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Your challenge, If you choose to accept... (mission impossible music)
This is going to be a weird assignment. For now a week long effort and we re-evaluate at the end of the week.
If you accomplishing one thing would be huge. I am just going to throw a ton of stuff at you and see where we end up. I will also probably be involved at some points working on stuff.
Terms
pick up time around 7am? (negotiable, also I might oversleep 😅)
we work from the home office (I will have it all clean)
when we go out for coffee or lunch I can buy.
end the day
refrain from compliments, I do not care how I look to others just chill and work on stuff 👍
Projects you might contribute to:
react-route-lister - need to publish ^ (I need to find and give you the research for this one)
aerial desktop - come up with some packaging solutions
cool videos I think will be valuable to you and it would be cool if you watch and give your thoughts.
cool books to read
write up a portfolio drawing (what are the different who are yous and architypes?)
Do some game stuff but lets make that lower priority (because of this being a job)
Tasks you might help me with:
Find out what other projects are actually any good?
You could look at stuff with high stars and see if they are actually any good?
Or guess why they might have stars.
Ill get you started:
headful army
check-all-aws-regions
liveview-livebook-and-db-basic-adventure
What is the CRA - replacement that has good configs for a react project?
prettier config
linter
Youtube Videos:
Categorize ... raw videos, videos with substance, clips
good bike videos
good coding videos
good other content videos
Ask chatgpt questions for me.
Like, how can I organize all of my portfolio stuff.
How can I get answers to questions that are not from chatgpt.
Narratives are linear, what narratives can be derived from content I or you have.
What other ways can we organize our profiles that are non linear?
What other ways can we tell stories? such as beginning middle end. build to a climax and resolve.
End of week reflection
what did we learn?
what went well?
did you have the resources you needed? (what could I have done better to set it up for success?)
The One Win: Get at least one JavaScript/React implementation of the service worker gist working. Start with the Vite approach. If that ships, the week was worth it.
Publish react-route-lister to npm (research pending — I'll hand this off Day 1)
Tier 2 — If Tier 1 Is Done
aerial-desktop: research and propose packaging solutions
compose-glance-android-widget: triage and next steps
Additional gist implementations: old CRA approach, TurboRepo, TurboPack
Tier 3 — Only If We're Cruising
More framework implementations: Ember, SvelteKit
Notifications (stretch goal on the gist implementations)
12 Factor App implementation
Resume tweaks
Organize talks
Evaluate which GitHub projects are worth maintaining (headful-army, check-all-aws-regions, liveview-livebook-and-db-basic-adventure)
Tier 4 — Parking Lot (Not This Week)
Portfolio archetype exercise
YouTube video categorization
Game-related projects
Book/video recommendations
ChatGPT-driven brainstorming on narratives and non-linear storytelling
Logistics
Start ~7am (flexible), end of day wrap-up
Working from home office
Coffee/lunch runs on me
Keep it casual — we're here to ship, not impress each other
Friday Retro
What did we learn?
What went well?
Did you have what you needed? What could I have done better?
Rewrite 2: By Day-by-Day Schedule
Dev Sprint Week — Daily Plan
Monday: Onboarding + Priority #1
Morning: Tour of the codebase. I walk you through the gist, what it does, and the goal.
Afternoon: Start the Vite + React implementation of the gist. This is the #1 priority for the week.
Tuesday: Ship the Vite Implementation
All day: Finish and polish the Vite implementation. If done early, start on the old CRA approach as a second variant.
End of day: I hand off research for react-route-lister so you can review overnight if you want.
Wednesday: Pivot Point
Morning: Publish react-route-lister if the research is solid. If not, we pair on figuring out what's missing.
Afternoon: Start on aerial-desktop packaging research. Or pick up another gist implementation if you're in the zone on that.
Thursday: Secondary Projects
Morning: Continue whatever has momentum — more gist implementations (TurboRepo, TurboPack, Ember, SvelteKit) or aerial-desktop packaging.
