2026 Infra Guide for AI Tool Builders - Part 1: AI Coder

Published: January 14, 2026

I build AI and automation tools for small businesses.

Been doing this for 2 years now. Hard lessons after defending against bot attacks, having API keys exposed and credits vanish, AI agents running wild on my bill, users watching a file operation take 10-15 mins instead of under a minute, automations timing out, API failures.

When things break at 2am - API calls fail, tables get deleted, user data vanishes, AI agents devour credits, automated reports don't tally - there's no IT team. The buck stops with me. Needs to be fixed. Fast.

This series covers the infra setups where rubber hits the road - AI coders, VPS, deployments, security, monitoring, auth, build vs buy. Sharing what's working for me after those hard lessons.

This setup runs tigzig.com's 30+ production tools and client projects. All live. All open source.

The single biggest factor has been AI Coders. Without it, none of this would exist.

I now use Claude Code for everything. Earlier Cursor. The whole of tigzig.com and numerous client tools all built with it.

What Claude Code Actually Does for Me (Beyond Writing JavaScript & Python)

• Build full-stack apps - React frontends, FastAPI backends, PHP integrations. Not snippets - complete deployable systems.
• Deploy directly - create projects on Vercel & Coolify, set environment variables, mount volumes, debug build failures.
• Manage databases - setup new DBs, configure role-based access tied to Auth, handle migrations between providers (Supabase to Neon), manage connection pools.
• Setup and manage Auth - across Auth0, Clerk, Supabase, Neon depending on what client uses.
• Handle DNS on Cloudflare - setup subdomains, attach to deployments, create Cloudflare workers, manage cache rules.
• Debug production issues - SSH into servers, inspect docker container logs, diagnose SSL/connection errors, trace API failures.
• Run Git operations - setup repos, manage commits and PRs, handle branch management, review diffs.
• Setup API monitoring and logging - centralized logging tracking API calls across apps.
• Run security audits - review code for vulnerabilities, manage API keys, implement IP hashing for privacy.
• Update legal pages - website terms and privacy based on actual codebase to ensure transparency and compliance.
• Manage server resources - check disk usage, clean up old docker containers and images, optimize storage.
• Build file processing tools - data converters, web scrapers, data processors, PDF extraction.
• Research and offline analysis - web search for technical solutions, data analysis with reports shared as markdown or PDF.
• Create internal tools - API monitors, blog managers, markdown to PDF converters.
• Build Windows desktop utilities with C# / .NET 8.

And lot more. These are just top of mind.

How This Actually Works

This isn't where you can blow hot air into the prompt and an app appears magically.

I come from a data science background. Most of this infrastructure work - FastAPI backends, Cloudflare workers, serverless architecture - was new to me. Claude Code didn't just build it, it trained me. Explained concepts in simple terms. Helped me understand trade-offs.

Architecture I still manage. But I brainstorm with Claude Code - interrogating it, asking questions, evaluating options. For some of my tools, I spent nearly a day and a half in discussions. Just discussions. Multiple plans and markdown documents without a single line of code written. Because I need to understand it, evaluate it, make sensible calls.

I have a separate post on this - how I was working for two days doing only brainstorming and discussions before writing any code: https://www.tigzig.com/post/biggest-lesson-2025-ai-writes-better-code-when-you-dont-let-it-code

The grind doesn't go away. API call failures. JSON parsing errors. Validation work. Stress testing. Edge cases. Multiple user scenarios. Hours of debugging. Claude Code accelerates execution and helps with debugging, but you still put in the work. It doesn't replace judgment and grind.

Multi-Project Management

I run 30+ tools on my site and and ongoing stream of client projects. Work on multiple (related) apps at a time on VS Code. Multiple Claude Code sessions running per project. Sometimes using branches, sometimes git worktree, sometimes just parallel sessions - depends on what kind of work is happening.

Top Tips

• Skip MCP where CLI/API exists - saves tokens. Vercel, GitHub, Auth0, Supabase, Cloudflare all have CLI/API. And Claude Code loves it.
• Use global and local CLAUDE.md for how you want things done - keep it tight and focused.
• Run multiple sessions in parallel, use branches and git worktrees for max efficiency.
• Anything you're doing manually - take a step back and ask Claude Code if it can do it. Most likely answer "Yes I can do it. I can do so and so. Shall I implement it for you?"
• Context is everything for infrastructure work. Feed it your current server setup, existing auth configuration, database schemas, deployment details. Better context = better output.
• Check out this recent post from Boris Cherny, creator of Claude Code, on the setup he uses: https://x.com/bcherny/status/2007179832300581177

The Biggest Mistake with AI Coders

Not understanding architecture. Just asking it to "go build something."

There's nothing called "go build" and it appears. You have to go deep into the architecture, understand it, make sensible calls, test it. There are hours and hours of API call failures, JSON errors, validation work, stress testing with multiple users, different edge cases. It's a whole lot of grind. Claude Code does the coding, but you still need to validate, test properly, make it work.

I use the same 6 rules I documented in my earlier post on working with AI coders: Share context, Ask for alternatives, Tell what you want, Iterate, Validate, The grind doesn't go away: https://www.tigzig.com/post/ai-coders-give-you-the-edge-the-6-rules-i-follow-when-working-with-ai-coders

Costs and Value

I use the $200/month tier. Multiple parallel sessions without thinking about it. The multiplier effect justifies it completely. You can start at $20 and scale as needed.

Starting out with AI Coders? Google Antigravity is easiest entry point. Gemini CLI has generous free tier and great for many tasks as you start off but stumbles for many complex pieces.

Great guides and tutorials on YouTube, Medium and others where experienced developers have been generous to share how they use Claude Code for various tasks.

As for my client codes, deployments, and access to my servers, databases and DNS - Nobody touches it except Claude Code.

I work alone. That's not my AI coder - that's my full dev team.

Anthropic doesn't have a moat, they have a gorge. They may not know it but they've got me by the throat - whatever they charge, I will swipe.