Balian.dev
Minneapolis, MN · remote Book a call

Skills by discipline

  • Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, PHP, Python, SQL, Bash, HTML / CSS, SCSS, Swift
  • Frameworks: Next.js, React, Astro, Node, Express, Bootstrap, Tailwind, Foundation, Underscores, jQuery, Vite, GSAP, Three.js
  • WordPress and commerce: WordPress, WooCommerce, Gutenberg, ACF, WP-CLI, Multisite, Shopify, BigCommerce
  • Payments and tax: Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, Avalara, TaxJar
  • Email and marketing: Mailgun, Mandrill, SendGrid, Resend, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, MJML, GA4, GTM, SPF / DKIM / DMARC
  • CRM and ERP: Salesforce, Pardot, Sage 100, QuickBooks, TrueCommerce, EDI
  • Cloud and edge: Workers, D1, KV, R2, Queues, Pages, WAF, DNS
  • Servers and hosting: CloudLinux, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Ubuntu, Linux, Nginx, Apache, LiteSpeed, PHP-FPM, OPcache, Redis, cPanel / WHM, Caddy, systemd, cron, SSH, TLS
  • DevOps: Git, GitHub Actions, CI/CD, PM2, Wrangler, pnpm, Turborepo, Local WP
  • Data and APIs: MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, Drizzle, Zod, REST, GraphQL, Webhooks
  • Quality: Playwright, Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, Cross-browser testing
  • Security and compliance: HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA / CPRA, Global Privacy Control, Consent Mode v2, PCI DSS, CAN-SPAM, WCAG AA, ADA, Section 508, CSP, HSTS
  • AI: Claude API, Claude Code, Agents, Evals
Web engineering · AI-directed · Stack-agnostic

Agency-level web engineering, without the agency.

I have twenty years of experience and use AI for the heavy lifting. You get an agency team's work faster and cheaper, and you deal with me directly.

Book a 30-minute call See how a project runs
Skills by discipline
The model

Six handoffs become one engineer.

A typical agency
Strategist→Designer→Developer→Project manager→Account manager→QA

Each handoff adds hours, delay and a message to relay.

An agency of one
One senior engineer + directed AI

The same work, with fewer handoffs and direct attention to every decision.

Agencies bill for a team. AI changed what one person can deliver, and experience is what makes that safe. How the model works

Services

Whatever the problem needs, in the stack that fits.

Websites and content platforms

WordPress, Astro and headless builds, chosen for the problem rather than the habit.

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Commerce

WooCommerce and store engineering built around checkout, integrations and speed.

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Web apps and SaaS

Multi-tenant products, from architecture to deployment.

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AI features and agents

Features where the model proposes and a person approves.

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Integrations and automation

APIs, back-office sync and internal tools that remove manual work.

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Security, performance, accessibility

Held to a standard on every build, not added at the end.

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How I work

I read the code the AI writes.

I do not sell a framework. AI handles the syntax and the API detail in whatever stack the problem calls for. Two decades of experience mean I can tell when it is going the wrong way.

The AI handles

Syntax, boilerplate, API details, first drafts, test scaffolding.

I decide

Architecture, trade-offs, security, and what ships.

How AI-assisted engineering works

ai     drafted approve-change.ts
review ✗ change is applied before the approval check
fix    approval gate added on the server
tests  ✓ passed
verify ✓ result checked against live state
  • TypeScript
  • Next.js
  • Node
  • PHP and WordPress
  • Python
  • SQL
  • Astro
  • Cloudflare Workers, D1, KV, R2
  • Playwright
  • Stripe
  • Claude API
Process

Thirteen stages, with your sign-off at every gate.

Design comes before build. You see three directions, choose one, and refine it before a line of production code is written.

  1. Understand

    01Discovery

    Intake call, fact gathering, one named approver.

  2. 02Research

    Goals, competitors and SEO investigation.

  3. Strategy

    03StrategyYour approval

    Content strategy, keyword plan, site architecture.

  4. 04ProposalYour approval

    Written scope, timeline and price.

  5. Design

    05Styleframes

    Three distinct directions for the same content.

  6. 06Direction approvalYour approval

    You choose one, or a mix, and say what to change.

  7. 07RefinementYour approval

    Full-page designs, revised until it is right.

  8. Build

    08Build plan

    Briefs, design system, components.

  9. 09Build

    Staging, regular demos, tests.

  10. 10Content and reviewYour approval

    Reviewed in the real site.

  11. Launch

    11Quality checks

    Accessibility, speed, security, SEO.

  12. 12LaunchYour approval

    Checklist, release, monitoring.

  13. 13Support

    Two weeks, then optional care.

The process in detail

Work

Two products of my own, built and run in production.

For ten years I worked as an employee, so most of my client work is not mine to show. These two are.

proposed rate-limit rule, /loginstatus:
RejectApprove
Public beta

ZoneSteward

Cloudflare operations for teams that manage many sites. Plain-language analytics, and AI-proposed rule changes that a person approves before anything is applied.

Read the case study
Alpha

CookieSteward

Consent management for GDPR and CCPA/CPRA, with Global Privacy Control and Google Consent Mode v2. A banner runtime small enough to stay out of the way of performance.

Read the case study
Questions
Is the work AI-generated?

AI is part of how I build, the way a compiler or a framework is. Every line that ships is read and judged by a person with two decades of experience, and tested.

What if you are unavailable?

You own the code, the repositories and the accounts. Everything is documented and tested, so another engineer can pick it up without me.

Do you only work with WordPress?

No. WordPress is right for many sites. Others need Astro, Next.js, Cloudflare or a custom application. I will tell you which fits, even when it is the simpler option.

Do you work with agencies?

Yes. I take overflow work, plugins and hardening under your brand or mine, with clear communication and handoff.

Tell me what you're building.

Book a 30-minute call