Tools
Know what's in the toolbox
What each tool is, how it's licensed, and when a dev would actually reach for it.
Languages & runtimes
Programming languages and the runtimes that execute application code.
Swift
Open sourceNative application programming language
A compiled language used for Apple-platform applications and other native software. Pair it with SwiftUI or UIKit for iOS interfaces and call platform SDKs directly.
Kotlin
Open sourceTyped application programming language
A language with Java interoperability and coroutine support, used for native Android apps and other application targets. Pair it with Jetpack Compose for Android UI.
TypeScript
Open sourceTyped superset of JavaScript
Adds static types and interfaces to JavaScript, then compiles away to plain JS. The payoff is editor autocomplete, safer refactors, and a whole class of runtime bugs caught before you ship.
Rust
Open sourceMemory-safe systems language
A compiled systems language that guarantees memory safety at compile time without a garbage collector. Fast and predictable, at the cost of a steeper learning curve than most web languages.
Node.js
Open sourceJavaScript runtime
A JavaScript runtime built on V8, with Node APIs for servers, files, networking, and processes. Supported releases can execute erasable TypeScript through type stripping; application builds and type checking remain separate decisions.
Bun
Open sourceAll-in-one JavaScript runtime
A JavaScript runtime with an integrated package manager, bundler, and test runner. It transpiles TypeScript and JSX while executing them, and implements many Node APIs so existing packages can work with it.
Python
Open sourceInterpreted general-purpose language
A readable, batteries-included language that dominates data work and machine learning. On the web it shows up as API backends (FastAPI, Django) and anywhere ML models need serving.
C# / .NET
Open sourceCompiled object-oriented platform
Microsoft's cross-platform runtime and C# language, open source and running on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Strong for large backends, desktop apps, and games through Unity.
Web & mobile frameworks
UI and application frameworks for browser, server-rendered, and mobile apps.
Hydrogen
Open sourceShopify storefront toolkit
Shopify-aware components and utilities for custom React Router storefronts. Provides commerce building blocks so developers can focus on the shopping experience.
React
Open sourceComponent-based UI library
Meta's library for building UIs from components written in JSX. It is a UI layer, not a full framework, so routing, data fetching, and builds come from the tools you pair it with.
Vue.js
Open sourceProgressive frontend framework
A frontend framework built around single-file components (`.vue`) and built-in reactivity. More batteries-included than React out of the box, with an official router and state library.
Svelte
Open sourceCompiled UI framework
A UI framework that compiles declarative HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components into browser code. Use Svelte for components; SvelteKit adds application routing, server rendering, and deployment adapters.
SvelteKit
Open sourceSvelte application framework
Builds applications around Svelte components with routing, server loads, endpoints, and form actions. Choose rendering per route and an adapter for the host you deploy to.
Next.js
Open sourceReact meta-framework
A React application framework with routing, static and request-time rendering, Server Components, and route handlers. App Router separates server work from interactive client components.
Astro
Open sourceContent-first web framework
Renders content pages to static HTML by default, with optional interactive islands and adapter-based request-time rendering. Content collections load local or remote content and validate its schema.
React Native
Open sourceNative mobile UI from React
Meta's framework for building iOS and Android apps with React. Components render to real native views, and most logic is shared across both platforms.
Expo
Open sourceReact Native framework and cloud services
The framework layer on top of React Native: an SDK of device APIs, file-based routing with Expo Router, and EAS cloud services that build, submit, and update apps without local Xcode or Android Studio setup.
Desktop app shells
Package web interfaces as desktop applications and connect them to native capabilities.
Tauri
Open sourceCross-platform desktop framework
Builds desktop (and mobile) apps from a web frontend plus a Rust backend. It uses the operating system's own webview instead of bundling Chromium, so installers are far smaller than Electron's.
Electron
Open sourceDesktop apps from web tech
Bundles Chromium and Node.js so a web app runs as a desktop app with full system access. Rendering is identical on every OS because the browser ships with the app.
API frameworks
Build HTTP services, server APIs, and request handlers.
FastAPI
Open sourcePython web framework for APIs
Builds HTTP APIs from Python type hints: requests are validated automatically, and an OpenAPI schema with interactive docs is generated for free. Supports async handlers.