Afternoon: Lower-priority items if time allows: resume review, organizing talks, evaluating GitHub projects.
Friday: Wrap Up + Retro
Morning: Tie up loose ends. Document what's done and what's in progress.
Afternoon: End-of-week reflection:
What did we learn?
What went well?
Did you have the resources you needed?
What could I have done better?
Daily Logistics
Arrive ~7am (I might oversleep, no judgment)
Home office
Coffee and lunch on me
No need for compliments or formalities — just work
Rewrite 3: By Role Separation
Dev Sprint Week — Who Does What
Your Independent Work (I hand off, you run with it)
Primary: Implement the service worker gist in Vite + React. Reference: CRA to Vite guide. If done, move to the old CRA approach, then TurboRepo/TurboPack/Ember/SvelteKit as you see fit.
Secondary: Evaluate these repos and give me your honest take on whether they're worth maintaining:
headful-army
check-all-aws-regions
liveview-livebook-and-db-basic-adventure
If time: Research CRA replacement options with good built-in configs (prettier, linter).
Pair Work (We sit down together)
react-route-lister — I need to walk you through the research before you can publish this.
aerial-desktop — brainstorm packaging solutions together, then you can run with implementation.
Resume review — quick session, I want your eyes on it.
My Work (You might get pulled in)
compose-glance-android-widget — I'm working on this but might ask questions.
YouTube video organization — I'll categorize these but might ask you to watch a few and give thoughts.
Portfolio brainstorming — thinking about archetypes, non-linear storytelling, narrative structures. Might bounce ideas off you.
Logistics
~7am start, flexible
Home office, coffee/lunch on me
Keep it chill
Friday Retro
What did we learn?
What went well?
Did you have what you needed?
Rewrite 4: By Deliverables Instead of Activities
Dev Sprint Week — Deliverables Checklist
By Friday, here's what "done" looks like:
Must Ship (at least one)
A working Vite + React app that implements the service worker gist, committed to a repo with a README
react-route-lister published to npm with docs and a working install
Should Ship
A written recommendation for aerial-desktop packaging — 1-page doc covering 2-3 options with pros/cons
At least one additional gist implementation (CRA, TurboRepo, or TurboPack) committed to a repo
A short write-up on each starred repo (headful-army, check-all-aws-regions, liveview-livebook-and-db-basic-adventure) — are they good? Why do they have stars? Keep, archive, or improve?
Nice to Have
Additional gist implementations in Ember and/or SvelteKit
Updated resume — PDF with tracked changes or a diff
Organized talks page — a single markdown file listing all talks with title, date, event, link, and status
CRA replacement recommendation — which tool, which configs (prettier, linter), and a starter template
12 Factor App implementation applied to one of the gist projects
Not This Week
YouTube categorization, portfolio archetypes, game projects, book/video recommendations, ChatGPT brainstorming
Logistics
~7am–end of day, home office, coffee/lunch covered, keep it casual
Friday Deliverable
Retro doc answering: What did we learn? What went well? What could have been set up better?
Rewrite 5: Noise Removed (Ruthless Edit)
Dev Sprint Week
The Goal
Get one working implementation of this gist in Vite + React. Everything else is secondary.
If That's Done
Publish react-route-lister
Research packaging options for aerial-desktop
More gist implementations (CRA, TurboRepo, TurboPack)
Setup
~7am start, home office
Coffee and lunch on me
Let's keep it low-key and focused
Friday
Quick retro: what worked, what didn't, what would we change.
Rewrite 6: Shared Checklist / Project Board Format
Dev Sprint Week — Project Board
Copy this into GitHub Projects, Notion, or a shared markdown file. Check things off as you go. Leave comments inline.
