Reflecting on a year and a half of learning SvelteKit and Deno, contributing to Deno Docs, spending time in Maine, and planning the future of *Space.
Over the past year and a half, I’ve immersed myself in Cloudflare, SvelteKit, and Deno, contributing to open-source projects, launching the MVP of AgapeVerse (an AI-powered poem generator), and laying the groundwork for an ambitious vision: expanding *Space from a thriving online community into a real-world, DAO-governed space. Along the way, life has also taken me to Maine, where I’ve been enjoying time with my new girlfriend.
Building modern, high-performance applications has always been a passion of mine, and SvelteKit quickly became one of my favorite frameworks. Its simplicity, efficiency, and reactivity make frontend development both enjoyable and productive. At the same time, Deno, a secure and modern runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript, stood out as a strong alternative to Node.js, offering built-in TypeScript support and a more secure default environment.
Cloudflare made it easy to launch professional web services quickly, affordably, and with an incredibly generous free tier—including powerful AI tools. After experimenting with Google App Engine, Vercel, AWS Amplify, and others, I ultimately settled on Cloudflare as my go-to platform for web deployment.
In October 2024, I committed to building and releasing an MVP (Minimum Viable
Product) within a few months as a personal challenge. That project became
AgapeVerse, an AI-powered "love" poem generator. Initially, I started with
SvelteKit on Cloudflare, but when Deno 2 was released, I saw an
opportunity to shift to Deno Fresh and Deno Deploy. The timing couldn’t
have been better—I had already been keeping an eye on Deno, and this felt like
the right moment to make the switch. Along the way, I contributed a dark mode
feature to Deno’s official documentation, which you can check out here:
https://github.com/denoland/docs/pull/1038.
Amidst all the coding and planning, I’ve also taken some time to step away from the screen and explore new surroundings. I’ve traveled to Maine twice in the last few months (once in November, and again in January) to spend time with my new girlfriend.
Having grown up in Arizona, I’m not exactly used to the cold, but I’ve been enjoying the experience. The East Coast has a fascinating history, and the snow-covered landscapes have been absolutely beautiful.
When I set out to build AgapeVerse, my main goals were to create an app with a paid subscription model and leverage LLMs for content generation. My girlfriend’s deep emotional connection to written words inspired me to focus on generating "love" poems.
I originally built the app using SvelteKit and Cloudflare, but after Deno 2’s release, I migrated to Deno Fresh and Deno Deploy, using Deno SaaSKit to bootstrap the project. Cloudflare still plays a role—I use it for the AI Gateway, Workers AI (which powers the free poems), and the OpenAI API (which enables advanced poem generation, including features like acrostic poems where a hidden message is spelled out in the first letter of each sentence).
One of my biggest aspirations this year is to transform *Space from a digital coworking community on Discord into a real-world space—a physical hub for collaboration, creativity, and mutual support. The vision is to establish a space that not only fosters innovation but also provides a safe haven for those in need, all while being governed by a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization). This won’t happen overnight, and I won’t release ownership until certain conditions are met, but the groundwork is being laid.
The plan is to:
This journey is still in its early stages, but I’m excited to see how it unfolds and how it can reshape the way people live, work, and support each other.
The past year and a half have been a whirlwind of learning, contributing, and planning for the future. Between mastering new technologies, working on open-source projects, spending time in Maine, and setting the groundwork for *Space’s next chapter, I’ve been fortunate to experience both personal and professional growth.
AgapeVerse is live and available for anyone to use, and I’m looking forward to continuing to expand its features while ramping up marketing efforts.
As *Space continues to develop, I look forward to bringing more people into this vision, refining the DAO governance model, and eventually establishing a physical location where ideas can flourish and people can thrive.
If you’re interested in SvelteKit, Deno, DAOs, or community-driven spaces, let’s connect—there’s a lot more ahead!
Want to stay updated on the journey? Check it out: