor and Claude Code, to fully-local models via Ollama. The takeaway: flexibility beats loyalty. Tools are changing fast, and it's worth trying new ones to see what fits. Here's what I'm *currently* using: ### Claude Code [Claude Code](https://claude.com/product/claude-code) lets me stay in the role I'm best at: planner, architect, reviewer, unblocker. I spend less time executing and more time shaping the work. Critically, it doesn't replace my judgment - it multiplies it. [I've been reviewing code for years](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/ai-is-your-intern-not-your-boss), and Claude keeps me reading code and providing active feedback. I'm not writing zero code, but I am writing a lot less. ### MCPs (Model Context Protocol) MCPs are the quiet unlock. They connect Claude Code to real systems instead of isolated prompts - repos, tickets, docs, logs, all linked. This is what turns AI from a clever assistant into something that can reason alongside you. ### Obsidian I take [**loads of notes**](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/unlock-productivity-with-networked-note-taking) - meetings, calls, books, friends, articles, you name it. I switched from Logseq to [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) this year due to an ongoing macOS bug that made Logseq painfully slow. Obsidian is fine, but it suffers from Notion's curse: it's too easy to get distracted perfecting your setup instead of using the tool. ### Raycast [Raycast](https://www.raycast.com) replaces Spotlight on macOS. It's more than a launcher - I use it for translations (English ↔ Spanish), looking up Tailwind classes, finding Lucide icons, and dozens of other small utilities throughout my day. ### WisprFlow [WisprFlow](https://ref.wisprflow.ai/mike-bifulco) is a voice-to-text tool that runs locally on your Mac. Talk to your computer and it turns into text. I'm a fan of multimodal input; I spent years on the Google Assistant team waiting for seamless switching between typing and talking. WisprFlow delivers that, and it understands code-speak surprisingly well. Say "users slash mike" and it outputs `users/mike`. I use it constantly now for thoughts while walking, rough designs, notes to myself, and messages to teammates. ### Linear [Linear](https://linear.app) is still the backbone of planning for my team. It's where our shared understanding of the work plan lives. It's also where we share context with LLMs via MCPs, meaning Claude Code can read and update Linear tickets as work gets done. This helps documentation happen automatically instead of as an afterthought. ### The product stack The way we build software at [Craftwork](https://craftwork.com) is changing too. We use TypeScript for most of our code now, steadily moving away from Ruby on Rails. The app lives in a monorepo: Next.js, React, TypeScript, OpenAPI, tRPC, and Postgres. We also rely on a handful of third-party tools: PostHog for analytics, Render for hosting, Sentry for errors, Stripe for payments, and Twilio for voice/SMS. ## The secret sauce This is the year I started viewing my 20+ years of writing code as a replaceable commodity. Thanks to LLMs, the difference between an engineer and a 10x engineer is [no longer code](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/next-great-engineering-skill-is-context-not-code). It's context, collaboration, and communication, with humans and machines alike. Many devs struggle with this. I share my tools and workflow because I find it helpful when others do the same, but ultimately the tools are worthless without the people. Bring humanity, creativity, and humility to your work. Invest in yourself. ## Part of the My Product Engineer Tech Stack series - [My 2025 Developer Tech Stack](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/developer-product-engineer-tech-stack-2025) Full series: https://mikebifulco.com/series/my-product-engineer-tech-stack ## More from mikebifulco.com - [My 2025 Developer Tech Stack](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/developer-product-engineer-tech-stack-2025) - [Founder Math: When to Stop Searching and Start Choosing with the 37% Rule](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/optimal-stopping-problem-for-founders) - [Tools I Love - Resend and React Email](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/tools-i-love-resend-react-email) --- Written by Mike Bifulco. Originally published at https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/developer-product-engineer-tech-stack-2026