Notifications (stretch goal on gist implementations)
12 Factor App implementation
Resume adjustments
Organize talks into a single list
CRA replacement research (prettier + linter configs)
compose-glance-android-widget triage
⚪ Parked (Not This Week)
YouTube categorization
Portfolio archetype exercise
Game projects
Book/video recommendations
ChatGPT brainstorming on narratives
Logistics
~7am, home office, coffee/lunch covered, keep it chill
📝 Friday Retro
What did we learn?
What went well?
Did you have what you needed?
Rewrite 7: With Context and Links Upfront
Dev Sprint Week — Full Brief
About Me
I'm a frontend/full-stack developer working across React, Ember, Svelte, and mobile (Android widgets). I have a bunch of side projects at various stages and I want to use this week to push the most important ones forward. My stack is mostly JavaScript/TypeScript, with some Elixir (LiveView) and Python.
About This Week
I'm inviting you to work alongside me for a week. It's experimental — I'm going to throw a lot at you, we'll see what sticks, and we'll retro on Friday. Even getting one major thing done would be a win.
What the gist does: (brief explanation of the gist's purpose — Michael to fill in)
What "done" looks like: A working React app scaffolded with Vite that implements the gist's functionality. Committed to a new repo with a README explaining setup and usage.
If this goes fast, there are 6+ more framework variants to build (CRA, TurboRepo, TurboPack, Ember, SvelteKit, etc.)
Other Projects
react-route-lister
Repo: (link needed)
Status: Needs to be published to npm
What you need from me: Research docs — I'll provide these on Day 1
Done when: Published, installable, documented
aerial-desktop
Repo: (link needed)
Status: Needs packaging solutions
What you need from me: Access to the repo, context on current state
Done when: Written recommendation with 2-3 packaging options and pros/cons
compose-glance-android-widget
Repo: (link needed)
Status: In progress (I'm mostly driving this one)
What you need from me: I might pull you in for specific questions
Starred Repos to Evaluate
headful-army — (link)
check-all-aws-regions — (link)
liveview-livebook-and-db-basic-adventure — (link)
Task: Look at each, assess quality, guess why they have stars, recommend keep/archive/improve
CRA Replacement Research
Question: What's the best CRA replacement with good default configs for prettier and linting?
Done when: A recommendation with reasoning
Logistics
Start: ~7am (negotiable, I might oversleep)
Location: Home office (I'll have it clean)
Food: Coffee and lunch on me when we go out
Vibe: Casual — no compliments needed, just heads-down work
Friday Retro
What did we learn?
What went well?
Did you have the resources you needed?
What could I have done better to set you up for success?
Rewrite 8: Rewritten for a Stranger
Week-Long Dev Collaboration — Welcome Brief
Who I Am
I'm Michael, a frontend/full-stack developer based in (location). I work primarily in JavaScript/TypeScript and React, with side projects spanning Ember, Svelte, Elixir (LiveView), and Android (Jetpack Compose). I have a GitHub presence with several open-source projects at various stages of maturity.
What This Is
I'm looking for a developer to work alongside me for one week in a focused sprint. Think of it as a mini residency — you'll come to my home office each day and we'll push through my project backlog together. This is experimental. I have a lot of things I want to move forward, and I'm realistic that we won't get to all of them. If we ship even one major deliverable, I'll consider it a success.
We'll re-evaluate at the end of the week whether this model works and is worth continuing.
How the Week Works
Hours: ~7am to end of day (start time is negotiable)
Location: My home office (will be clean and set up for two)
Meals: I'll cover coffee and lunch when we go out
Culture: Low-key and focused. No need for social niceties or flattery. Just show up, do good work, and be direct about what you need.
What We're Building
Priority 1: Service Worker Gist → Vite + React App
I have a JavaScript gist that I need implemented as a full React application using Vite as the build tool. This is the single highest-priority item. If we only finish this, the week was worthwhile.
