# Ricardo Calcina

> Building things, writing about them, occasionally shipping. Every essay is written by Ricardo Calcina. Each one is also available as Markdown by adding .md to its URL; https://ricardocalcina.com/llms-full.txt has them all in one file.

## Essays
- [Hello — I’m Ricardo](https://ricardocalcina.com/blog/hello.md): A home for my projects, videos, and whatever I want to explore next.
- [What I'm Working On](https://ricardocalcina.com/blog/what-im-building.md): A place to follow my projects as they develop.
- [Notes from an AI-Assisted Solo Builder](https://ricardocalcina.com/blog/ai-assisted-solo-builder.md): A short series on building software alone, with AI as a co-pilot—what works, what doesn't, and what I'm still figuring out.
- [My AI Development Workflow](https://ricardocalcina.com/blog/ai-assisted-solo-builder/workflow.md): The concrete tools, habits, and mental models I use every day to ship faster as a solo builder.
- [The Trap of AI-Assisted Mediocrity](https://ricardocalcina.com/blog/ai-assisted-solo-builder/taste.md): How to avoid the biggest risk of building with AI: not bugs, but boring software that works but has no point of view.
- [My AI-Augmented Development Stack](https://ricardocalcina.com/blog/ai-assisted-solo-builder/stack.md): The actual tools I use daily to ship solo. What each does, why I chose it, and how they fit together.

## Series
- [Notes from an AI-Assisted Solo Builder](https://ricardocalcina.com/series/ai-assisted-solo-builder): Building software alone, with AI as a co-pilot. What works, what doesn't, and what I'm still figuring out.

## Projects
- [Tender Intel](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/care-tender-intel): Multi-tenant white-label SaaS for public sector tender tracking, bid management, and compliance. Any vertical, one platform.
- [Marathon Trainer](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/marathon-trainer): Personal training tracker built for a June 2025 half-marathon in Japan. Structured data, voice logging, and a dashboard that actually fits how I train.
- [Bid Stats](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/bid-stats): Data-layer API for collecting, normalising, and searching UK government tenders from Contracts Finder and Find a Tender Service.
- [Dev Foundry](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/dev-foundry): Astro-based AI-first boilerplate to launch SaaS in hours, not days. Live at https://devfoundry.io
- [Booking System](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/booking-system): UK-focused multi-tenant SaaS booking platform with pluggable service profiles for detailing, tattoo, aesthetics, and beyond.
- [MCP Server GSC Pro](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/mcp-server-gsc-pro): 36-tool MCP server wrapping the full Google Search Console API with computed intelligence layers for AI-driven SEO workflows.
- [tmux-whspr](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/tmux-whspr): Local-first voice dictation for the terminal — record, transcribe, and paste without leaving tmux.
- [Vertex Platform Solutions](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/vertex-platform-solutions): Solo web dev agency shipping Astro sites with AI-assisted workflows. Half the internet shouldn't be WordPress. Live at https://vertexplatformsolutions.com
- [Ricardo Makes Videos](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/ricardo-makes-videos): The equipment, ideas, and approaches I’m exploring as I learn to make content.
- [Ricardo Moves](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/ricardo-moves): Documenting my journey from a sedentary lifestyle back into athleticism.
- [Websites by Ricardo](https://ricardocalcina.com/projects/websites-by-ricardo): Websites made by me, working directly with you. The personal brand evolution of Vertex Platform Solutions. Live at https://websitesbyricardo.com

## Optional
- [About](https://ricardocalcina.com/about)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ricardo_calcina)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/ricardo-calcina)
- [X](https://twitter.com/ricardo_nth)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-ncube)