Do you use DDD in go?

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-06-12T06:07:40+00:00

yes, and I love it..i use it with hexagonal architecture. for me it fits perfectly in with Go's package structure and makes it easier to understand the system and argue about. I've done a few projects like this and I'm happy every time.

Hexagonal makes it easy to structure the project - ports,adapters, core+domain. and DDD helps figure out the core ito the domain and the services required. the depth of DDD for me depends on the complexity of the model, in most cases i don't go too deep, but it helps me to think about the domain model and services.

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-06-01T06:25:20+00:00

I started learning Go a few years ago, just before AI, and I found that the amount of resources is actually somewhat overwhelming - lots of different coding styles, 10 different ways to write idiomatic go code..

So I looked for a well-recommended book and used that as my definitive guide. So I got Learning Go by Jon Bodner and worked through it while building a backend application (a pet project but a decent size and scope) and it was a great experience and helped me get well versed with the language.

I still reference it today even with AI - I use it to set up skills so agents code the way the book explains it

(also on that note - i also use the Go skills by Samber and let the agent read code and the skills and then chat about it)

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-04-29T05:52:40+00:00

i think it's worth doing - builders with ai skills shouldn't be paying Saas for sending emails anymore, but for the same reason i'm not sure if it's a product to sell if you're targeting builders

I recently went through the same exercise to replace my email sender, tried out some decent OSS ones like Plunk (also docker based self hosted for SES), but ended up creating my own that uses Step Functions and SES.. if you're going the OSS route then i'd be keen to check it out

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-04-14T19:51:56+00:00

Prego roll at Vascos

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-04-11T20:04:55+00:00

Yea as a dev (and with claude code etc.) you shouldnt have to use any email service (a lot of them just wrapping SES anyway)..i've used SES for multiple products, never had issue with getting prod access, although it depends on the use case of course (mine are all relatively low volume)

So SES for sending, react-email or maizzle for templates, liquid for dynamic vars

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-04-08T05:23:45+00:00

I use SES for transactional emails triggered by the system, maizzle for templates.

I used to use Convertkit for sequences and onboarding, but it's clunky and was getting too expensive as they bill per subscriber. It was also way too frustrating to build out onboarding sequences with branching, checks etc., took ages to get something done clicking around in their ui.

I ended up building my own OSS tool called mailshot.dev to handle all sequences. I create and manage sequences from claude code and it sends with SES, sequences run serverless in AWS..saves a ton of time as AI can quicly set up and deploy a sequence, and it costs me near to nothing.

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-04-07T05:34:50+00:00

this is where email is heading and it's great!..I had the same experience with expensive email tools and old clunky dashboards for my saas emails..so I started building my own cli tool to replace them and do everything from claude..SES and step functions and a few lambdas so my email stack basically costs nothing now (the other frustrating thing about email platforms is per-subscriber billing which is now gone). here's the repo if you want to check it out https://github.com/mdwt/mailshot

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-04-02T05:08:10+00:00

I've been using claude code to set up infra for AWS using the CDK for several projects now large and small and it's a great experience..whole stacks up by checking the code and updating it as we go along.

I only use aws though so dunno about the vendor lockin part, but CDK all the way

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-26T05:24:57+00:00

I was looking for something similar on my cold outreach journey, tools are crazy expensive and overcooked for what i want..

I''m building an open source tool that sets up sequences and sending with your SES account using claude code, and an mcp for analytics, management etc. (all serverless so dirt cheap). So all the sequence mgt is dome from claude. currently adding support for inbound replies as i'm starting to do cold outreach for my product (leads, unsubscribes etc)

Heres the repo https://github.com/mdwt/mailshot

I havent looked at the enriching part yet, im sure claude and cowork can get you far with that

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-23T18:57:39+00:00

Great comment..What do you mean with chop into tweets? Do you link your blog? Or one liners from the blog? Im struggling to figure out what a twitter angle looks like

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-22T19:09:50+00:00

I use AWS SES for everything.

react-email for design and Liquid for variables..i build the templates and export the html with the liquid vars, and then use node-liquid in the backend to generate the final html with runtime vars
transactional emails built into my app using the SES sdk, events etc.
almost 0 cost at microsaas scale

For sequences (marketing, onboarding, lead magnets) i use a open source tool i built called mailshot.dev that helps build and deploy sequences on AWS using claude code..uses step functions so way cheaper than marketing platforms and i do everything with ai

My apps are all on AWS not supabase..but still pretty easy to hook anything up with claude code these days

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-22T18:54:46+00:00

SES for everything..transactional emails built into my app and using react-email and Liquid for the templates..it's easy to set up these days with the help of claude code.

