small tools manifesto
- A tool should be understandable in one sitting.
- A tool should be deletable without grief.
- A tool should have one reason to exist, and it should say it out loud in its README.
- Configuration should fit on a postcard.
- If a tool needs a dashboard, it’s not a tool — it’s a product, and products need a different kind of love.
This is not a war on frameworks. Frameworks are cities; tools are campsites. Both are legitimate places to live, but you should know which one you’re in.
The test
Before I release anything, I run it through a test invented by a friend: would this tool survive being read out loud? Not the code — the idea. “It watches a folder and rebuilds the site when a markdown file changes.” That’s a sentence. “It’s a reactive, event-driven, cloud-native content orchestration layer.” That’s a threat.
I want my tools to be sentences.
Current inventory
- A zine compiler for markdown folders (poems optional, encouraged)
- A deploy-watcher that plays a song when builds go green
- A three-word poem generator: ash, vinyl, light
All small. All finished. All free.
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