~/about
I build tools for the people who build things.
Developer experience, software engineering, open source — and the useful rabbit holes in between.
Christian Nachtigall — I work on software where a clearer interface, a dependable workflow, or one well-placed bit of automation makes the next person’s day less eventful.
01 / where the threads meet
Operations taught me where software gets difficult.
Operating real systems exposed the friction. Building software made it possible to remove some of it. Independent products and developer tools connected those perspectives over time — Developer Experience is where they converge.
- 01
Operations and infrastructure
Permissions, deployments, handovers, repetitive work, and failures with real consequences.
- 02
Independent software engineering
Products, APIs, native applications, local-first software, and data-heavy interfaces built alongside formal roles.
- 03
Open source and developer tooling
CLIs, TUIs, agent tooling, automation, and interfaces that make system state easier to understand and act on.
02 / engineering experience
Building software is a continuing track, not a job title.
The portfolio documents hands-on engineering across native Linux tooling, web products and APIs, desktop and terminal applications, AI-assisted workflows, local-first knowledge systems, and geospatial data. These are selected kinds of work, not a second project index.
- 01
- 02
Products, APIs, and durable application state
Built product software around web applications, APIs, owned persistence, offline-safe knowledge, and AI or LLM integration boundaries.
- 03
Developer workflows, automation, and inspectable systems
Built security-conscious terminal tooling and source-aware data applications where users need to see state, provenance, and the next viable action.
03 / working principles
How I tend to approach a problem.
- 01
Friction is information
Repeated workarounds, unclear errors, and fragile handoffs are not just annoyances. They describe where a tool is failing its user.
- 02
Tools should explain themselves
A useful interface exposes state, constraints, and the next viable action instead of making people reverse-engineer them.
- 03
Build for the operator
Software has to survive deployment, permissions, outages, maintenance, and the person who inherits it later.
- 04
Automate the boring parts
Automation earns its place when it removes drudgery while keeping the underlying system inspectable and reversible.
04 / now
Reducing the distance between intent and reliable software.
Developer tooling, local-first software, safer interfaces, and open infrastructure belong together when they reduce operational uncertainty. The projects below are concrete evidence: different products, same interest in making software easier to build, understand, and operate.
05 / employment
The professional path, in brief.
Employment is one part of the story, not the beginning of the engineering track. These roles grounded the operational perspective that now informs the software and tooling work above.
2026
Software Engineer
herzkarten.de
Built a REST API in PHP for a digital greeting card platform and started a Flutter mobile client.
- Shipped a working PHP REST API within the first weeks on the project.
PHP · Flutter · Linux · JetBrains
2023
IT Administrator
PromoData GmbH
Endpoint management, support, and server operations for a mid-size company. Guided the team through tooling migrations and built runbooks for operational continuity.
- Migrated Jira to Atlassian Cloud with redefined roles and permissions.
- Automated patching and monitoring for Windows and Linux fleets.
- Cross-department support with documented runbooks and handovers.
Windows Server · Linux · Atlassian · PowerShell · Intune
2022
Administrative Specialist
Unistaff GmbH
06 / technical context
Tools I work across.
This is context, not a skills scoreboard. The groups are derived from the projects and operational work represented on this site.
Build
Go · Rust · Svelte · Svelte 5 · SvelteKit 2 · TypeScript · PHP · Flutter
Systems
Linux · Wayland · Docker · Kubernetes · Windows Server · PowerShell · Intune
DevEx / tooling
TUI · LSP · MCP · ratatui · Tauri · Ollama · OpenRouter · Atlassian
Data / platform
PostgreSQL · SQLite · Python · MapLibre GL JS · Static JSON · Zod · MiniSearch
Also in the mix
GTK4 · JetBrains · LLM Routing · Layer Shell · Lua · PWA · Tailwind CSS · Vanilla JavaScript
07 / outside engineering
A little context beyond the terminal.
Medieval markets and living history on weekends. Linux everywhere else. If a thing can be scripted, it will be.
08 / contact
Working on a tool that asks too much of its users?
If you are reducing operational friction, building useful open-source infrastructure, or trying to make a complicated system more honest, I would be glad to compare notes.