DEV Community: Paul Nguyen

Show HN: Context-gen – Generate AI coding assistant context files from one scan

Paul Nguyen — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 01:41:43 +0000

CLI tool that scans a codebase, detects the tech stack from actual config files, and generates context files for Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Cline, and Windsurf.

Reads package.json, go.mod, Cargo.toml, .editorconfig, pyproject.toml

generates framework-specific coding guidelines for 20+
languages/frameworks. Smart update preserves manual edits.

Go, MIT license, no API keys needed.

https://github.com/riftzen-bit/context-gen

I Built 12 Next.js Templates in One Night — Here's What I Learned About Design

Paul Nguyen — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:49:15 +0000

Last night I challenged myself: build 12 unique Next.js templates in one session. Not copy-paste jobs with different colors. Genuinely different design philosophies.

Here's what happened and what I learned.

The Problem: Every Template Looks the Same

Go to any template marketplace right now. You'll see:

Rounded corners everywhere
The same indigo-to-purple gradient
Inter font (always Inter)
Shadow-lg on every card
Three-column feature grids

It's AI slop. Not because AI made it, but because nobody bothered to design it.

My Approach: An Anti-AI Design Checklist

Before touching code, I wrote rules:

No default shadows — if it needs depth, use borders or layering
No rounded-xl — pick a deliberate border radius (0, 2px, or full)
No gradient backgrounds — use solid colors with intent
No Inter/sans-serif default — every template gets its own type system
One signature animation max — restraint over spectacle

The 5 Flagship Designs

🔥 NightForge — The Dark Workshop

Warm neutrals on deep charcoal. Feels like a craftsman's forge. No blue-tinted dark mode.

Live: saas-starter-template-blond.vercel.app

🏜️ SwissGrid — Desert Minimalism

Inspired by Swiss graphic design + desert palettes. Strict grid, zero decoration.

Live: swiss-landing-template.vercel.app

📰 BrutalistStack — Raw Newspaper

Black and white. Heavy borders. Monospaced numbers. Looks like a broadsheet.

Live: brutalist-template.vercel.app

📖 EditorialPress — Magazine Editorial

Dark burgundy gradients, serif typography, editorial grid. Like opening Vogue.

Live: editorial-template.vercel.app

🍵 Wa-UI — Japanese Wabi-Sabi

Muted earth tones, generous whitespace, zen-like restraint.

Live: japanese-template-red.vercel.app

Tech Stack

Next.js 16 with App Router
Tailwind CSS v4
Framer Motion for animations
TypeScript throughout

What I Learned

Constraints breed creativity. Removing shadows and gradients forced me to think about hierarchy differently.
Typography is 80% of design. Change the font and spacing, and the entire feel transforms.
Speed doesn't mean compromise. AI helped with boilerplate, but every design decision was deliberate.
People notice quality. Even at $9-49, buyers can tell the difference between "generated" and "designed."

Get Them

All templates are available on Gumroad — from $9 to $49.

What design patterns are you tired of seeing? Let me know in the comments 👇

Why Every AI-Generated Template Looks the Same (And How I'm Fighting It)

Paul Nguyen — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 17:34:04 +0000

Open any AI tool — Gemini, ChatGPT, v0, Bolt — and ask it to build a landing page. You'll get the same thing every time:

Inter or Roboto font
Purple-blue gradient
rounded-xl cards with shadow-lg
Hero → 3-column features → testimonials → CTA → footer
"Get Started" button in indigo-500

I call this AI slop. It's the visual equivalent of "As an AI language model..."

The Problem

AI tools average everything. They've been trained on millions of websites and they produce the median of all of them. The result looks "clean" and "modern" — but also identical to every other AI-generated site.

As a developer selling templates, this is a death sentence. Why would anyone pay for something they can generate for free?

My Approach: Anti-AI Design

I built 12 Next.js templates on Gumroad with one rule: if an AI would generate it by default, redesign it.

Here's my checklist:

No banned fonts: Inter, Roboto, Poppins, DM Sans — these are AI's favorites. I use Instrument Serif, Outfit, Fraunces, Syne instead.
No banned colors: No indigo-500, no purple-blue gradients. Each template has a unique color system derived from one seed hue.
No clone armies: No 3 identical cards in a row. Each element earns its place.
Asymmetry over symmetry: Centered everything = AI signature.
Spacing has rhythm: Tight clusters + generous gaps, never uniform padding.

Example: Wa-UI (Japanese Minimal)

My latest template — Wa-UI — is inspired by wabi-sabi aesthetics. Intentional whitespace, asymmetric layouts, muted earth tones.

Would any AI tool generate this by default? No. That's the point.

Live demo: japanese-template-red.vercel.app
Get it: binbreeze3.gumroad.com/l/wa-ui — $29

All 12 Templates

Every template targets a different design movement:

NightForge — Dark canvas SaaS ($35)
SwissGrid — Swiss precision landing ($29)
BrutalistStack — Raw brutalist design ($25)
EditorialPress — Magazine-style layout ($29)
Wa-UI — Japanese minimal ($29) ← NEW
HeatQuote — Industry starter kit ($20+)
Dev Portfolio — Editorial portfolio ($19)
Anti-AI Components — 20 React components ($15)
OGSnap — OG image generator ($9)
And more...

All built with Next.js 16 + Tailwind CSS v4. Zero AI smell.

Browse all: binbreeze3.gumroad.com

The irony? I use AI (Claude) to help build these. But the design direction is human. AI is the tool, not the designer.

What do you think — can you tell when a template was AI-generated vs human-designed?

