Engineer in the Loop

Hi, I'm Marcelo

Product Engineer & AI Tool Builder. ITA-trained, Ex-Google, with 15+ years of experience. I write and review code while using AI agents like Roo Code and GitHub Copilot as teammates to ship faster.

Years coding

Years at Google

Top engineering

marcelo@dev ~

Building with AI as my teammate

I wrote my first line of code in 2010, in C. Today I work mostly with TypeScript, Next.js, React, TailwindCSS, and shadcn/ui. I use Roo Code, GitHub Copilot, and other AI agents as an integral part of my workflow, maintaining architectural oversight while shipping faster.

I worked at Google for 4.5 years and left to pursue entrepreneurship. Now I'm building developer tools and micro-SaaS with an "Engineer in the Loop" approach: I write and review code while AI accelerates implementation. Architecture and quality remain my responsibility.

Engineering Philosophy

Ship imperfectly, iterate based on reality
Architecture before implementation
Validate demand before building
DX matters — choose tools that boost productivity

Daily Drivers

TypeScript Next.js React TailwindCSS shadcn/ui Deno

Battle-Tested

Python C++ Java Bazel Protocol Buffers Node.js VS Code Extensions API Chrome Extensions API

AI Workflow

Roo Code GitHub Copilot Claude Code Anthropic API OpenRouter

Exploring

Rust Elm Clojure Svelte Go

Selected Works

Building developer tools, AI-native applications, and products.

VSCode Improved

Extension Bundle & DX Tools

A VS Code extension bundling quality-of-life improvements. Built to improve my own workflow.

TypeScript VS Code API

Why it matters: Hands-on experience with the VS Code Extensions API.

View Code

GhostKeys

Rust Utility & Spec-Driven

A keyboard remapper in Rust. Recreating Kiro's spec-driven workflow using Roo Code + GitHub Spec-Kit to validate this approach for the community.

Rust AI Agents Spec-Driven

Why it matters: Validating new AI-first development workflows.

View Code

Brave BYOM Compat

LLM API Middleware

Compatibility layer between Anthropic's Claude models and Brave's Leo AI OpenAI-only API.

TypeScript Deno Proxy

Why it matters: More LLM choices for non-premium Brave users.

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Concept Compass

AI Mind-Mapping

An infinite mind-map generator using OpenAI's OSS models. Built specifically to test and learn Kiro, an AI-powered, spec-driven coding assistant.

Next.js React Flow OpenAI

Why it matters: Deep-diving into AI coding assistants' capabilities.

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DevMagic

DevContainer Configuration

A devcontainer setup that "just works". Built in public to help developers avoid configuring the same environment settings over and over again.

Docker DevContainers DX

Why it matters: Solving the "works on my machine" problem.

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Adapta AI Challenge

🏆 Top 3 / 2,000+ applicants

OOH analytics tool built in ~24 hours for Brazil's largest AI hackathon. Presented to ~7,000 people at the Adapta Summit main stage.

AI/ML Next.js Rapid Prototyping

Why it matters: Selected from ~80 finalists (2,000+ applicants). High-pressure, high-visibility delivery.

Hackathon Project

Viralei

AI Video and Content Generation · Top 9 / 36

Turns legislative bills into engaging TikTok-like videos using AI. Built and deployed the MVP in 4 days with Next.js.

Next.js AI Rapid Prototyping

Why it matters: Demonstrates high velocity and product sense.

View Site

Where I've been

A timeline of my professional experience building software and products.

2022 — Present

Futurin

AI Tool Builder & Micro-SaaS Founder

May 2022 — May 2023

Hubla

System Design, OpenTelemetry, Payments (Checkout)

Jul 2020 — May 2022

Vender Bem Online

Digital Marketing, PLF, Paid Ads

2016 — 2020

Google

Frontend, Chromium, Data Pipelines (Apache Beam, Pandas)

2015/2

Google (Intern)

iOS Automated Testing, EarlGrey

2010 — 2015

ITA

Computer Engineering + Netherlands Exchange

Let's Connect

Have a project in mind or just want to chat? Feel free to reach out.