Everything I use daily to build AI agent systems. Honest opinions, no filler. Updated regularly.
This page is the single-source-of-truth for my tool recommendations. If it’s not here, I don’t use it. If it is here, I use it enough to stake my reputation on it.
🤖 AI & Copilot
| Tool | What I Use It For | Cost | Link |
|---|
| GitHub Copilot CLI | AI agent orchestration, Squad framework, persistent sessions | $19/mo | GitHub Copilot |
| Squad Framework | Multi-agent team management, personas, routing | Free | Squad on GitHub |
| Azure OpenAI Service | Custom AI integrations, enterprise LLM access | Usage-based | Azure OpenAI |
💻 IDEs & Editors
| Tool | What I Use It For | Cost | Link |
|---|
| JetBrains Rider | .NET IDE — debugging, profiling, decompiling. Recommended especially for Mac users. | $149/yr | AFFILIATE:jetbrains:Rider |
| JetBrains ReSharper | Code analysis when in Visual Studio | $149/yr | AFFILIATE:jetbrains:ReSharper |
| Visual Studio Code | Lightweight editing, markdown, extensions | Free | VS Code |
☁️ Cloud & Infrastructure
| Tool | What I Use It For | Cost | Link |
|---|
| Azure | DevBox, AKS, DevOps, Static Web Apps, App Insights | Varies | Azure Free Account |
| GitHub | Source control, issue tracking, Actions CI/CD | Free tier available | GitHub |
| Docker | Containerization, reproducible builds | Free (personal) | Docker Desktop |
| Kubernetes + Helm | Production orchestration, deployment packaging | Free | Helm |
| ArgoCD | GitOps continuous delivery | Free | ArgoCD |
📚 Books
Architecture & Distributed Systems
| Book | Author | Why I Recommend It | Link |
|---|
| Designing Data-Intensive Applications | Martin Kleppmann | The distributed systems bible. Essential for multi-agent coordination. | AFFILIATE:amazon:DDIA |
| Building Microservices | Sam Newman | Agent teams follow microservice patterns. Required reading. | AFFILIATE:amazon:Building Microservices |
| Site Reliability Engineering | Google (Beyer et al.) | Reliability patterns for autonomous systems. | AFFILIATE:amazon:SRE |
Programming & Software Craft
AI & Machine Learning
Enterprise Architecture & Refactoring
| Book | Author | Why I Recommend It | Link |
|---|
| The Software Architect Elevator | Gregor Hohpe | Connecting business strategy to technical implementation — essential for enterprise systems. | AFFILIATE:amazon:Architect Elevator |
| Refactoring | Martin Fowler | The definitive guide to improving code structure without breaking functionality. | AFFILIATE:amazon:Refactoring |
| Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture | Martin Fowler | Core patterns for building scalable, maintainable enterprise systems. | AFFILIATE:amazon:P of EAA |
| Enterprise Integration Patterns | Gregor Hohpe & Bobby Woolf | Essential patterns for connecting distributed systems and services. | AFFILIATE:amazon:EIP |
| Platform | What I Use It For | Cost | Link |
|---|
| Pluralsight | Structured .NET, Azure, and DevOps learning paths | $199-449/yr | AFFILIATE:cj:Pluralsight |
| Microsoft Learn | Azure certifications, free hands-on labs | Free | Microsoft Learn |
📊 Monitoring & Diagnostics
| Tool | What I Use It For | Cost | Link |
|---|
| Azure Application Insights | Production telemetry, error tracking, performance monitoring | Usage-based | App Insights |
| BenchmarkDotNet | .NET microbenchmarking, performance regression detection | Free | BenchmarkDotNet |
| dotnet-trace | Lightweight production profiling | Free | dotnet-trace |
| PerfView | Detailed .NET performance analysis | Free | PerfView |
| Grafana | Dashboard visualization for metrics | Free tier | Grafana |
| Prometheus | Metrics collection and alerting | Free | Prometheus |
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust. See my full affiliate disclosure for details.
