TL;DR: I'm a full-stack developer with 15 years of experience, mostly building mobile apps, then web, backend, and desktop. After I started using Cursor and Claude Code, my productivity exploded — one idea quickly becomes a full-stack project with frontend, backend, and infrastructure. My project count grew 10x, but my memory didn't. So I built Dev WorkDir, a macOS menu bar app that organizes all your projects, auto-detects 29 frameworks, supports 26 editors, and lets you open or run any project in one click. Free on the App Store. 100% local, no cloud, no tracking.
A Bit About Me
I've been coding for 15 years.
Started out building iOS apps back when the App Store was new. Then expanded to Android, then React Native for cross-platform. Then web with React and Next.js. Then backend with AWS Serverless. Then desktop with macOS native and Electron.
You get the picture — I'm a full-stack dev who likes to build end-to-end. When I have an idea, I don't just prototype the UI. I build the whole thing: client app, web frontend, backend API, serverless functions, the whole stack.
It's how I've always worked. One person, full product. Slow, but thorough.
Then AI Changed Everything
Six months ago, I started using Cursor as my daily driver. Then Claude Code for terminal work.
And everything... sped up.
Not by 20%. Not by 2x. By like... 10x.
Here's what used to happen when I had an idea:
- Spend a weekend setting up the project structure
- Another weekend for the backend
- Another for the frontend
- Maybe start on the mobile app a month later
- By then I've lost some of the initial excitement
Here's what happens now:
- I have an idea in the morning
- By lunch, I have a running full-stack project — frontend, backend, database, auth
- By dinner, I'm adding features I hadn't even thought of that morning
- By the end of the weekend, I've got three different projects going
It's incredible. It's also a problem.
The Project Explosion
I used to have 3-5 active side projects at any given time. That was manageable. I knew each one inside and out.
Six months into AI-assisted coding, I counted:
More than 40 projects in various states of completion.
Some are full-stack apps with frontend + backend + mobile.
Some are just experiments I wanted to try.
Some are half-built tools that worked but I moved on to the next idea.
Some I genuinely can't remember building.
And it's not just the count. It's the complexity per project.
When every idea becomes a full-stack project with multiple repos — one for the web app, one for the mobile app, one for the backend API, maybe a shared package — you don't just have more projects. You have more projects, each with more parts.
Finding a project isn't just "which folder is it in?" anymore. It's:
- "Which repo was the frontend again?"
- "Did I deploy the backend for this one?"
- "What was the start command for this API?"
- "Wait, is this the React version or the Next.js version?"
The "Find the Project" Ritual
Does this sound familiar?
- You remember you built something cool... a few weeks ago?
- You open Finder and start guessing folder names
- You find the right folder but there are 5 sub-projects inside
- You open the wrong repo first, realize it's the mobile app not the web app
- You find the right one, then spend 5 minutes figuring out how to run it
- By then you've lost your train of thought
This was happening to me multiple times a week.
The bottleneck shifted from "building" to "finding." And the worst part is ideas get lost. A project you can't find might as well not exist. I've had multiple moments where I started building something, only to realize I built essentially the same thing two months ago and forgot.
Why Existing Tools Didn't Work
I tried everything. None of it stuck:
| Tool | The Problem |
|---|---|
| GitHub/GitLab | Great for code, terrible for project management. Half my experiments never get pushed — they're just ideas I'm playing with. And even the ones that are pushed, finding the right repo is its own adventure. |
| Notion / Linear / Project management apps | Too heavy. I'm not creating a whole workspace for a weekend experiment. By the time I set it up, the vibe is gone. |
| VS Code recent files | Only shows what I opened recently. And if I use Cursor for one project, VS Code for another, and Xcode for a third? Nothing is in the same place. |
| Finder folders | Fine for 5 projects. Chaos for 40+ — especially when each project has multiple sub-folders for different parts of the stack. |
Here's the core issue: all these tools were designed for a world where you have a small number of long-term, serious projects. But in the AI era, we're producing a large number of short-term, experimental, full-stack projects.
It's like trying to organize 3000 digital photos with a film-era photo album. The tool doesn't match the workflow.
So I Built Dev WorkDir
I built Dev WorkDir — a macOS menu bar app that lives in your menu bar and does one thing really well: it shows you all your projects and lets you jump to them instantly.
I built it for Mac because that's where I code. It lives in the menu bar because that's where I need it — always available, never in the way.
Here's what it does:
🎯 Auto-detects every tech stack
Drop a folder in, and it figures out what's inside. Next.js? FastAPI? Rust? SvelteKit? iOS project? Android? It knows.
Currently detects 29 frameworks and languages across the full stack — iOS, Android, React Native, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, and more. The icon tells you at a glance what you're looking at — no need to open package.json or Podfile just to remember.
🏗️ Monorepo & multi-repo support
Since I build full-stack, one "project" often has multiple repos inside — web app, mobile app, backend, shared libs.
