I absolutely love making bespoke tools for myself. The best ideas I have are the ones solving my own problems. Plus, as a designer, I love using code to fire up my creative juices.

Just 2 days ago, as I prepare for a backpacking trip, I need to check my fuel levels on my existing stock of isobutane gas canisters (used for outdoor cooking). But I couldn’t find anything that made it easy to calculate other than a clunky PDF. So I made a small app to do that (check it out here: https://ashrafali.net/labs/isobutanecalc). And just like that, I was able to get all my gas canisters tagged with the right fuel levels!

And sometimes, I just need to solve the tiniest of problems. For instance, I have a script that auto-creates a set of folders every time I start a project. Or another workflow that helps me auto-ssh into a server for a client. Or an app that lets me auto-generate calendars for my community work to send out on WhatsApp.

I wrote another app to solve nitty gritty problems like Apple Music to Last.FM conversion. I used Claude to help me write a script to parse csv data. I’ve got another app to help me auto tag photos using Google Gemini. I’ve got more apps on my GitHub too.

It’s not even all code-only solutions. I extensively use no-code. Everything from Airtable workflows that send SMSs and trigger Livestreams to Make.com workflows that grab donor data and parses it on the fly for clients.

I’m not trying to scale. I don’t need a million users. Not looking to monetize right now either. Sometimes, I just need to make a personal tool that works. It lights a fire inside me, the tinkerer, that wants to come alive and activate every idea.

And as a result, AI super charges me and keeps me going. Every bash script and python app becomes that much quicker to iterate and build out. Documentation gets easier. Planning gets easier.

Most importantly, now I ship. I freeze my perfection in place. I want my ideas out there.

Go and make tools for yourself. Cook in the kitchen. Make something personal. It doesn’t have to be perfect (that’s the mantra I’m repeating to myself). And no need to debate design vs. code. Execute your ideas, however you can. That’s what counts.