TOOlover   ·   Repositories   ·   Writing   ·   X

Hey, I’m Derek Nguyen

I’m a software engineer and indie builder based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I build developer utilities, backend systems, and small internet products with a bias toward software that is fast to open, useful without ceremony, and easy to share.

What I’m building

TOOlover — free browser developer tools

Stop losing momentum to one-off scripts, tab-hunting, and repetitive cleanup. TOOlover puts the small developer utilities you need in one fast, free browser toolbox—no signup required.

Use it to format and validate JSON, compare or convert data, test webhooks, inspect JWTs, generate secure secrets, preview Markdown and HTML, clean up text, and explore lightweight system simulations.¹

Try a tool, solve the interruption, and get back to building. Open TOOlover →

Selected work

Project	Focus	Why it is useful
programing-best-practices	Programming fundamentals	Practical best practices for beginners and working developers.
AI-Powered-Coding-Tools	AI-assisted development	A guide to working effectively with AI-powered coding tools.
derek-power	Developer workflow	A structured development workflow for Kiro that avoids “vibe coding.”
email_detected	Ruby tooling	A Ruby gem for checking whether an email address exists.
threads_client_ruby	API client	An unofficial Ruby client for Meta Threads.

Builder stack

Layer	Tools I reach for
Backend	Ruby · Go · Node.js
Frontend	React · JavaScript · HTML · CSS
Data	PostgreSQL · MySQL · Redis
Cloud	AWS · Google Cloud · DigitalOcean
Product mode	Ship small · keep it useful · make it public

Public profile snapshot

Signal	Current public value
Public repositories	93
GitHub followers	149
GitHub location	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Writing	System design and software engineering insights

These profile signals are read from my public GitHub profile and may change over time.² For always-current activity, visit my repositories and profile overview.

GitHub activity

Find me elsewhere

• Product: thetoolover.com
• Writing: System Design Insights with Derek
• Social: @derek_in_tech on X
• Code: @dereknguyen269 on GitHub

I like coffee, developer tools, and engineering work that quietly saves people time.

Footnotes

1. TOOlover, current public product page and feature descriptions. ↩

2. Derek Nguyen’s public GitHub profile, accessed August 25, 2026. ↩