Dev WorkDir handles this naturally. Drop in a folder with 5 sub-projects, and you see all 5, each with its own tech stack detected, each independently openable and runnable.
⚡ One click to open, double-click to run
Open in your editor of choice? One click.
Run the project without opening a terminal? Double click.
It auto-detects your start script and runs it. No more cd-ing around through nested folders, no more forgetting whether it's npm run dev or pnpm start or cargo run or pod install && xed ..
Supports 26 editors and IDEs — Cursor, Windsurf, Trae, VS Code, all the JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Android Studio, and more. Plus CLI tools like Claude Code.
📝 Built-in todos per project
The thing I kept forgetting most was "what was I doing on this one?"
Now every project has its own todo list right in the menu bar. Next time I open it, I don't have to reconstruct context from git history and scattered notes.
🔍 Git info at a glance
Branch name, dirty state, ahead/behind count — all visible without typing git status.
🚀 21 project templates
Since I'm starting projects all the time now, I built in templates for the stacks I use most. Next.js, Astro, SvelteKit, Hono, Tauri, VitePress, and more.
Vibe coding starter pack: idea → choose template → 5 seconds later you're coding.
🔒 100% local
This was non-negotiable for me as a 15-year dev. No cloud, no account, no tracking, no telemetry.
Your code stays on your Mac. Always. Dev WorkDir runs entirely on your machine. It uses App Sandbox and Security-scoped Bookmarks for maximum security.
How I Built It
- Native macOS app built with Swift and SwiftUI
- No backend — everything runs locally
-
Framework detection — parses
package.json,Cargo.toml,go.mod,Podfile,build.gradle, etc. to detect frameworks and start commands - Security-first — App Sandboxed, uses Security-scoped bookmarks for folder access
- Distributed through the App Store — free during launch
The whole thing took about a month of side-project time to build the core. Most of that was spent on the auto-detection logic — getting 29 framework recognitions right across mobile, web, backend, and desktop is trickier than it sounds.
What Worked
✅ The menu bar format — This is the right home for a project manager. You need it constantly but briefly. No app switching, no dock clutter.
✅ Double-click to run — Everyone who tries it says this is their favorite feature. It seems small until you use it for a week, then you can't go back.
✅ Full-stack monorepo support — I almost cut this feature to ship faster. Glad I didn't — it's the thing that makes it actually useful for people like me who build end-to-end.
✅ 100% local pitch — Developers care about privacy. This resonates way more than I expected.
✅ AI-era positioning — Most project management tools are from the pre-AI era. "Built for the vibe coding era" immediately tells people what's different and why they need it.
What Didn't Work
❌ I overbuilt the onboarding — Turns out developers don't need a tutorial. They figure it out in 10 seconds. I simplified it.
❌ Too many features at launch — I almost shipped with environment variable management, config file browsing, and a whole dashboard view all in v1.0. Cut it down to the core 4 features and shipped faster. Good call.
❌ Name was hard — Went through like 20 names. "Project Dock" was a contender. "Code Hub" was another. Ended up with Dev WorkDir because it describes what it is without being cute.
❌ I almost built for iOS too — That would have been a massive distraction. Mac only, done right. The right call.
The Numbers
| Metric | Count |
|---|---|
| Years of coding experience | 15 |
| Projects I had before AI (typical) | 3-5 |
| Projects after 6 months of AI coding | 40+ |
| Project growth rate | ~10x |
| Frameworks detected | 29 |
| Editors / IDEs supported | 26 |
| Built-in templates | 21 |
| Time to build v1.0 | ~1 month (side project pace) |
| Tech stack | Swift / SwiftUI / App Sandbox |
| Price | Free (for now) |
| Cloud dependencies | Zero |
| Times I've forgotten my own projects | 🫠 too many |
What I'd Do Differently
If I started over, I'd:
- Ship even earlier — I waited too long to show it to people. The first version people tried was already v0.8. Should have gotten feedback at v0.3.
- Record more build-in-public — I should have been posting the whole journey. Better late than never, I guess.
- Start with the pain point, not the features — When I first described this to people, I'd list features. Now I just say "I had 40 projects and couldn't find any of them." People get it immediately.
Try It Out
If you're also a developer whose project list exploded after AI coding tools, Dev WorkDir might help.
It's free on the App Store right now. No subscriptions, no accounts, no nonsense.
👉 Download Dev WorkDir on the App Store
Or check out the website: 9souls.com/DevWorkDir
What do you think?
I'm genuinely curious:
- How many half-finished AI projects do YOU have? Be honest.
- How do you keep track of them all?
- If you're a full-stack dev, how do you manage multi-repo projects?
- What's your project management workflow in the vibe coding era?
Drop a comment below — I read every single one. And if you try Dev WorkDir, I'd love to hear what you think.
15 years of coding. Still building things. Now with AI, and with a menu bar app to keep track of it all.
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