Open to select engagements

Buchman.
Fullstack Engineer.

I design and ship production-grade web systems, from typed APIs and relational data models to the interfaces people actually touch.

Fullstack
Frontend to Backend depth
TypeScript
End-to-end type safety
Self-hosted
VPS + Docker on Interserver
About

An engineer who ships the whole stack.

I care about systems that are typed end to end, data that's modeled deliberately, and interfaces that feel effortless. I learn in public and build to ship.

Backend-first, fullstack-fluent

I started in React and React Native, then moved deliberately into the backend. Today I build the API and data layer first, then put a polished UI on top.

A standardized, opinionated stack

Express, Drizzle, PostgreSQL, JWT, and Zod: the same reliable foundation on every service, so I ship faster and debug less.

I own the whole pipeline

From a multi-stage Dockerfile to a live domain on my own VPS. Owning deployment end to end keeps me honest about how software actually runs.

Stack

The tools I reach for.

A deliberate, standardized toolkit, chosen for reliability and type safety, not novelty.

Backend

My core. A deliberate, standardized stack for shipping typed, validated APIs.

  • Node.js
  • Express.js
  • TypeScript
  • Drizzle ORM
  • PostgreSQL
  • JWT auth
  • Zod validation
  • REST API design

Frontend

Where I started. Component-driven UIs with a focus on clarity and performance.

  • React
  • Next.js
  • React Native / Expo
  • TypeScript
  • Tailwind CSS

Infra & DevOps

I own my deployments end to end, from Dockerfile to a live domain on my own VPS.

  • Docker
  • Multi-stage builds
  • Dev containers
  • Linux server admin
  • nginx
  • VPS (Interserver)

Foundations & Tooling

The middleware, data, and workflow fundamentals behind every project.

  • cors / helmet / morgan
  • MongoDB
  • SQL
  • Git
  • WSL2
  • npm packaging
Experience

Where I've shipped in production.

Professional engineering work, and the live systems I've built and maintained.

Fullstack Engineer

atPlug24
2025 - Present

Built and ship the core systems behind Plug24, a live on-demand marketplace: the backend API, internal catalog and operations consoles, an AI WhatsApp shopping assistant, and the customer storefront.

Plug24 API

The multi-sided commerce and logistics backend on Express. It runs the full order lifecycle across customer, vendor, retailer, partner, and driver roles, backed by MySQL and Knex with Redis-powered Bull/BullMQ job queues. Integrates Paystack for payments, Twilio for OTP, Firebase for notifications, and Algolia for search, all behind layered JWT and scoped API-key auth, with auto-generated Swagger docs and GitHub Actions CI.

  • Express
  • MySQL
  • Knex
  • Redis
  • BullMQ
  • JWT
  • Paystack
  • Swagger

Plug24 Catalog Console

The catalog and data-management console for the marketplace. Teams curate the product and category catalogue, define product properties and variants, and manage vendors and retailers behind role-gated, protected routes. Built with Next.js and React Query, with rich product content authored in a TipTap editor and forms validated with React Hook Form and Zod.

  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • React Query
  • React Hook Form
  • TipTap
  • Zod

Plug24 Ops Console

The operations console for running day-to-day marketplace activity. A dashboard with Chart.js analytics over user, order, product, logistics, and transaction management, tracking the full order-to-dispatch lifecycle behind protected routes. Built with Next.js and TanStack Query, forms with React Hook Form and Zod, and sanitized rich content with DOMPurify.

  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • React Query
  • Chart.js
  • React Hook Form
  • Zod

Plug24 Bot

An AI shopping assistant that lets customers buy over WhatsApp in natural language. LangChain agents and OpenAI with a Pinecone vector store power retrieval-augmented product search, plus stateful conversation memory that tracks carts, quantities, and removals through a multi-step checkout. Built in TypeScript with MySQL/Knex and Upstash Redis.

  • TypeScript
  • LangChain
  • OpenAI
  • Pinecone
  • RAG
  • WhatsApp
  • MySQL

Plug24 Storefront

Live

The customer-facing storefront, a Next.js 15 PWA on React 19 and Tailwind. Category browsing, catalog search, cart, and Paystack checkout, with Google Maps delivery addresses, OTP auth, and web push notifications. Jotai for client state, TanStack Query for server data, and Zod for validation, deployed on Vercel.