I Built 11 Developer Tools and Listed Them on Gumroad in One Night

Paul Nguyen — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 08:56:19 +0000

Last night I decided to turn my collection of side projects into actual products. No overthinking, no endless polishing — just ship it.

Here's what happened.

The Stack

Every project is built with:

Next.js 16 (App Router, Turbopack)
Tailwind CSS v4
TypeScript
Framer Motion for animations
Deployed on Vercel (free tier)

The Products

1. NightForge — Premium SaaS Landing Page ($35)

My newest one. Design concept: "Night Terminal" — copper accents on dark charcoal, Swiss typography (Instrument Serif + Outfit + JetBrains Mono). 11 handcrafted components, dark/light mode, one config file for all content.

Live demo | Gumroad

2. SwissGrid — Swiss Precision Landing Page ($29)

Inspired by Swiss Precision design. Mathematical grid, two-color palette (black + signal red), bold type-only hero, zero decoration. 10 components, dark/light mode, Vercel-ready.

Live demo | Gumroad

3. BrutalistStack — Raw Brutalist Landing Page ($25)

The anti-template template. Monospace-only typography (JetBrains Mono + Space Mono), electric lime (#CCFF00) on pure black, ASCII art dividers, zero rounded corners, harsh borders, exposed structure.

Live demo | Gumroad

4. EditorialPress — Magazine-Style Landing Page ($29)

Editorial/magazine design: serif headlines (Playfair Display), pull quotes with oversized quotation marks, multi-column layouts, ornamental dividers. Warm palette: cream + charcoal + burgundy. "Vol. 01" section labels.

Live demo | Gumroad

5. LaunchFast — Next.js 16 SaaS Starter Kit ($49)

Full SaaS boilerplate with auth, dashboard, billing integration, and landing page. The most complete starter kit I've built.

Gumroad

6. Admin Dashboard Starter Kit ($49)

Next.js 15 + Clerk auth + Prisma ORM. Full-stack admin panel with user management, data tables, and charts.

Gumroad

7. Landing Page Templates Pack ($25)

5 different landing page templates. Each with its own design concept — not cookie-cutter.

Live demo | Gumroad

8. Developer Portfolio Template ($19)

Next.js + Tailwind + Framer Motion. Clean, responsive, easy to customize.

Live demo | Gumroad

9. HeatQuote — Next.js Starter Kit ($20+)

Pay-what-you-want pricing. A solid starting point for quote/invoice apps.

Gumroad

10. Anti-AI UI Components ($15)

20 React + Tailwind components designed to NOT look like AI generated them. Distinctive, human-crafted design.

Gumroad

11. OGSnap — OG Image Generator ($9)

Generate Open Graph images for your projects. Simple, fast, works with any framework.

Live demo | Gumroad

What I Learned

Ship first, polish later. Half of these were sitting in my ~/Projects folder for months. Now they're products.
Anti-AI design sells. Everyone's templates look the same because they're all generated by AI. Standing out is a competitive advantage.
One config file pattern is gold. NightForge has a single config.ts file where you change all the text. Buyers love this.
Gumroad is zero friction. No upfront cost, no approval process. Just list and go.

What's Next

More templates coming — Brutalist, Editorial, Japanese minimal. Each one completely different from the last. Each one completely different from the last.

If you're sitting on side projects, just list them. The worst that happens is nothing. The best? You make some money while you sleep.

My Gumroad store | Twitter @duc_thinh5653

I Turned 6 Dusty Vercel Projects Into 7 Gumroad Products in One Day

Paul Nguyen — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:27:00 +0000

The Problem

I had 6 Next.js projects deployed on Vercel. Landing pages, dashboards, portfolio templates, an OG image generator — all built while learning.

They were just... sitting there. Getting zero traffic. Costing me nothing but also earning nothing.

The Idea

What if I packaged them as products? Developers buy templates and starter kits all the time. I already had the code. I just needed to make it sellable.

What I Did

In one day, I:

Audited each project — checked code quality, removed personal stuff, added docs
Created a Gumroad store (free, $0 to start)
Wrote product descriptions with feature lists, tech stacks, and live demos
Priced them between $9 and $49
Published 7 products

The Products

Here's what I listed:

Product	Price	Stack
LaunchFast SaaS Kit	$49	Next.js 16, Stripe, Auth
Admin Dashboard	$49	Next.js, Clerk, Prisma
Landing Templates (5-pack)	$25	Next.js, Tailwind CSS v4
HeatQuote Starter	$20+	Next.js, dynamic pricing
Dev Portfolio	$19	Next.js, Framer Motion
Anti-AI UI Components	$15	React, Tailwind CSS v4
OGSnap	$9	Next.js, OG images

All built with Next.js + Tailwind CSS v4. All deployed and demo-able on Vercel.

Key Decisions

Why Gumroad? Zero upfront cost. No monthly fee. They take a cut only when you sell.

Why these prices? I looked at similar products. SaaS kits go for $49-199. Templates for $15-39. I priced on the low end since I'm unknown.

Why "Zero AI smell"? Every template today looks the same — rounded corners, indigo accents, Inter font. I deliberately designed mine to look different.

Results So Far

Honestly? $0 in sales. It's been a few hours.

But I now have:

A live store: binbreeze3.gumroad.com
7 products with live demos
A foundation to market from

What's Next

More marketing (X, dev communities)
Building a new SaaS template with a distinctive design
Writing more about the journey

Takeaway

If you have side projects collecting dust, consider packaging them as products. The code is already written. The hard part is the marketing.

What's your experience selling dev tools? I'd love to hear from people who've done this before.