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Simangaliso Vilakazi
Simangaliso Vilakazi

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A Calm, Terminal-inspired Portfolio Focused on Shipped Products

 This is a submission for the New Year, New You Portfolio Challenge Presented by Google AI

About Me

I am a full-stack software engineer based in South Africa, focused on building durable software that ships and lasts.
I care about clear system boundaries, low-maintenance architectures, and products that solve real problems without unnecessary complexity. Most of my work lives in production: SaaS tools, automation systems, payment flows, and community platforms.
This portfolio is meant to reflect how I actually work. Pragmatic, intentional, and biased toward execution.

Portfolio

https://smngvlkz.com

This portfolio is structured like internal system documentation rather than a traditional marketing site. It highlights:

  • Live and archived products I have shipped
  • Clear product intent, status, and scope
  • SaaS, automation, payments, and platform work
  • Open-source and community contributions

How I Built It

  • Framework: Next.js
  • Language: Typescript, JavaScript
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS
  • Deployment: Google Cloud Run (fully managed, container-based)

This portfolio was built using Google Antigravity as the primary development environment. I used its AI-assisted workflow powered by Gemini 3 Pro to iterate on structure, copy clarity, and information hierarchy, while keeping the final implementation intentionally simple and deterministic

The focus was not on adding AI-driven features to the product itself, but on using AI to improve development velocity and design decisions without increasing runtime complexity.

The site favors static rendering, fast load times, and a smalll surface area for long-term maintainability

What I'm Most Proud Of

  • The restraint in the design. Nothing exists without a reason
  • Clear labeling of product status (live, inactive, archived)
  • Showing real shipped work instead of demo projects
  • A portfolio that reflects engineering maturity, not trend-chasing

This is not a highlight reel. It is a snapshot of how I build software today.

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