  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Tailwind
  • TanStack Query
  • Zod
  • PWA

Fullstack Engineer

atFixr
2025 - Present

Fixr is an engineering-services platform for homes and businesses, spanning solar energy, HVAC, electrical, fibre and networks, CCTV, and smart-home automation. I built its marketing website and an AI assistant that books and manages appliance servicing conversationally.

Fixr Website

Live

The company's marketing site, built pixel-perfect from Figma across every service and solution line. A Next.js site with polished Framer Motion and GSAP motion, Supabase-backed content, Leaflet maps, embedded video, and on-the-fly PDF generation, backed by an image-optimization pipeline and analytics.

  • Next.js
  • React
  • Framer Motion
  • GSAP
  • Tailwind
  • Supabase
  • TanStack Query

Fixr Bot

A tool-calling AI assistant that lets customers handle appliance servicing in natural language. Purpose-built tools register appliances, match categories, schedule and manage technician inspections, and drive appliance-subscription checkout via Paystack, with retrieval-augmented answers over a Pinecone and Chroma knowledge base. Built in TypeScript on the Vercel AI SDK and LangChain, with MySQL/Knex and Upstash Redis conversation memory.

  • TypeScript
  • AI SDK
  • LangChain
  • OpenAI
  • Pinecone
  • RAG
  • Paystack

Frontend Engineer

atLYD Engineering
2026

Client engagement for LYD Engineering, a clean-energy and mobility brand. I built their public marketing site across the full product ecosystem.

LYD Website

Live

The live marketing site for LYD Engineering, covering Photon solar panels, Safecell batteries, the Orbit inverter, Lucid OS, ARC NET, electric vehicles, and Smart City. Built with Next.js, Tailwind, and polished Framer Motion and GSAP motion, with role-based waitlist signup wired to a production API and image optimization for Netlify.

  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Framer Motion
  • GSAP
  • Tailwind
  • Netlify
Projects

Personal projects and experiments.

Things I've built on my own time, from a published npm package to a standardized backend template and early mobile apps.

Published
2026

buchman-snip

Published npm CLI package, my early capstone.

A command-line tool published to the npm registry. Built to prove the full loop: authoring a package, versioning it, and shipping it to a public registry for anyone to install.

  • Node.js
  • CLI
  • npm
  • TypeScript
Shipped
2026

Standard API Template

My standardized backend starter for every new service.

A production-shaped Express + Drizzle + PostgreSQL template with JWT auth, Zod validation, and cors/helmet/morgan wired in. Based on API Design in Node.js v5, the baseline I reach for on every backend.

  • Express
  • Drizzle
  • PostgreSQL
  • JWT
  • Zod
Journey

How I got here and where I'm going.

A deliberate path from frontend into backend and infrastructure. I learn by building, then standardize what works.

  1. Cloud Infrastructure: Startup to Scale

    Erik Reinert · in progress

    Taking my self-hosted instincts to the cloud: provisioning, scaling, and operating infrastructure the way a growing startup would.

  2. Complete Intro to Containers v2

    Brian Holt · completed

    Multi-stage Dockerfiles (Node builder to distroless / nginx:alpine runtime) and dev containers. Brought my deployments fully under Docker.

  3. API Design in Node.js v5

    Scott Moss · completed

    Now the template for my standing backend stack: Express, Drizzle, PostgreSQL, JWT, Zod, and cors/helmet/morgan.

  4. Introduction to Node.js v3

    completed

    Server-side fundamentals: the runtime, modules, and the transition from browser JS to backend JS.

  5. Complete Intro to Linux & the Command-Line

    completed

    WSL2 setup and Linux / VPS server administration: the foundation for self-hosting on my own box.

  6. Complete Intro to Databases

    completed

    MongoDB and SQL coursework: modeling data in both document and relational stores.

  7. Full Stack Fundamentals

    Jem Young · completed

    The entry point: how the pieces of a full stack fit together end to end.

Contact

Let's build something solid.

I'm open to select engagements. If you have an idea, a role, or a system that needs shipping, my inbox is open.