A GitHub account with push access (I'll add you to the org or you can fork)
What the Gist Does
(Michael — fill in a 2-3 sentence explanation here so the person doesn't have to reverse-engineer intent from code)
Known Gotchas / Things to Watch For
(Michael — fill in anything you already know will be tricky. Service worker registration quirks? Specific browser requirements? Build config issues you've hit before?)
If This Is Done Early
Move to the next implementation in this order:
Old CRA approach (for comparison)
CRA → Vite migration approach
TurboRepo
TurboPack
Ember
SvelteKit
Notifications are a stretch goal across all implementations — don't start there.
Everything Else
There's a full backlog of other projects (react-route-lister, aerial-desktop, repo evaluations, resume, talks, etc.). We'll get to those if and when the primary mission is complete. I'll share the full list separately.
Logistics
~7am start, home office, coffee/lunch on me, keep it casual. Friday retro.
Rewrite 11: As a Job Post People Would Actually Apply To
Frontend Developer — 1-Week Paid Open Source ($1,000)
Pay: $1,000 for the week
Schedule: Monday–Friday, ~7am–end of day
Location: In-person, home office (local candidates only)
Meals: Coffee and lunch provided daily
Start Date: (date TBD)
The Short Version
I'm a frontend/full-stack developer with a backlog of open-source projects that need to ship. I'm hiring someone for one focused week to build alongside me. You'll write real code, publish real packages, and commit to real repos — not fix my CSS or fetch my coffee.
$1,000 for the week. Coffee and lunch on me every day. If we work well together, there may be more weeks.
What You'll Be Doing
Primary project: Take a JavaScript gist and implement it as a full working application using Vite + React. This is the #1 deliverable. If this ships, the week was a success.
If time allows, you'll also work on some combination of:
Implementing the same gist in additional frameworks (CRA, TurboRepo, TurboPack, Ember, SvelteKit) — each one is a separate portfolio piece
Publishing an npm package (react-route-lister)
Researching packaging solutions for a desktop app (aerial-desktop)
Evaluating existing open-source repos for quality and maintainability
Applying 12 Factor App methodology to one of the implementations
You won't be working in isolation. I'll be in the room building on my own projects, available for questions, pairing when it makes sense, and providing context as needed.
What You Get Out of It
$1,000 cash for a week of work.
Beyond the pay:
Published commits and packages on your GitHub under your name
Hands-on experience with multiple modern frameworks on the same project — a rare thing to have on a resume
A professional reference from a working developer with conference talks and shipped open-source projects
A low-pressure environment where the goal is shipping, not performing
What I'm Looking For
Must have:
Solid JavaScript fundamentals — you can read a gist and understand what it does
Comfortable with React (you've built something real with it, not just followed a tutorial)
Can work independently once pointed in a direction
Reliable — you show up on time and communicate if something's off
Nice to have:
Experience with Vite, TurboRepo, or any of the other frameworks listed
You've published to npm before
You've contributed to open source before
Familiarity with service workers
Don't need:
A CS degree
5 years of experience
Knowledge of every framework on the list — willingness to learn is enough
How the Week Works
Hours
~7am to end of day (start time negotiable)
Location
My home office — clean, quiet, two-person setup
Lunch & Coffee
On me, every day
Dress Code
None. Seriously.
Vibe
Heads-down, low-ego, get-stuff-done energy
Friday
We wrap up, retro on what worked, and I pay you
How to Apply
Send me a message with:
A quick intro — who you are and where you're at in your dev journey
One thing you've built — a repo link, a deployed app, a package, anything. Doesn't have to be fancy.
Your availability — confirm you can do the full Monday–Friday
No cover letter. No resume formatting. Just tell me you can code and show me something you've made.
This is a short-term, in-person, contract gig. $1,000 paid at end of week. Not a full-time position, but could lead to more work if the week goes well.
