Your work determines the technology
We choose technology around what the system must do, how many people will use it and who will maintain it. We explain what each choice means for day-to-day use, future changes and running costs.
01 / VIMSTEAD FORMA · PROTOTYPE 0.1.0
Forma extends the CRM around its existing production records
The Forma 0.1.0 prototype uses Python, Flask, Jinja and SQLite. Production plans, operations and actual time are linked to the CRM’s orders, items and documents. A planning model suggests operation durations for a planner to check and approve before work begins.
Python + Flask
Flask serves the existing CRM and its production-planning module, while Jinja renders the working interface. The prototype supports plan review, operation starts and completions, actual-time recording and a printable plan.
SQLite
SQLite keeps order plans, operation links, progress and actual time alongside CRM records. The team can return to an order’s history and compare what was planned with what was done.
Deployment planning covers your work calendar, work-centre capacity and expected user load.AI suited to the task
A locally trained regression model estimates operation durations. Initial training uses sample data; a business can import its measurements for retraining and evaluation. A planned phone interface would let employees report completed work by voice and confirm the prepared record.
Duration predictions run locally. Speech-recognition and text-processing providers would be chosen separately around the business’s data, cost and hosting requirements.02 / INSIDE VIMSTEAD KIT
Vimstead Kit combines the technologies behind a paid AI service
Kit connects established tools for accounts, payment confirmation, background jobs and private results in a source package you can adapt to your own paid AI service.
Next.js + React
Next.js and React provide the customer portal and owner dashboard. The application is written in TypeScript and styled with Tailwind CSS.
The supplied code is where you change the screens and product rules.Data and accounts
PostgreSQL stores records and queued work. Drizzle handles database access and migrations; Better Auth manages customer accounts.
Customer requests and the owner’s view use the same records.Payments, AI and email
Stripe handles one-time payments. OpenAI and Anthropic adapters run text requests, and Resend connects the application to transactional email.
You configure the provider accounts; hosting and usage are separate costs.03 / WEBSITES, DELIVERY AND CARE
We plan for the people who will use and maintain the system
We consider everyday use and maintenance together, choosing an editor your team can work in for a website and planning reliable data access and suitable hosting for an application. We also agree how updates and backups will be handled once the system is running.
WordPress + PHP
WordPress gives a team an editor for publishing pages and updating content. PHP runs the platform and its extensions.
We choose the theme, plugins and hosting to support the way your team updates the website.Next.js applications
We use Next.js for customer portals, order forms and service-management workspaces. The interface connects to a database and your rules so a submitted request can become work your team manages.
The runtime, database and background jobs determine what the hosting must support.Cloudflare traffic controls
Cloudflare can handle DNS, CDN caching and TLS, with WAF rules and rate limiting to control incoming traffic. We configure the parts the site needs.
Available features depend on the Cloudflare plan selected for the site.Hosting with an external provider
We help choose and configure the hosting, connect domains and arrange the updates, backups and maintenance you want covered. The hosting provider’s charges and our ongoing work are listed separately.
Account access and a maintenance plan
You should know where the system runs, who controls each account and how much the services cost. We document those responsibilities and agree who handles updates, backups and support.
Cloudflare documentation
LET’S MAKE THE TECHNICAL CHOICES
Choose the tools for your next step
Bring the idea and the tools you already have. We will explain what we would use, what we would keep and which choices affect the development and running costs.
For AI features, we also agree which data reaches a provider, who reviews the output and how usage is paid for. These are decisions to make before the feature goes live.
PHP logo by Colin Viebrock; monochrome adaptation via Simple Icons. CC BY-SA 4.0.