ABOUT

Hey, I'm Allie.

Builder, writer, and professional rabbit-hole explorer. This is my corner of the internet.

About me

My background isn't in computer science. I studied Social Work, with experience in mental health services, before eventually finding my way into international sales, digital marketing, and web development.

I came to programming relatively late, and mostly by accident. What started with Python gradually turned into building websites, maintaining WordPress systems, working with PHP and React, managing servers, debugging production problems, and experimenting with AI-powered tools and automation.

Most of what I know came from having a real problem in front of me and learning just enough to solve it. That has taken me across a fairly strange stack: WordPress and PHP, HTML/CSS/JavaScript, React and Next.js, Node.js, MySQL, Linux servers, APIs, browser automation, and more recently LLMs, agents, MCP, and AI-assisted workflows.

These days, I'm especially interested in the space where web engineering, automation, AI, and practical business problems overlap. I like building tools that remove repetitive work, turning messy workflows into systems, and figuring out how new AI capabilities can actually be useful outside of demos.

devlab is the public half of that process: projects I've shipped, experiments that worked, experiments that absolutely didn't, technical notes written mostly so Future Me doesn't have to rediscover the same solution, and learning tracks that document what I'm exploring next.

I don't pretend to know everything before I build something. Usually, building it is how I learn.

Ship small. Document generously. Break things somewhere safe. Improve the next version.

Timeline

Mar 2024

First encounter with Python

Started learning Python with no formal computer science background. It became my introduction to programming logic, automation, and the idea that repetitive work could often be turned into code.
Mar 2025

Started building for the web

Picked up HTML and gradually moved into CSS and JavaScript, learning web development by actually building pages rather than following a traditional front-end curriculum.
Dec 2025

Code became part of my professional work

While working in international sales and digital marketing, development stopped being purely something I studied on the side. I began using code to solve real business problems, maintain websites, improve workflows, and build internal tools.
Feb 2026

Went deeper into WordPress, PHP and React

Started digging beneath the WordPress admin interface into themes, PHP, hooks, templates, JavaScript, and site architecture. At the same time, I explored React and modern front-end development, gradually moving from modifying websites to understanding how the systems behind them actually fit together.
Mar–Jun 2026

From websites to systems

My work expanded beyond individual pages into performance, security, analytics, advertising infrastructure, server management, databases, APIs, and automation.

I worked on production WordPress sites, independent web projects, internal tools, and experiments involving React, Next.js, Node.js, MySQL, Linux servers, Playwright, and various third-party APIs.
Jun 2026

Started building AI into real workflows

Began experimenting with AI systems beyond simple chat interfaces: email assistants, pre-sales agents, structured tool calling, intent classification, retrieval, automated monitoring, and human-in-the-loop workflows.

Around the same time, I started building LifeOS, a personal system combining scheduling, tasks, journaling, statistics, AI assistance, and automation across desktop and mobile interfaces.
Jul 2026

Discovered MCP

Started learning the Model Context Protocol and experimenting with ways for AI models to interact with external tools, websites, APIs, and private systems.

Built several small proof-of-concept projects to understand MCP through implementation rather than documentation alone.
Aug 2026

Still building, still figuring things out

My current interests sit somewhere between web engineering, AI agents, automation, and product design.

I'm continuing to experiment with WordPress architecture, React applications, AI-assisted workflows, MCP integrations, analytics and advertising automation, and small tools that make everyday work a little less manual.

devlab is where I keep the trail.

Tools & technologies

Quick facts

Background — Social Work → Sales → Web & AI

Stack — WordPress, PHP, React, Next.js, Node.js

Known weakness — “this should be a quick fix”

Learning style — Build first, understand deeper later

Languages — Chinese / Cantonese / English

Production philosophy — break things somewhere safe

Favorite rabbit hole — Automation

Currently

Building — MCP Bridge & AI Content Pipeline

Learning — React Server Components

Writing — a guide on RAG for content teams