What are all the ways I could re-write this doc so it could be more successfull11:54 PMExamined multiple angles for document restructuring successExamined multiple angles for document restructuring successThe user wants ideas for how to restructure/rewrite this doc to make the collaboration week more successful. Let me think about this from multiple angles.DoneGreat question — there are a lot of angles you could take depending on what "successful" means to you. Here are the different ways you could rewrite it:
By clarity of priorities
Right now everything lives at roughly the same level. You could rewrite it as a strict priority stack — one single "if nothing else gets done, this is the win" item at the top, then a clear tier 2 and tier 3. The person helping you shouldn't have to guess what matters most.
By day-by-day schedule
Instead of a big list, map it to the actual five days. Monday is onboarding and the highest-priority React/Vite implementation. Tuesday is continued dev work. Wednesday is a pivot point for secondary projects. This makes the week feel real and forces you to be honest about how much fits.
By role separation
Split the doc into "what I need you to do independently" vs. "what we'll pair on" vs. "what I'm doing and might pull you into." Right now it's unclear when you're handing something off vs. collaborating.
By deliverables instead of activities
Reframe everything as an output. Not "work on react-route-lister" but "react-route-lister is published to npm with a README." Not "organize talks" but "a single page listing all talks with dates, links, and status." This makes it obvious when something is done.
By removing the noise
A ruthless edit that cuts everything that isn't actionable this week. The ChatGPT questions, the cool videos, the portfolio archetype exercise, the game stuff — if they're not happening this week, they dilute focus. Move them to a separate "future ideas" doc.
By making it a shared doc with checkboxes
Turn it into a GitHub project board, Notion page, or even a simple markdown checklist. Something the other person can interact with, check off, leave comments on, and feel ownership over.
By adding context and links upfront
For each project, include: the repo link, what state it's in now, what "done" looks like, and any research or dependencies they'll need. The current doc has a few of these but most items would require a conversation before work can start, which eats into the week.
By rewriting the tone for a stranger vs. a friend
The doc works great if the person already knows you. If they don't, it could benefit from a short paragraph at the top explaining who you are, what your stack is, and what the broader goal of all these projects is. That context helps someone make better decisions when you're not in the room.
By separating the "contract" from the "work"
The logistics section (pickup time, lunch, compliments) is a different kind of document than the project list. Mixing them makes the whole thing feel less serious. A short "here's how the week works" message followed by a clean project brief would land differently.
By adding acceptance criteria to the top item
Since even one completion is framed as a huge win, the doc should make that one thing unmistakably clear and give the helper everything they need to succeed at it without asking you questions. That single investment in writing could be the difference between the week working or not.
The biggest lever is probably the combination of ruthless prioritization + deliverable-based framing + pre-loaded context for each task. That turns a brainstorm into a brief someone can actually execute on.
This doc is essentially a one-week working arrangement proposal — it reads like someone inviting a friend or colleague (likely a developer) to come work alongside them for a week in a loosely structured, experimental collaboration.
The core idea is: "Let's pair up for a week, I'll throw a bunch of my backlog at you, and we'll see how much we can knock out together." It's informal and self-aware about being chaotic.
The doc breaks down into a few layers:
Logistics — setting ground rules for the week (start time, location, meals, keeping things casual with the "no compliments" note).
High-priority dev work — the real meat is getting JavaScript/React implementations of a specific gist done across multiple frameworks and toolchains (CRA, Vite, TurboPack, Ember, SvelteKit, etc.). The react-route-lister publish and aerial-desktop packaging also seem like meaningful projects. Even getting one of these done is framed as a win.
Lower-priority / nice-to-haves — a grab bag of personal productivity and career tasks: resume polish, organizing talks and YouTube content, portfolio strategy, exploring which GitHub projects are worth maintaining, and even some philosophical questions about storytelling and self-presentation.
Built-in retrospective — the end-of-week reflection section shows they want this to be a learning experience, not just a grind.
Overall, it's someone trying to convert a messy backlog of personal/professional projects into a structured-ish sprint with an extra pair of hands, while being upfront that priorities will shift and not everything will get done.
