Hi, I’m Aaron Norling — a software engineer and technical leader living in North Idaho.
I build software, developer tools, and engineering practices that help people do difficult work with greater clarity and confidence. My work has ranged from Ruby on Rails and React applications to Java services, Go utilities, data systems, legacy modernization, and tools for AI-assisted development.
Across those technologies, my interests remain consistent: clear boundaries, maintainable systems, thoughtful automation, and creating leverage for the people who will use, operate, and extend what we build.
I’m a hands-on builder, but much of my best work happens beyond the code itself—mentoring developers, improving team practices, shaping architecture, reducing friction, and leaving both systems and teams more capable than I found them.
I’m also a husband, dad, church leader, and amateur farmer.
Thanks for stopping by.
Recent Essays
All essays →-
The Twelve-Factor Utility
A CLI designed around twelve properties earns the right to be served — no rewrite required.
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Simple GitHub Workflow For Spiker
Adding a minimal GitHub Actions workflow to a Spiker spike to prove the tests pass at a glance.
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Patterns in Reach
A case for reflexive, lightweight abstractions in Ruby and Rails development.
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Teaching (and Assessing) With Spiker
Turning the Spiker scaffolding gem into a lightweight engine for teaching and technical assessment.
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A First Step in a Testing Journey
A letter to my past, testing-skeptical self — the essay I wish I had read at the beginning of my Ruby career.
Projects
All projects →-
Trellis
Go
Contract specs for codebases and the AI agents working in them
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Spiker
Ruby
Instant red/green Ruby spike environment, no boilerplate
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contextq
Go
Local job queue for coordinating multiple AI agents
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contextq-server
Go
Exposes contextq queues over HTTPS for remote agents
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loupe
Go
Filesystem observer that emits structured JSON for agent workflows
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Mason
Go
CLI for deploying static sites and sharing files via a personal VPS
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Corder
Go
Keyboard-driven terminal audio recorder with plugin support
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Viaqr
Ruby on Rails
QR code hosting for small organizations, metered on usage not count