A collection of articles and snippets, presented in chronological order.
Step-by-step guide to deploy Sentry Self-Hosted on an AWS EC2 Ubuntu 24.04 server provisioned via Forge. Configure Docker, swap, SSL with Nginx, MaxMind GeoIP, Slack & GitHub integrations, Mailgun SMTP, Laravel backend + browser tracing, and connect GitHub Copilot via Sentry’s MCP server. Includes troubleshooting.
Malicious bots were burning through my Laravel Nightwatch quota by hitting fake routes like /wp-login.php and /.env. Inspired by Michael Dyrynda’s approach using Cloudflare WAF, I built a portable NGINX blocklist that stops these 404s before they reach Laravel — no proxy required.
Speed up Laravel onboarding with a powerful Makefile. Automate Herd Pro setup, install dependencies, and seed databases for a consistent, one-command setup experience.
Rebuilding my personal site from scratch using Laravel 12, Sushi, Folio, and Spatie packages — no CMS, no clutter, just a clean, fast dev blog.
Why I chose Markdown and Sushi to power my Laravel blog — a simple, fast, and elegant alternative to heavier CMS setups.
