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Engineering & Architecture.

Architecture decisions are where software projects either become durable systems or expensive rewrites. This hub collects our production notes on data models, multi-tenant applications, security, AI systems, and the trade-offs behind software that has to keep working after launch.

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Engineering articles

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Headless Commerce Architecture Patterns That Ship in 2026
Engineering

Headless Commerce Architecture Patterns That Ship in 2026

Your checkout redirects to Shopify. Your PDP loads in 4.2 seconds. Somewhere, a product sync fails silently. Three headless patterns that actually work.

19 min read
Composable Commerce Architecture in 2026: What Actually Ships
Engineering

Composable Commerce Architecture in 2026: What Actually Ships

Your production composable stack either ships fast or becomes a Frankenstein of middleware held together with API calls nobody can trace. Here's what separates the two.

18 min read
Headless Shopify 2026: Hydrogen, Next.js & the $1M storefront gap
Engineering

Headless Shopify 2026: Hydrogen, Next.js & the $1M storefront gap

Your Shopify Plus storefront ships. Lighthouse hits 98. Three months later, checkout conversion drops 14% and no one knows why.

16 min read
OpenNext: Self-Host Next.js Without Vercel (AWS, Cloudflare, VPS)
Engineering

OpenNext: Self-Host Next.js Without Vercel (AWS, Cloudflare, VPS)

Your Vercel invoice just cleared $800 for a site that serves 40k visits. OpenNext drops that to $23 on AWS--same performance, zero platform lock-in.

16 min read
SSR vs RSC in Next.js 16: When Your Render Strategy Breaks
Engineering

SSR vs RSC in Next.js 16: When Your Render Strategy Breaks

Your Next.js build passes. Deploy ships. Then a user in Sydney waits 4 seconds while your SSR page hydrates--because you chose the wrong render strategy.

17 min read
Next.js vs Gatsby in 2026: Why One Framework Died and What It Cost to Leave
Engineering

Next.js vs Gatsby in 2026: Why One Framework Died and What It Cost to Leave

Your Gatsby build breaks at 2 AM. The plugin you need hasn't been updated in 18 months. Netlify's acquisition didn't save it -- it buried it.

17 min read
UK VAT, OSS & IOSS for Ecommerce in 2026: Your Tax-Compliant Playbook
Engineering

UK VAT, OSS & IOSS for Ecommerce in 2026: Your Tax-Compliant Playbook

Your first €10,000 sale into Germany just triggered an OSS filing obligation you didn't know existed. Here's the UK DTC compliance map that stops the bleeding.

20 min read
CPSR Cost Breakdown 2026: UK & EU Safety Report Pricing Guide
Engineering

CPSR Cost Breakdown 2026: UK & EU Safety Report Pricing Guide

Your cosmetic product sits ready to ship -- formulation locked, packaging designed, shelf space confirmed. Then your supplier mentions the CPSR.

17 min read
UK Responsible Person for Cosmetics: Complete 2026 Guide
Engineering

UK Responsible Person for Cosmetics: Complete 2026 Guide

Your first UK cosmetics shipment clears customs. Three weeks later, OPSS sends a suspension notice--no Responsible Person on file. Here's what that appointment actually involves.

15 min read
AEO vs GEO vs SEO in 2026: The Complete Implementation Guide
Engineering

AEO vs GEO vs SEO in 2026: The Complete Implementation Guide

Your organic traffic now flows through three channels--not one. Here's how AEO, GEO, and traditional SEO differ, plus a 22-step checklist to capture all three.

19 min read
Drupal Hosting Costs £32K/Year -- We Migrated to £450 for the Same Site
Engineering

Drupal Hosting Costs £32K/Year -- We Migrated to £450 for the Same Site

Your Acquia renewal lands: £32,000 for another year. A headless Next.js stack runs the same site for £450. Here's the invoice comparison.

16 min read
Drupal to Next.js Migration Cost in 2026: Real GBP & USD Pricing
Engineering

Drupal to Next.js Migration Cost in 2026: Real GBP & USD Pricing

Your Drupal site is stable, but quotes for a Next.js migration are landing anywhere from £15k to £120k. Same project, wildly different scopes.

16 min read
Drupal 7 End of Life Jan 2026: Migration Costs & Decision Guide
Engineering

Drupal 7 End of Life Jan 2026: Migration Costs & Decision Guide

Your Drupal 7 site loses commercial support January 5, 2026. No patches, no fixes -- just open doors for bot attacks and compliance failures.

11 min read
7 Signs You've Outgrown WordPress (When Headless Actually Pays Off)
Engineering

7 Signs You've Outgrown WordPress (When Headless Actually Pays Off)

Your WordPress admin freezes during peak traffic. Plugins conflict after every core update. Security patches eat your weekends--again.