NestJS
Open sourceStructured Node.js server framework
A TypeScript framework for server-side apps built from modules, controllers, and providers wired by dependency injection. Validation, guards, OpenAPI docs, GraphQL, and rate limiting come as first-party packages.
Fastify
Open sourceFast Node.js web framework
A low-overhead Node.js web framework with JSON Schema validation and serialization built in, and a plugin system for everything else.
Hono
Open sourceWeb-standards web framework
A small web framework built on the standard Request and Response APIs, so the same code runs on Cloudflare Workers, Bun, Deno, Node.js, and serverless platforms. Middleware, a typed RPC client, and Zod-based OpenAPI are available.
Databases & backends
Relational, document, embedded, and vector stores, plus the backends and ORMs around them.
Supabase
Open sourcePostgres backend-as-a-service
A Postgres backend platform with Auth, Storage, Realtime, Edge Functions, and generated data APIs. Use its managed service or self-host the open-source components; browser data access needs deliberate grants and Row Level Security policies.
PostgreSQL
Open sourceRelational SQL database
A mature, standards-compliant relational database with strong JSON support and a large extension ecosystem, including PostGIS for geospatial data and pgvector for embeddings.
Redis
Open sourceIn-memory key-value store
An in-memory data structure store used as a cache, session store, rate limiter, queue, and pub/sub broker. Responses are typically sub-millisecond because data lives in RAM.
Prisma
Open sourceTypeScript ORM
Define your schema in one file and Prisma generates a fully typed client plus migrations. A renamed column becomes a compile error instead of a runtime failure.
Drizzle
Open sourceTypeScript SQL query builder
A lightweight ORM whose query API mirrors SQL, with schemas written in TypeScript. Small runtime footprint and a good fit for serverless and edge environments.
Qdrant
Open sourceVector search engine
An open-source vector database written in Rust, with payload filtering alongside similarity search. Self-host it or use the managed cloud.
DuckDB
Open sourceEmbedded analytical database
A columnar SQL engine that runs in-process, like SQLite but built for analytics. Queries CSV and Parquet files directly and handles large local datasets quickly.
Better Auth
Open sourceTypeScript auth library
A TypeScript authentication library with email/password, social sign-in, sessions, database adapters, and plugins for organizations, two-factor auth, and passkeys. In database-backed deployments, its auth tables live in the database you configure.
Supabase Auth
Open sourceAuthentication server and Supabase service
Authentication with client SDKs, password and social sign-in, magic links, and JWT sessions. User records live in a Postgres auth schema; tokens integrate with Supabase's Data API and Row Level Security policies.
SQLAlchemy
Open sourcePython SQL toolkit and ORM
Python's standard database toolkit: a Core layer for composing SQL and an ORM for mapping classes to tables. Works with Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, and more, with sync and async APIs.
Alembic
Open sourceDatabase migrations for SQLAlchemy
Versioned schema migrations for SQLAlchemy projects. It can autogenerate a migration by diffing your models against the database, which you then review and commit.
Pydantic
Open sourcePython data validation
Validates and parses data using Python type hints. FastAPI uses it for request and response models; version 2's core is written in Rust for speed.
Yjs
Open sourceCRDT library for shared data
Represents shared documents as CRDTs, so edits from any number of clients merge automatically without conflicts or a central lock. Providers sync it over WebSockets, WebRTC, or IndexedDB for offline use.
Hocuspocus
Open sourceCollaboration server for Yjs
A WebSocket server for Yjs documents from the Tiptap team. Extensions handle authentication, persistence to your database, Redis fan-out across instances, and webhooks.
Dashboards & UI kits
Pre-assembled admin panels and templates for internal tools and client portals.
Tabler
Open sourceAdmin dashboard template
A polished, MIT-licensed dashboard template built on Bootstrap 5, with hundreds of responsive components, an icon set, and dark mode.
AdminLTE
Open sourceAdmin dashboard template
One of the longest-running open-source admin templates. Version 4 moves to Bootstrap 5 and drops the jQuery requirement.
