Kyle Phillips
I build backend systems in Rust, self-host most of my stack, and write up what I learn along the way.
Featured
Every broken system has a person holding it together. Replacing them with AI doesn't fix the system. It removes the only part that was adapting.
Writing
120,000 Lines of Rust: Inside the Nosdesk Backend
The engineering companion to why I built Nosdesk. How I built a real-time, offline-first backend in Rust: streaming pipelines, crash-safe queues, and pushing correctness into the type system.
The Helpdesk AI I Want Is the One I Barely Notice
AI should make the helpdesk smarter without making the interface more crowded. Here's how I'm building ambient intelligence into Nosdesk — and what's actually worth implementing.
I Ordered a Minimal Phone. Here's What Happened.
I ordered a Minimal Phone in January 2026. Two months, four excuses, and a chargeback later, here's what happened.
Featured Notes
Grafana Stack Setup
Notes on standing up a Grafana-based monitoring stack for infrastructure. The core components are Grafana for dashboards, Prometheus for metrics, Loki for logs,
Reverse Proxy Configuration for Web Services
Configuration guides for popular reverse proxy solutions (NGINX, Caddy, Traefik) used with self-hosted web applications.
Linux Command Reference
The snippets I'd otherwise have to look up. The basics I remember; these are the ones I don't want to.
Guides
Self-Hosted Outline Knowledge Base Setup Guide
A comprehensive guide to setting up and configuring an Outline open-source knowledge base and documentation server for your team.
Maintaining AppImage AUR Packages
A guide on how to create, update, and maintain an AppImage AUR package on Arch Linux, complete with examples and best practices.
How to Set Up a Minecraft Server
A detailed step-by-step guide to setting up your own Minecraft server, from installation to configuration and troubleshooting.
Projects
Nosdesk
An open source helpdesk with real-time ticket editing, voice notes, Kanban projects, and Intune device sync.
The Clan Wiki
A collaborative and interactive clan wiki built with Vue, Tailwind CSS, and Express.js, hosted on Render.