Ask HN: What's your stack for shipping MVPs quickly without technical debt?

5 hours ago 2

I've been experimenting with rapid MVP development and am curious about the community's approach to balancing speed with code quality.

My current setup after building ~50 MVPs:

- Next.js OR (Node.js + React for larger apps) + TypeScript for consistent patterns - Supabase for backend-as-a-service (auth, db, realtime) - Tailwind + shadcn/ui for fast, consistent UI - Vercel for deployment/hosting - Pre-built templates for common patterns (auth, payments, admin panels)

The key insight I've found: reusable component libraries and database schemas are what actually save time, not skipping tests or proper architecture.

Biggest time-savers: - Standardized folder structure across all projects - Pre-configured CI/CD pipelines - Component library with common patterns (forms, tables, modals) - Database migration templates for typical SaaS patterns

Biggest time-wasters I learned to avoid: - Custom auth systems (just use a service) - Building admin interfaces from scratch - Premature optimization - Not having a consistent deployment process

What's your approach? Do you have go-to templates or boilerplates? How do you handle the tension between moving fast and not accumulating technical debt?

Specifically curious about: - Your preferred database setup for MVPs - How you handle payments integration quickly - Testing strategies for rapid development - Deployment automation

What stack lets you ship fastest while keeping code maintainable?

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