CSS & component libraries
Utility-first CSS, headless primitives, and full component design systems.
Jetpack Compose
Open sourceDeclarative Android UI toolkit
Android's Kotlin UI toolkit: composable functions describe screens from state and can interoperate with existing Views. Keep data operations outside rendering and test lifecycle behavior.
shadcn/ui
Open sourceCopy-into-your-repo components
Not a package you install but a set of React components you copy into your project with a CLI, built on accessible primitives and Tailwind. You own and edit the code directly.
Tailwind CSS
Open sourceUtility-first CSS framework
Style directly in markup with small single-purpose classes like `flex`, `px-4`, and `rounded-lg`. Unused classes are stripped at build time, so the shipped CSS stays small.
DaisyUI
Open sourceTailwind component plugin
A Tailwind plugin that adds semantic component classes like `btn`, `card`, and `navbar`, plus themes. Cuts class clutter while keeping Tailwind underneath.
Mantine
Open sourceReact component library
A batteries-included React library with 100+ components, a hooks package, form management, modals, notifications, and dark mode built in.
Ant Design
Open sourceEnterprise React design system
A design system from Ant Group aimed at data-heavy business software, with especially capable tables, trees, filters, and forms.
Radix UI
Open sourceHeadless accessible primitives
Unstyled React primitives (dialogs, dropdowns, popovers, tabs) that handle focus management, keyboard navigation, and ARIA for you. You bring all the styling.
Headless UI
Open sourceHeadless accessible components
Tailwind Labs' set of unstyled, accessible components for React and Vue, designed to pair with Tailwind classes.
Vuetify
Open sourceVue component framework
A complete Material Design component framework for Vue, with a broad set of layout and form components.
Tiptap
Open sourceHeadless rich-text editor
A headless rich-text editor framework built on ProseMirror, for React, Vue, and plain JavaScript. Its collaboration extension binds the editor to a shared Yjs document.
Dev tooling & AI
Build tools, package management, containers, API styles, and AI coding assistants.
Vite
Open sourceFrontend build tool and dev server
Serves source files as native ES modules during development, so the dev server starts almost instantly and hot module replacement stays fast as the project grows. Bundles for production.
Codex
Open sourceAI coding agent
OpenAI's coding agent, available as an open-source CLI and as a cloud agent that works on tasks in parallel sandboxes.
Docker
Open sourceContainer platform
Packages an app with its dependencies and configuration into a container image that runs the same on a laptop, CI, and production.
pnpm
Open sourceJavaScript package manager
A package manager that stores each package version once on disk and links it into projects, making installs fast and space-efficient. Its strict node_modules layout blocks imports of undeclared dependencies.
Turborepo
Open sourceMonorepo build system
Runs tasks across a JavaScript monorepo in dependency order and caches the results by content hash, so unchanged packages are skipped locally and in CI. Remote caching shares results across machines.
Changesets
Open sourceVersioning and changelogs
Contributors add small changeset files describing what changed and how big the change is; Changesets turns them into version bumps and changelog entries across every package in a monorepo.
electron-builder
Open sourceElectron packaging and updates
Packages an Electron app into installers for Windows, macOS, and Linux, handles code signing and macOS notarization, and pairs with electron-updater for auto-updates.
Testing & accessibility
Unit, component, browser, and automated accessibility checks.
Vitest
Open sourceVite-powered test framework
A test runner for JavaScript and TypeScript with assertions, mocking, and coverage integration.
Playwright
Open sourceBrowser automation and end-to-end testing
A browser testing toolkit for Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit, with locators, retrying assertions, and trace diagnostics.
Testing Library
Open sourceUser-centered UI testing utilities
DOM testing utilities focused on accessible roles, labels, and behavior visible to users.
axe-core
Open sourceAutomated accessibility rules engine
An accessibility engine for automated checks of rendered web interfaces.
Hosting & content platforms
Where sites get deployed and published: frontend clouds, edge platforms, and the CMS behind content-heavy sites.
WordPress
Open sourceOpen-source CMS
The PHP content management system behind a large share of the web: drafts, roles, revisions, a media library, and the block editor, extended by thousands of plugins and themes.
