About

I’m Koen Van Geert. I build small, opinionated tools for the moments where software work starts feeling like admin.

The pattern is usually the same: I run into a workflow that should be simple, notice it has grown tentacles, complain about it for a while, then build the thing I wish already existed. This is mostly laziness, but the useful kind: I like tinkering with software until the work disappears.

Right now that obsession is mostly pointed at AI-assisted development. Agents can write code. Great. The interesting work is keeping the human in charge of the judgment: the task, the context, the diff, the review, the follow-up, the little voice that says “this is technically done but still feels wrong.”

That’s why I’m building Open Forge: a local command center for running coding agents as actual engineering work instead of a pile of terminals, branches, browser tabs, and good intentions.

I also make smaller web products and utilities when a narrow problem keeps bothering me. I like software that has a clear edge. You should be able to tell what it is for, what it refuses to do, and why it deserves to exist. The best version feels less like opening an app and more like pressing a physical button: one intent, one result, no ceremony.

The thing I keep coming back to

Speed is cheap now. Taste is not.

AI makes it easier to produce more code, more screens, more options, more almost-finished ideas. That is useful, but only if someone is still paying attention. I care about tools that help people move faster without losing the plot.

That usually means:

• keeping workflows small enough to understand
• making state visible instead of asking people to remember it
• designing interfaces that make whole steps disappear instead of multiplying decisions
• shipping early, then tightening the parts that real usage exposes
• treating code as a product decision, not just an implementation detail

How I work

I like clear systems, fast feedback, and boring foundations. TypeScript, SvelteKit, Tailwind, Rust, SQLite, Markdown. Tools that let me stay close to the product instead of spending the whole day negotiating with the stack.

I would rather build one sharp thing than five vague ones. I would rather delete a feature than explain it twice. I would rather ship the useful version while the paint is still wet than spend a month polishing something nobody has touched.

The craft matters. So does momentum. The trick is not pretending those are opposites.

Off the keyboard

I run, I get outside, and I chase whichever mountain or wave is available: surfing, skiing, snowboarding, whatever gets me away from a screen long enough to come back with a better idea.

Coffee is not a personality, but I am willing to let it become a recurring character.

Get in touch

Reach out if you're building a tool, thinking through an AI workflow, or just want to compare notes.

Email: [email protected]