Programming Side Project Journal Printable PDF Developer Tracker Build Log Tech Stack Deploy Log Indie Hacker Gift Coding Portfolio Ship It

build ledger for developers on the side. 29 pages. Side project fundamentals + 2025 stacks + hosting + auth + payments + launch platforms. 8-slot projects tracker + 40 build sessions + deploy log + tech evaluations + launch log + learning log + milestones + yearly reflection. Because shipped is the only feature that matters.

A printable PDF for developers building on the side. 29 pages. Instant download.

For full-stack engineers scratching itches at night + weekends. Bootcamp grads shipping portfolio projects. Junior devs building GitHub cred. Indie hackers chasing Ramen profitability. Bootstrappers following DHH + 37signals. "Learning in public" evangelists (Swyx + Kent C. Dodds + Josh Comeau followers). Pieter Levels + Nomad List / RemoteOK / WIP.co devotees. Vercel + Cloudflare + Fly.io + Railway + Supabase power users. Next.js / SvelteKit / Astro / Nuxt / SolidStart / Remix builders. TypeScript-everywhere maximalists. Rust curious. Python + FastAPI / Django folks. Rails purists. Go microservices architects. r/SideProject + Indie Hackers + Hacker News + Product Hunt lurkers. If your GitHub has a graveyard of 90% done repos — you belong here.

What's inside — 29 pages:

· Cover Page — with space for your handle
· How To Use — death spiral · MVP · learning in public
· Side Project Fundamentals — stacks · hosting · auth · launch · metrics
· Projects Tracker (8) — name · stack · status · URLs · traction
· 40 Build Session Logs — 20 pages · 2 per page · built + learned
· Deploy Log (12) — deploys · incidents · migrations
· Tech Evaluations (10) — options · chose · why
· Launch Log (10) — PH · HN · Reddit · IH · X
· Learning Log (10) — courses · books · tutorials
· Milestones (14) — first ship to first $1K MRR
· Yearly Reflection — ships · shelved · MRR · users
· Closing Page — ship it

8-slot projects tracker. PROJECT NAME + STATUS (idea / building / shipped / shelved) + Stack + Repo URL + Deploy URL + Users / MRR / stars.

40 build session logs — 2 per page, 20 pages. BUILD # + DATE + DURATION + PROJECT. WHAT I BUILT (features / commits / PRs). WHAT I LEARNED · WHAT BROKE · NEXT SESSION FOCUS.

Deploy log — 12 slots. DATE + PROJECT + TYPE (deploy / incident / migration) + VERSION / COMMIT + OUTCOME / NOTES.

Tech evaluations — 10 slots. PROBLEM / CATEGORY + OPTIONS EVALUATED + CHOSE + WHY. Never re-evaluate the same 6 auth libraries on the next project.

Launch log — 10 slots. DATE + PLATFORM (PH / HN / Reddit / IH / X) + PROJECT + TRAFFIC / SIGNUPS / OUTCOME.

Learning log — 10 slots. RESOURCE (title / author / platform) + TOPIC + APPLIED WHERE?

14 milestones. First deploy to production. First real user. First GitHub star from a stranger. First open source contribution merged. First paying customer. First $100 MRR. First $1K MRR. First 100 users. First 1,000 users. First Product Hunt top-10. First HN front page. First viral tweet. First side project that lasted 1 year. First side project that outlived interest (still running).

Fundamentals reference covers:
· Ship-fast stacks — Next.js + Postgres + Vercel; SvelteKit + SQLite + Fly.io; Rails 8 (Solid Cache / Queue / Cable); Laravel; Django + HTMX; FastAPI; Go
· Hosting — Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages / Workers, Fly.io, Railway, Render, Digital Ocean, Supabase, Firebase, PlanetScale, Neon, Turso
· Auth + payments — Clerk, Supabase Auth, Auth.js / NextAuth, Auth0, Lucia, Kinde, WorkOS, Better-Auth; Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, Paddle, Polar.sh
· Databases + ORM — Postgres, MySQL, SQLite; Prisma, Drizzle, Kysely, SQLModel; MongoDB, Firestore, DynamoDB; Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant, pgvector
· Launch platforms — Product Hunt, Hacker News, r/SideProject, r/webdev, r/indiehackers, Indie Hackers launches, Twitter/X build-in-public, LinkedIn, BetaList, Peerlist, WIP.co, Dev.to, Hackernoon
· Metrics that matter — MRR, ARR, churn, LTV, CAC, activation rate; Ramen profitability threshold
· Building in public — Pieter Levels, DHH, Marc Lou, Tony Dinh, Danny Postma; Swyx, Kent C. Dodds, Theo (@t3dotgg), ThePrimeagen; Syntax.fm, Shop Talk, Mostly Technical
· Death-spiral patterns — rewrite urge, framework-hop, auth rabbit hole, perfect landing page paralysis, "when I have time"

On SHIPPING. Most side projects die at 90% done. The killers are always the same: scope creep, tech rabbit holes, motivation collapse. This journal helps you spot the spiral.

On MVP SCOPING. Your MVP is smaller than you think. Draw a box around ONE core loop.

On TECH STACK. Pick a stack you know or want to learn ONE new thing in — not five. Boring tech ships.

On BUILDING IN PUBLIC. Learning in public compounds. Even 200 followers can turn into 20 early users.

Design: Warm, code-notebook aesthetic — cream, sage, and terracotta palette. Lora + Poppins fonts. Feels like a proper dev's build log, kept next to the laptop.

Format: Printable PDF · 29 pages · US Letter (8.5×11 inches) · Print at home + slip in a binder next to your desk, or take to a print shop for a bound copy · Works digitally on iPad + stylus (GoodNotes, Notability, Noteshelf) · Reprint session logs as the year continues.

Works for: full-stack developers, indie hackers, bootcamp grads, junior developers building portfolios, weekend hackers, r/SideProject + r/webdev + r/programming + r/indiehackers regulars, Product Hunt makers, Hacker News lurkers + Show HN posters, Indie Hackers community members, WIP.co members, Pieter Levels + DHH + Marc Lou followers, Vercel + Cloudflare + Fly.io + Railway + Supabase + Clerk + Stripe users, Next.js / SvelteKit / Astro / Nuxt / Remix / Rails / Laravel / Django / FastAPI developers, TypeScript maximalists, Rust curious, iPad journallers using GoodNotes / Notability, learning-in-public evangelists on Twitter/X and Bluesky.

Great gift for: Christmas, birthdays, GitHub octoverse anniversaries, first-ship celebrations, gifts paired with a Vercel Pro / Cloudflare / Clerk / GitHub Copilot / Cursor subscription, a Kent C. Dodds Epic React course, a JavaScript Weekly newsletter membership, a Syntax.fm t-shirt, an Indie Hackers membership, gifts for the CS student starting their portfolio, the bootcamp grad shipping their first side project, the mid-career engineer scratching the indie hacker itch, the partner of the developer with 40 abandoned repos on GitHub who just wants to see them ship one.

Delivery: Instant PDF download after purchase. Print as many times as needed for personal use — reprint the build session log pages as the shipping continues.

Terms of use: For personal use only. Please don't resell, redistribute, or share as a file. Vercel + Cloudflare + Fly.io + Railway + Supabase + Clerk + Stripe + Product Hunt + Hacker News + Indie Hackers are their respective companies; this journal is an unaffiliated third-party companion product.