19 min read
WordPress Hacked Again? Migration to Next.js + Supabase Fixes It
Engineering

WordPress Hacked Again? Migration to Next.js + Supabase Fixes It

Your WordPress site ships clean after a hack cleanup. Three weeks later, the skimmer's back. The plugin layer is the infection vector--here's how Next.js kills it.

17 min read
WordPress Maintenance Cost in 2026: The £8,400 Nobody Budgets For
Engineering

WordPress Maintenance Cost in 2026: The £8,400 Nobody Budgets For

Your finance team sees £50/month hosting. Your P&L hides £8,400/year in plugin licenses, security patches, and the developer time WordPress silently devours.

15 min read
WordPress Plugin Conflicts Break Your Site. Here's the Fix.
Engineering

WordPress Plugin Conflicts Break Your Site. Here's the Fix.

Your WooCommerce store shows a white screen. The forms plugin updated, the cache broke, and revenue stopped. Again. Here's why WordPress can't fix this.

17 min read
WordPress vs Next.js for Business: The 2026 Decision Framework
Engineering

WordPress vs Next.js for Business: The 2026 Decision Framework

Your CTO just asked if you should rebuild in Next.js. Your WordPress site loads in 4.2 seconds. Here's what the data actually says.

19 min read
HubSpot CMS vs Headless in 2027: Real Pricing & Lock-in Risk
Engineering

HubSpot CMS vs Headless in 2027: Real Pricing & Lock-in Risk

Your marketing team wants HubSpot. Your devs want Sanity or Payload. One bills $23,000/year for a mid-sized site; the others let you own the content layer.

12 min read
Next.js vs Wix vs Squarespace in 2026: Speed, SEO & Real Cost
Engineering

Next.js vs Wix vs Squarespace in 2026: Speed, SEO & Real Cost

Your homepage loads in 4.2 seconds on Wix. The same content ships in 0.8 seconds on Next.js. Here's what that difference costs your brand.

18 min read
Zero-Downtime CMS Migration: Your WordPress → Next.js Cutover Playbook
Engineering

Zero-Downtime CMS Migration: Your WordPress → Next.js Cutover Playbook

Your DNS record flips. Traffic routes to Next.js. WordPress idles behind a proxy. If you planned correctly, nobody notices--and that's the point.

17 min read
Is Jamstack Dead in 2026? What Happened After the Hype Died
Engineering

Is Jamstack Dead in 2026? What Happened After the Hype Died

Your Jamstack site still builds -- but the term vanished. The architecture didn't die; it fractured into patterns you're already using without the label.

16 min read
Contentful vs Sanity vs Payload: Which CMS Survives Real Clients?
Engineering

Contentful vs Sanity vs Payload: Which CMS Survives Real Clients?

Your client picks a headless CMS in March. By August, your team is Slacking about migrating off it. We've shipped all three--here's what actually breaks.

17 min read
Outgrown WordPress? Your Next.js + Supabase Migration Map
Engineering

Outgrown WordPress? Your Next.js + Supabase Migration Map

Your WordPress site loads in 6 seconds. The contact form plugin broke again. A vulnerability sits in code last touched in 2022. You need a way out.

17 min read
CMS Migration Timeline: WordPress to Next.js in 2026
Engineering

CMS Migration Timeline: WordPress to Next.js in 2026

Your WordPress site stalls at 2.4 seconds. The rebuild ships in 3 weeks or 6 months--depending on what breaks during extraction.

16 min read
Why Your WordPress Site Is Slow (and How Next.js Fixes It)
Engineering

Why Your WordPress Site Is Slow (and How Next.js Fixes It)

Your WordPress install fires 47 server requests before a visitor sees text. The caching plugin you bought last month can't fix architectural decay.

16 min read
Headless CMS Migration Cost Guide 2026: Real Pricing Breakdown
Engineering

Headless CMS Migration Cost Guide 2026: Real Pricing Breakdown

Your finance director asks for migration numbers and every agency quotes differently. Sanity, Payload, Contentful, Storyblok -- real 2026 costs broken down.

19 min read
Jamstack Development Cost 2026: What You'll Actually Pay (GBP/USD)
Engineering

Jamstack Development Cost 2026: What You'll Actually Pay (GBP/USD)

Your agency sends a proposal with a £45K -- £90K range for the same Next.js build. Actual Jamstack costs broken down by framework, CMS, and engagement model.

15 min read
CMS Migration Without Losing SEO: The Complete Playbook
Engineering

CMS Migration Without Losing SEO: The Complete Playbook

Your WordPress database exports at 3 a.m. Your new Next.js build waits in staging. One redirect map stands between you and six months of tanked traffic.

17 min read
WordPress vs Webflow SEO: Which Platform Actually Ranks in 2026?
Engineering

WordPress vs Webflow SEO: Which Platform Actually Ranks in 2026?

Your site ships. Google's bot arrives 6 seconds later. What it finds in those first moments decides whether you rank--or disappear into page nine.

16 min read
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