Senior Software Engineer & AI Specialist

Andrew Riefenstahl — Senior Software Engineer & AI Specialist — Forging the Future of Digital Intelligence

I'm Andrew Riefenstahl, senior software engineer and AI specialist. I build resilient systems and write about where AI and humanity meet.

~/andrew
role
Senior Software Engineer & AI Specialist
focus
AI agents · full-stack
status
Systems online
stack
TypeScript · Python · Rust · Go

Selected Work

11
  • Fetch.ai / Flockx AI Agent Workflow Platform

    Senior backend engineer and full-stack developer for Flockx.io's AI agent workflow platform built with Next.js. Architected LangGraph-based agent orchestration with RAG-powered chat over WebSocket, plus API routes, authentication systems, and data transformation pipelines while managing AWS S3, Cloudinary, and Redis. Implemented performance optimizations, database migrations, ElasticSearch integration, and third-party services like Intercom and Slack.

    LangGraph LangChain Next.js FastAPI Django ORM Redis Streams ElasticSearch AWS S3 Cloudinary Auth0 SRE
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  • Whole Earth Curriculum Open-Source K–12 Curriculum

    A single, coherent, drop-in K–12 curriculum built by an agent loop across nearly two billion tokens, made affordable by DeepSeek. Free and open source — develops people who are emotionally, physically, and intellectually aware of themselves, their context, and the Earth they live on.

    Astro DeepSeek Agent Loop Open Source Education
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  • ISCPO.org Membership Platform & Editorial System

    Architected and delivered ISCPO.org as a WordPress membership platform that preserved native editorial workflows, reduced config drift, and made key site structure reproducible across environments. Built with Sage 11, Acorn 5, Blade, and a disciplined plugin/theme boundary so the organization kept the WordPress ecosystem it relied on while the codebase gained Laravel-style structure and a faster developer workflow.

    WordPress Sage 11 Acorn 5 Blade Tailwind CSS 4 Alpine.js Memberful GitHub Actions
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  • ABowlofRed.com Non-Profit Charity

    Orchestrated the development of ABowlofRed.com, originally a Gatsby-based front-end that migrated to Astro for improved performance and developer experience. Utilized Strapi CMS on AWS EC2 with Node.js for content management, and integrated Stripe for secure ticket transactions that have surpassed $130,000 in annual ticket sales.

    Astro Strapi CMS AWS EC2 Node.js Stripe SEO
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  • The Concert on Lake Grapevine Non-Profit Community Event

    Co-developed and produced the site for a family-friendly charity concert benefiting Grapevine charities, presented by Tolbert's Restaurant & Chili Parlor and The Charity Grapevine. Covers lineup, FAQ, sponsors, and Stripe-powered ticketing for a full day of live music on the lake.

    Stripe Ticketing Community Non-Profit Event Production
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  • Pulse COOP Worker-Owned Tech Cooperative

    Co-founded a worker-owned technology cooperative dedicated to empowering local businesses and grassroots movements. As a founding member, I helped establish democratic workplace practices based on the seven cooperative principles while delivering tech solutions that strengthen community economic foundations.

    Cooperative Management Web Development Community Tools Democratic Workplace Local Business Support
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  • MCP Server Suite Open-Source AI Tooling

    A family of safety-first MCP servers that give AI assistants governed, read-only access to real systems: PostgreSQL (mcp-pg-db-reader), MySQL (mysql-db-reader), and Mezmo log retrieval (mezmo-logs-mcp), plus work on godot-mcp for AI-assisted game development. Built around the idea that AI tooling should be auditable, quota-conscious, and hard to misuse.

    MCP Python TypeScript PostgreSQL MySQL Docker Godot
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  • Propane.com Enterprise Website

    Spearheaded the development of Propane.com, an enterprise-level WordPress site featuring advanced customizations and integrations. Implemented a robust CI pipeline, 2FA authentication via OAuth Okta, and developed stateful web applications. Integrated Algolia for advanced search and HubSpot for CRM, and optimized React-based components for performance.

    WordPress React OAuth CI/CD Algolia HubSpot
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  • Tolbert's Restaurant Modern Restaurant Website

    Architected a high-performance restaurant website using Astro with a headless WordPress CMS backend. Integrated third-party menu systems and food ordering platforms through custom API routes, with dynamic calendar integration, contact forms, and seamless third-party connections — all while maintaining accessibility and performance standards.

    Astro Headless WordPress Custom API Routes Third-party Integrations Food Ordering Systems Performance Optimization
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  • Chisos AI Note-Taking & Speech Platform

    Developed, deployed, and provisioned a full-stack note-taking application that transcribes speech to text and uses AI to organize notes for later analysis. Handled all infrastructure provisioning on Railway, secure authentication with Clerk, and AI services for core functionality. Built with Vite and TanStack Router for a modern, type-safe experience.

    Vite TanStack Router AI Integration Clerk Auth Railway OpenAI
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  • Steel Calculator Microservice Web Application

    A specialized steel calculator built for a steel-industry professional to make daily work easier. Simple, focused, and actually used — proof that the most valuable tool is often the least flashy one.

    Vite JavaScript CSS HTML
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Capabilities

Deep Technical Range

From high-performance frontends to event-driven backends — the right tool, not the flashiest one.

  • React & Astro
  • TypeScript
  • Workers & Cron
  • Event Buses
  • Automation

Pragmatic by Default

Solve the real problem first. Avoid over-engineering and keep a clear path forward.

  • System Design
  • Right-Sized Scale
  • Performance
  • Tech Debt
  • Sustainability

Human-Centered

Leading with empathy and clarity so technology serves people and communities.

  • Strategy
  • Mentorship
  • Cross-Functional
  • Ethical Leadership
  • Staff Execution
Also System ArchitectureAutomationWeb PerformanceSecurityHuman CentricAI Integration

Daily drivers

  • TypeScript
  • Python
  • React
  • Next.js
  • Astro
  • Node.js
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • AWS
  • Docker
  • LangGraph
  • MCP

Tools change; fundamentals don't. Beyond the daily drivers, I've shipped across a broad surface area — enough to reach for the right tool instead of the familiar one.

Also shipped with

Languages
JavaScript · PHP · SQL · Go · Rust · GDScript · HTML · CSS · SCSS
Frontend
Vue · Vuetify · Tailwind CSS · Vite · Redux · Zustand · TanStack Router · Alpine.js · Gatsby
Backend & Data
FastAPI · Django · Express · Celery · MySQL · Elasticsearch · MongoDB · Deno · Cloudflare D1 · Redis Streams
AI & Agents
RAG · LangChain · Agent Loops · OpenAI · DeepSeek · Claude Code / Codex · OpenCode · Fine-tuning
Infrastructure
Terraform · AWS CDK · EC2 · S3 · RDS · VPC · ECS · Lambda · SQS · Cloudflare Workers
Deploy & CI/CD
GitHub Actions · CI/CD · Netlify · Vercel · Railway · Heroku
CMS & Integrations
WordPress · Headless WordPress · Sage · Acorn · Blade · Strapi · Memberful · Cloudinary · Stripe · Auth0 · Clerk · Algolia · HubSpot

Let's start a conversation

Projects, consulting, or a good conversation about technology, music, or philosophy.

Get in touch