Building Pagoti with AI

Pagoti is a markdown-based content and commerce platform built with Laravel, positioned as "Content + Commerce without the bloat." It targets users who want elegant solutions for menus, catalogues, and content-driven selling without the complexity of traditional ecommerce platforms — built solo, alongside agency work.

AI has dramatically reduced the cost of writing code, but it hasn't removed the need for judgment. Typing less doesn't mean quality matters less — it just shifts where quality lives.

Web frameworks and stacks have largely matured, so the real work now is in decisions, trade-offs, and system behaviour over time. Vibe-coding works for low-risk prototypes, but anything long-lived or user-facing still demands care.

The approach isn't running ten agents in parallel or shipping features at breakneck speed. The focus is one feature at a time, with quality code still at the heart of the project. In the end, software is still made for humans, and trust is the real output.

How it works in practice

The primary tool is ClaudeCode — integrated directly into the terminal, able to read code, modify files, and run commands within the actual project. For strategic thinking or architectural exploration, the web interface fills that role. Every piece of code is reviewed before it's committed. AI accelerates implementation, but the gatekeeper for what ships remains human.

What AI is used for

AI functions as a technical collaborator for architecture choices — like designing Stripe integration (database vs. live API), basket functionality structure, and payment flow patterns. Before committing to infrastructure decisions, options are evaluated thoroughly — hosting providers, databases, payment architectures — with a focus on real tradeoffs, not marketing material.

AI helps make sense of APIs, frameworks, and Laravel patterns — from Stripe integration to queue configurations to QR code generation. When issues arise (Safari bugs, deployment problems, spam protection), root causes get worked through in real-time, weighing perspectives on tradeoffs before making informed decisions.

The partnership

AI isn't a replacement for technical judgment — strong Laravel and ecommerce expertise is central to Pagoti. AI functions as an always-available development partner that helps think through problems, validate approaches, and maintain momentum on a solo project.

AI helps build faster and better, but the vision, decisions, and execution of Pagoti remain firmly with its creator.