// build logs

Blog ✍️

Honest notes from the builder journey. AI architecture, experiments, wins, and fails.

The Real Tech Stack Behind Our Airbnb: Price Labs, Cameras, and Why We Use Dumb Locks

When we launched Breezy Keys, our short-term rental business in Florida, everyone told us we needed the fanciest smart home tech. Smart locks, smart thermostats, automated everything. We tried some of it. Some stuck. Some we ditched. Here is what we actually use day to day, and why our setup is probably simpler than you would expect. Price Labs: The Biggest ROI in Our Stack If I had to pick one tool that has made us the most money, it is Price Labs. Dynamic pricing is not optional if you are

Mar 17, 2026·3 min read

brand-julissa-cotillo

Why I Automated My Entire Content Pipeline with AI (and What I Would Do Differently)

I run multiple brands. Each one needs blog posts, social content, SEO optimization, and consistent publishing. Doing all of that manually was eating 15-20 hours a week. So I did what any engineer would do: I built a system. The system is called travel-micros-fleet. It is a multi-agent AI platform with 11 specialized agents, over 60 tools, and 15 automated workflows. Here is the real story of how it works. The Problem: Content at Scale as a Solo Operator When you are running multiple brands b

Mar 17, 2026·5 min read

entrepreneurship

Figuring It Out: How We're Applying an Experimental Mindset to Building a Business as a Duo

We're a 2-person team building something new. We don't have customers. We don't have answers. What we do have is an experimental mindset. This isn't advice—it's field notes from the messy middle.

Feb 2, 2026·10 min read

Coaching Confidence with AI: A Personal Journey into Speech and Self Improvement

A personal exploration of using AI to improve communication confidence, combining traditional coaching techniques with modern technology for private, personalized speech improvement.

Sep 4, 2025·4 min read

n8n

Why I'm Moving My AI Logic Out of n8n (But Keeping It in the Loop)

How I transformed a clunky two-workflow plus Discord bot setup into something cleaner and easier to manage with Google's ADK, while still letting n8n shine where it's best - predictable orchestration.

Aug 19, 2025·4 min read

ios

Overcoming iOS Browser Limitations for Voice-Enabled AI Apps

A comprehensive guide to navigating iOS browser constraints when building voice-enabled AI applications. Learn about debugging strategies, audio playback workarounds, and technical solutions for Safari and WebKit limitations.

Jun 29, 2025·6 min read

rag

Breaking Down a RAG System: A Practical Intro Inspired by Learning LangChain

A comprehensive guide to understanding and building Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems using LangChain. Learn about core components, scaling challenges, and optimization techniques through a practical Airbnb chatbot use case.

Jun 10, 2025·5 min read

backend

Background Work, Frontline Gains: Unlocking Async with A2A

Exploring the power of Google's Agent to Agent (A2A) protocol for building scalable, asynchronous AI systems. Learn how async patterns are foundational for intelligent agent-based applications and why A2A could become the standard for modern AI workflows.

May 1, 2025·4 min read

Data-Sovereign AI Therapy: Building Couple's Support with Google's Agent Development Kit

Exploring the promise and challenges of AI-powered therapeutic tools, emphasizing the importance of data sovereignty in sensitive applications like couples therapy. Learn how Google's Agent Development Kit (ADK) can be utilized to build self-hosted agents that keep user data under control.

Apr 24, 2025·5 min read

terraform

From Vibe Code to Live: The Terraform Wrapper That Teaches Your Agent to Deploy

Stop watching AI agents burn tokens re-learning Terraform every session. Build a skill and module pattern that teaches your agent once, then deploys anything to GCP Cloud Run.

Jan 17, 2025·8 min read

project

Airbnb Replier: Automated Guest Communication with Human-in-the-Loop Approval

An automated guest communication system that monitors Airbnb messages with n8n, crafts intelligent responses using Google ADK, and implements human-in-the-loop approval through Slack integration.

Jan 14, 2025·6 min read

project

BnB Tuner: AI-Powered Listing Optimization for Airbnb Hosts

An AI-powered tool that analyzes Airbnb listings and suggests improvements for better copy, plus exploring AI-driven professional photo editing to maximize booking potential.

Jan 14, 2025·5 min read

backend

Building a Scalable Chatbot Backend with Vertex AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

Learn how to build a powerful, scalable chatbot backend using Google Cloud's Vertex AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) techniques. This blog covers the integration of Gemini models, the setup of a RAG corpus, and deploying via Google Cloud Functions, with key insights on overcoming data access challenges.

Aug 14, 2024·6 min read

frontend

Deploying a Next.js App on AWS EC2: A Beginner's Guide

Learn how to deploy a Next.js application on AWS EC2 with Amazon Linux, Nginx, and PM2. This step-by-step guide is perfect for beginners and covers everything from launching an EC2 instance to configuring Nginx and ensuring continuous application uptime with PM2.

Aug 14, 2024·4 min read