Seven levels, one line

Showing the Backend route. Each station lists tools to learn first (bold) and tools worth knowing.

1. 1

   Package Wrangler

   Install, pin and update dependencies without breaking your teammates.

   Pick one package manager per language and commit the lockfile.

   Learn firstpnpmuvmise

   Also worth knowingnpmBunPoetryHomebrewCargoGo modules

   You learn: Lockfiles · Semantic versioning · Workspaces · Version managers · Audit and update

2. 2

   Build Master

   Turn source into fast, cached, repeatable builds and tasks.

   Make every build and test runnable with one short command.

   Learn firstViteMakeJust

   Also worth knowingesbuildTurborepoNxGradleBazel

   You learn: Bundlers · Incremental builds · Task runners · Build caching · Monorepo graphs

   Flisk: Flisk generates per-service Vite and TSConfig config from the manifests. It does not run your build graph.

3. 3

   Container Crafter

   Package any service as an image and run a few of them together.

   One Dockerfile per service, one Compose file for all of them.

   Learn firstDocker DesktopDocker ComposeTestcontainers

   Also worth knowingPodmanOrbStackCloud Native BuildpacksDive

   You learn: Dockerfiles · Image layers · Compose files · Volumes and networks · Registries

   Flisk: Flisk generates the Compose config and layered base images from each service's manifest.

4. 4

   Inner-Loop Runner

   Edit code and see it live across many services in seconds.

   Aim for a save-to-running loop under five seconds.

   Learn firstCompose WatchTiltFlisk CLI

   Also worth knowingprocess-composeOvermindAirnodemonLocalStack

   You learn: Live update · File sync · Process supervision · Service discovery · Local debugging

   Flisk: This is Flisk's core: `flisk up` discovers services and runs them with live reload on Tilt.

5. 5

   Cluster Tamer

   Develop against Kubernetes, locally or bridged to a shared cluster.

   Only reach for Kubernetes locally when production runs on it.

   Learn firstkindHelmSkaffold

   Also worth knowingk3dminikubeTelepresencemirrordk9s

   You learn: Manifests and Helm · Local clusters · Port-forward and bridges · Kubernetes dev loops · Cluster UIs

6. 6

   Agent Wrangler

   Run multi-agent systems with tools, memory and models on your own machine.

   Treat the agent like another service with health checks and logs.

   Learn firstVercel AI SDKModel Context ProtocolOllama

   Also worth knowingLangGraphMastraLangfuseClaude Code

   You learn: Agent frameworks · MCP servers · Checkpoints and sessions · Local models · LLM tracing

   Flisk: Flisk has an agent resource type with health, readiness and stored sessions, an MCP server and an agent-stack starter.

7. 7

   Platform Architect

   Give every team golden paths, a portal and infrastructure as code.

   Write down the path you took so the next team gets it for free.

   Learn firstTerraformGitHub ActionsOpenTelemetry

   Also worth knowingOpenTofuPulumiArgo CDBackstage

   You learn: Developer portals · Golden paths · Infrastructure as code · GitOps · Secrets and policy