Off-the-shelf vs. custom software: when each one wins
Custom software development pays off when off-the-shelf does not fit — but not always. Five signals you need custom, plus a build vs buy decision framework.
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Technical notes from real projects
No abstract advice. Code, architecture and decisions from the production systems we worked on.
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Off-the-shelf vs. custom software: when each one wins
Custom software development pays off when off-the-shelf does not fit — but not always. Five signals you need custom, plus a build vs buy decision framework.
Read article
MCP servers and Claude: five questions we answer before writing a line of code
Model Context Protocol is a hot topic. Wiring Claude to a database, however, doesn't make a product. After several prototypes, we use a five-question methodology before a single line of MCP server code gets written — plus one uncomfortable question about admin UIs.
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Claude Batch API for translations: 50% cheaper, but it's a queue
On the translation pipeline for The Clinic Praha we moved from the synchronous Claude API to the Batch API. 50% discount plus prompt caching gets us around 80% savings. The catch is the queue — and a few cases where batch is the wrong call.
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ETL with 50+ sources: automating schema drift and quality gates
Magistra DWH integrates data from 50+ sources — pharmacies, e-shop, HR, external APIs. Schema changes without warning, data quality varies. Contract testing, quality gates and observability pipeline as code.
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Migrating a Laravel website to Next.js 16 + .NET 9 with zero SEO loss
A dental clinic with a two-language Laravel site needed to reach patients in six languages without losing Google rankings. Here's how we did it in three weeks — and how the redirect AI matcher covered 97.6% of old URLs.
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Migrating off Shopify without losing orders or SEO: a playbook
The biggest barrier to leaving Shopify isn't building the new system — it's the fear of losing SEO rankings and breaking checkout during cutover. Lessons from MessyPlay: URL mapping, redirects, parallel runs, and what can't be skipped.
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Architecture-first consulting: what it actually means
"Architecture-first" is one of those phrases that everyone agrees with and nobody defines. Here's our working definition — and the four things we refuse to do because of it.
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Data warehouse model for 200+ branches: built to absorb growth and mergers
For Magistra we're building a DWH over a network of 200+ pharmacies. Star schema vs. Data Vault, handling branch mergers, late-arriving dimensions, slowly changing dimensions — modeling decisions that don't reverse easily.
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