WooCommerce
Open sourceE-commerce plugin for WordPress
Turns a WordPress site into a store: products, carts, checkout, payments, and orders, managed from the same admin as the content.
Game development
From browser-first renderers and 2D frameworks to full engines, plus physics, level editors, and free assets.
Three.js
Open source3D rendering library
The most widely used JavaScript 3D library: scenes, cameras, lights, materials, and loaders over WebGL, with a WebGPU renderer alongside. It renders; physics, input, and game structure are up to you.
React Three Fiber
Open sourceReact renderer for Three.js
Write Three.js scenes as declarative React components. Pairs with the drei helper library for cameras, controls, loaders, and effects.
Babylon.js
Open source3D web engine
A full 3D engine started at Microsoft, with physics, a scene inspector, PBR lighting, WebXR, and WebGPU support built in.
PlayCanvas
Open source3D game engine and editor
A WebGL/WebGPU game engine with a collaborative, browser-based visual editor. Games are built for the web first, with small builds that load fast on mobile.
Phaser
Open source2D game framework
A full 2D framework for browser games: scenes, sprites, tilemaps, input, audio, cameras, and built-in physics. The default choice for 2D HTML5 games.
PixiJS
Open source2D rendering engine
A fast 2D renderer for WebGL and WebGPU. It draws sprites, text, and graphics very quickly but isn't a game framework — no built-in physics or scene flow.
Kaplay
Open sourceBeginner-friendly 2D library
A small, fun-first JavaScript game library with a component-based API that gets a playable game on screen in a few lines. The community-maintained continuation of Kaboom.js.
Godot
Open sourceFull game engine
A complete, MIT-licensed 2D and 3D engine with its own editor and scripting language (GDScript), plus C#. Exports to desktop, mobile, and the web.
Luau
Open sourceGradually typed scripting language derived from Lua
A language derived from Lua 5.1 with optional type checking, used for gameplay scripting in Roblox. Its language implementation is open source independently of the Roblox platform.
Ren'Py
Open sourceVisual novel engine
A story-focused engine with dialogue scripting, branching, screen language, saves, and Python for custom logic.
LÖVE
Open sourceLua framework for 2D games
A Lua framework supplying graphics, audio, input, and physics while leaving game structure and tools to the developer.
Rapier
Open sourcePhysics engine
A 2D and 3D physics engine written in Rust and shipped to JavaScript as WebAssembly. Deterministic simulation, rigid bodies, joints, and character controllers.
Tiled
Open sourceTilemap level editor
A free desktop editor for tile-based levels. Exports JSON and TMX maps that Phaser, Godot, and most 2D engines can load directly.
MonoGame
Open sourceC# game framework
A code-first .NET game framework with graphics, input, audio, and a content pipeline. The team supplies game structure and authoring tools.
raylib
Open sourceC game programming library
A compact C library providing windowing, drawing, input, audio, and 2D/3D APIs. You own the game loop and application structure.
libGDX
Open sourceJava game framework
A Java game framework with platform backends, rendering, input, audio, and asset handling. Shared game code still needs target-specific testing.
AI agent skills
Installable skill folders that teach a coding agent one specific job — design direction, polish, accessibility, design systems.
Impeccable
Open sourceDesign direction and critique skill
A design skill that pushes coding agents away from generic, templated UI. It ships named commands — shape, critique, audit, polish, animate, adapt, extract, live — and guidance on typography, spacing, OKLCH color, motion, and UX copy.
make-interfaces-feel-better
Open sourceDesign-engineering polish skill
Jakub Krehel's skill for the small details that make an interface feel finished: press feedback on buttons, balanced text wrapping, concentric border radii, shadows, hit areas, icon alignment, and restrained enter/exit animation.
Web Design Guidelines
Open sourceUI review skill
Vercel's skill that reviews UI code against its Web Interface Guidelines — 100+ rules across accessibility, performance, and UX — fetching the latest rules before each run and reporting findings as file:line.
Accessibility Review
Open sourceAccessibility audit skill
Part of Anthropic's open-source design plugin: runs a WCAG 2.1 AA audit on a design or page, covering color contrast, keyboard navigation, touch target size, and screen reader behavior.