Here are the tools and software I use regularly for AI development, homelab infrastructure, and content creation.
AI-powered coding assistant that lives in the terminal. My primary driver for writing, refactoring, and exploring codebases.
Primary code editor with extensions for Python, Docker, and remote development over SSH to homelab servers.
Version control and code hosting for all projects. Every service, script, and config lives in a repo.
Containerization for all homelab services. If it runs on a server, it runs in a container.
Infrastructure as code for managing multiple servers and Raspberry Pis. Idempotent playbooks for every machine in the lab.
Cloud infrastructure provisioning for AWS — S3, CloudFront, IAM, and more. State-managed and version-controlled.
Self-hosted LLM inference running on a local GPU (RTX 5060 Ti). Serves models like Llama and Mistral without sending data to the cloud.
Primary AI assistant for complex reasoning, writing, and content creation. Also powers the agentic workflows on this site.
Self-hosted chat interface for local and hosted models. Connects to Ollama and supports custom model routing.
Vector database powering the domain-based memory system. Stores and retrieves embeddings for long-term AI context.
Workflow automation connecting AI to monitoring, alerts, and deployments. Self-hosted with full control over data and integrations.
Reverse proxy with automatic SSL and local DNS routing. Every service gets a clean subdomain with zero manual cert management.
Metrics collection, visualization, and alerting across the entire homelab. Dashboards for every host, container, and service.
Smart home automation and IoT integration. Ties together sensors, switches, and scripts into automated workflows.
Service health monitoring with webhook notifications. First alert when anything in the lab goes down.
Local DNS for *.local.brianrogers.dev resolution. Routes internal traffic without touching public DNS.
Screen recording and livestreaming for YouTube. Open source, highly configurable, and handles multi-source scenes with ease.
Video editing and color grading. The free version covers everything I need for YouTube production.
3D modeling and motion graphics for video intros and visualizations. Open source and surprisingly capable.
Scene building and virtual production for cinematic-quality backdrops and environments in video content.