Dev Dave

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Articles & Case Notes

Notes on Flutter, backend systems, and shipping production-ready mobile and web products.

AGENTS.md: A Rulebook for Your AI Agent
AGENTS.md: A Rulebook for Your AI Agent

September 16, 2026

AGENTS.md: A Rulebook for Your AI Agent

How an AGENTS.md file gives AI coding agents the context to write correct, on-convention code — what to include, best practices, and a ready-to-use ex...

AIAI AgentsDeveloper ToolsCoding
Can You Trust an AI Agent With Payments?
Can You Trust an AI Agent With Payments?

September 15, 2026

Can You Trust an AI Agent With Payments?

AI agents can now spend money on their own. Here's how to secure AI agent payment integration — scoped tokens, spend limits, human approval, and audit...

AIAI AgentsPaymentsSecurity
What Post-Launch Support Really Means
What Post-Launch Support Really Means

September 14, 2026

What Post-Launch Support Really Means

What post-launch support actually includes when you hire a freelance developer — what's covered, what isn't, and how to get it scoped upfront.

FreelancingHiringProduct DevelopmentClient Guide
The Dual-Model Pattern for Safer AI Agents
The Dual-Model Pattern for Safer AI Agents

September 13, 2026

The Dual-Model Pattern for Safer AI Agents

How to use dual-model architecture to protect AI agents from prompt injection: a low-privilege parser model, strict Zod schema validation, and gated t...

AIAI AgentsSecurityTypeScript
What It Actually Takes to Earn 5-Star Reviews
What It Actually Takes to Earn 5-Star Reviews

September 10, 2026

What It Actually Takes to Earn 5-Star Reviews

How a Nairobi-based freelance developer earns consistent 5-star reviews from overseas clients he's never met — the process behind the trust.

FreelancingClient TrustFiverrUpwork
The AI Agent Security Problem
The AI Agent Security Problem

September 5, 2026

The AI Agent Security Problem

Learn the biggest AI agent security risks — prompt injection and excessive agency — and the best practices developers use to build safe, autonomous AI...

AIAI AgentsSecurity
AI Makes MVPs Easy — With a Catch
AI Makes MVPs Easy — With a Catch

September 5, 2026

AI Makes MVPs Easy — With a Catch

AI can take a startup from idea to working demo in days — but a demo isn't a shippable product. What AI-built MVPs get right, and the hard 20% that st...

AIMVPStartupsProduct Development
Pesapal Integration: Card Payments Across Africa
Pesapal Integration: Card Payments Across Africa

September 2, 2026

Pesapal Integration: Card Payments Across Africa

How to integrate Pesapal in Node.js to accept card and mobile money payments across Africa and beyond — the API flow, confirming payments, and why it ...

PesapalPaymentsNode.jsCards
Freelancing on Fiverr and Upwork
Freelancing on Fiverr and Upwork

September 1, 2026

Freelancing on Fiverr and Upwork

What it's really like freelancing on Fiverr and Upwork as a developer — how the two markets differ, what they cost, and the habits that got me Top Rat...

FreelancingFiverrUpworkCareerFullStackDeveloper
Kenya Is Writing Its AI Rulebook
Kenya Is Writing Its AI Rulebook

August 21, 2026

Kenya Is Writing Its AI Rulebook

Kenya's Draft AI Policy 2026 and the AI Bill are the country's biggest tech story right now. A developer's plain-English guide to what they mean if yo...

AIKenyaTech PolicySoftware DevelopmentAI DevelopmentVibe Coding
Push Notifications in Flutter with FCM: Guide
Push Notifications in Flutter with FCM: Guide

August 19, 2026

Push Notifications in Flutter with FCM: Guide

A practical guide to setting up Firebase Cloud Messaging in a Flutter app — device tokens, background handling, and common pitfalls.

FlutterFirebasePush NotificationsMobile App
BLoC in Flutter: When It's Worth the Boilerplate
BLoC in Flutter: When It's Worth the Boilerplate

August 17, 2026

BLoC in Flutter: When It's Worth the Boilerplate

When does BLoC earn its complexity in a Flutter app, and when is setState still enough? A practical framework for deciding, with real trade-offs.

FlutterBLoCState ManagementMobile App
Prevent Double Payments (Node.js)
Prevent Double Payments (Node.js)

May 5, 2026

Prevent Double Payments (Node.js)

Why users get charged twice when you integrate a third-party payment provider — and how to stop double payments with idempotency keys, state checks, a...

PaymentsNode.jsIdempotencyAPI Integration
Designing an Efficient Payment Database in Node.js
Designing an Efficient Payment Database in Node.js

April 20, 2026

Designing an Efficient Payment Database in Node.js

How to design a reliable, efficient payments database in Node.js with a SQL database and Sequelize — one schema that serves both M-Pesa and Pesapal, w...

Node.jsSequelizePaymentsPostgreSQLM-Pesa
Integrating M-Pesa into a Node.js Backend
Integrating M-Pesa into a Node.js Backend

April 5, 2026

Integrating M-Pesa into a Node.js Backend

A practical guide to integrating M-Pesa (Safaricom Daraja API) STK Push into a Node.js/Express backend — access tokens, initiating payments, and handl...

Node.jsM-PesaPaymentsAPI Integration
OutApp: A Flutter Event Discovery App
OutApp: A Flutter Event Discovery App

March 10, 2026

OutApp: A Flutter Event Discovery App

How I built OutApp, a Flutter app for discovering, exploring, and managing events, delivered for a Fiverr client with a focus on clean, intuitive UX.

FlutterMobile AppUI/UXFreelance
Auto Cllan: A Multi-Sided Vehicle Marketplace
Auto Cllan: A Multi-Sided Vehicle Marketplace

February 15, 2026

Auto Cllan: A Multi-Sided Vehicle Marketplace

How I led development of Auto Cllan, a Flutter marketplace connecting car and bike buyers, sellers, shop owners, and workshops for buying, selling, an...

FlutterMobile AppMarketplaceREST APIs
MyChurch: A Flutter Church Management App
MyChurch: A Flutter Church Management App

January 20, 2026

MyChurch: A Flutter Church Management App

Building MyChurch for Bitwise Solutions — a Flutter app that helps churches manage events and announcements and keep members connected, with role-base...

FlutterMobile AppFirebasePush Notifications
TheCatfish: A Flutter Scam-Reporting App
TheCatfish: A Flutter Scam-Reporting App

December 10, 2025

TheCatfish: A Flutter Scam-Reporting App

How I built TheCatfish for Bitwise Solutions — a Flutter social app where users search, post, and engage with reports about online scammers.

FlutterMobile AppSocial AppFirebase
Acces Global: A Multi-Vendor Marketplace
Acces Global: A Multi-Vendor Marketplace

November 15, 2025

Acces Global: A Multi-Vendor Marketplace

How I built Acces Global, a Flutter multi-vendor marketplace and job platform, using BLoC state management and a client-provided REST API.

FlutterMobile AppBLoCREST APIs

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Dev Dave

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