Building Something Every Month
My 2026 challenge: Ship one meaningful project every month. Follow along as I build, learn, and share my journey.
7
Completed
0
In Progress
12
Total
January 2026
Completed
The Daily Brief - AI Finance Newsletter Bot
A fully automated daily finance/economics email bot that pulls news, summarizes with local LLM, generates audio podcasts, and sends beautifully formatted emails.
Python
Ollama
Coqui TTS
Docker
MarketAux API
- •Multi-feed financial news aggregation from MarketAux
- •Local LLM summarization with analyst-style voice
- •Text-to-speech podcast generation with Coqui TTS
- •Sectioned HTML email delivery via SMTP
February 2026
Completed
Receipt Extractor - Document AI for Line Item Parsing
A self-hosted receipt scanner using Document Understanding Transformers and OCR to automatically extract line items from receipts. Deployed on a Linux mini PC with NGINX restricting traffic to local network devices.
Python
Document Understanding Transformers
OCR
NGINX
Linux
- •Document Understanding Transformers for intelligent document parsing
- •OCR pipeline for text extraction from receipt images
- •NGINX for local network access only
March 2026
Completed
Runekeeper - Chat-Style Weekly Planner (Part 1)
A chat-style weekly planner that turns natural conversation into time-blocked calendar events and trackable tasks. Built with a "Living Manuscript" aesthetic — sepia tones, editorial typography, and the personality of an enchanted archivist.
Next.js 15
TypeScript
NextAuth
PostgreSQL
Drizzle ORM
Gemini 2.5 Flash
Tailwind CSS
Docker
- •Natural-language chat that plans realistic week schedules from goals and deadlines
- •Conflict detection against Google Calendar with writes on confirmation
- •Task tracking with reschedule and undo via Google Tasks API
- •Self-hosted with Docker + Tailscale Funnel for public HTTPS
April 2026
Completed
SQL Visualizer - Step-by-Step Query Execution
An educational SQL visualizer that shows how a query is evaluated in logical execution order. Define your own in-memory tables, run a query, and step through each transformation with before-and-after tables. Share links encode the whole workspace in the URL — no backend required.
Vite
React
TypeScript
SQL
Vercel
- •Parses a focused SQL subset: SELECT, JOIN, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING, ORDER BY, LIMIT, and aggregates
- •Step-by-step trace of each logical transformation with before/after tables
- •User-defined tables via CREATE TABLE and INSERT, with starter data included
- •Read-only share links encode a compressed workspace snapshot entirely in the URL
May 2026
Completed
Runekeeper - Goggins-Mode Call Reminders (Part 2)
An extension of Runekeeper that calls my phone every day at 3:30pm with Twilio and delivers a rude, David Goggins-style reminder of what I said I'd get done. No snoozing a phone call.
Twilio
Next.js
TypeScript
Cron
Text-to-Speech
- •Automated daily voice call at 3:30pm via Twilio
- •Goggins-style drill-sergeant reminders generated from planned tasks
- •Builds on the Runekeeper planner from March
June 2026
Completed
Digital Vinyl Jukebox - Gesture Control + Projector
A projection-table vinyl jukebox with Spotify playback and webcam gesture controls for play, pause, and skip. Built with few-shot prompting via Claude Code.
Next.js
TypeScript
Spotify API
Framer Motion
Tailwind CSS
- •Projection mode for a tabletop vinyl display
- •Webcam pinch gestures for previous, play/pause, and next
- •Spotify Web Playback SDK for live album art and playback
July 2026
Private
E2E Encrypted File System - CS161
An end-to-end encrypted file system built for CS161. The implementation stays private per class policy.
CS161
Cryptography
File Systems
- •End-to-end encryption for files at rest
- •Course project for CS161
- •Source kept private per class policy
August 2026
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Stay tuned for the August challenge!
September 2026
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Stay tuned for the September challenge!
October 2026
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Stay tuned for the October challenge!
November 2026
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Stay tuned for the November challenge!
December 2026
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Stay tuned for the December challenge!
Bonus Builds
Extra projects built outside the monthly challenge
Valentine's Day 2026
Bonus
BloomNote - 3D Valentine Gift Creator
A free web app to create and send personalized 3D Valentine gifts. Pick a gift, write your message, and share a link — no signup required.
Next.js
React Three Fiber
Supabase
TypeScript
Tailwind CSS
Summer 2026
Bonus
Stern Hall Duty Bot
A scheduled bot that reads the Stern Hall duty rotation from Google Sheets and posts who's on duty to Slack. Built with Claude.
Python
Slack
Google Sheets
Docker