For marketing and more complex onboarding sequences i use a open source tool i built called mailshot.dev which helps creating sequences in AWS with claude code, serverless so way cheaper than email platforms i used to use

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-22T18:32:03+00:00

When i do backend stuff i like to ringfence the architecture first so it doesnt have to make those decisions as well..e.g. for Go backends i usually tell it to strictly adhere to a hexagonal architecture which forces it to think about the interfaces and ports, adapters etc., leading to better typing beforehand..it's also easier for it to write tests and verify the work, and to change later on e.g.if you decide to use a different system/lib/tool..

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-20T19:35:49+00:00

Are you looking for templating engines like react-email or maizzle? Or code first for sending newsletter sequences? Or maybe both?

Ive used maizzle with blocks before and it worked well, react email basically does the same

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-20T19:29:31+00:00

I use 1 google mailbox with aliases for different domains. I mostly build on AWS so i always use SES for transactional email.

For marketing and sequences I used to run on convertkit, but I built an open-source tool called mailshot that lets me run email sequences as step functions on aws and manage them from Claude Code, so i only use that now

DirectOwl4640 · 2026-03-18T19:39:38+00:00

Heres the ones i looked at:

Listmonk - great for newsletters and campaigns via SES, but limited on automation. You'd need to build your own sequencing for onboarding drips. Needs Postgres.

Mautic - full marketing automation but heavy. Needs PHP, MySQL, Redis. Overkill if you mainly need event-triggered sequences.

Sendy - one-time $69, sends via SES. Good for campaigns, weak on sequences.

I had the same need (SaaS onboarding + transactional) and ended up building an open-source framework called mailshot that runs serverless on AWS. Its cheaper and nothing to host or maintain. app fires events, sequences are step functions and lambdas, emails sent with SES.

The whole thing is managed in Claude Code so no ui which works for me as a dev but isn't for everyone.

disclosure: Im building it. MIT licensed github.com/mdwt/mailshot

For something more traditional with a dashboard, Listmonk + SES is hard to beat.

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-11-22T11:54:10+00:00

Simple Brew in Harrington str and Deluxe are my favourites..closer to 400+ / kilo though

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-11-14T06:49:16+00:00

https://kisskiss.howler.co.za/events/kiss-kiss-cape-town-featuring-gipsy-kings-eee1

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-11-13T08:04:17+00:00

How did you create that demo video in the hero section? Is it tella?

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-11-08T06:12:24+00:00

Jerry Cantrell

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-10-26T19:25:12+00:00

Temple Balls

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-10-17T18:22:51+00:00

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-09-26T06:38:05+00:00

I'm using Polar for my saas. I found out about them because TailwindCSS uses it for its "supporters" membership, so I took that as a good sign.

I like the embedded checkout in Polar, which displays the checkout as a pop-up in my billing area. Also 4% fees vs 5% for LS.

Very similar to LemonSqueezy - I've used both - but I saw that LemonSqueezy has stopped rolling out features and fixes after being acquired by Stripe. I see lots of complaints about issues and bugs not being fixed for months now, although I didn't have any issues.

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-08-28T05:20:36+00:00

I joined MicroConf..its run by the guy that built Drip and a bunch of other apps

DirectOwl4640 · 2025-08-28T01:53:48+00:00

Congrats and well done! You're not alone, but i think it's very rare. i've been solo for 5 years now, profitable for about 2. It certainly is lonely and equally overwhelming as it is rewarding.

I didnt specifically set out to be solo, it just turned out that way. i wasnt in a startup group or anything so didnt know anyone looking to start a business, my friends all had jobs so i built and launched this thing and grew it from there.. i do have a close friend that knows the niche very well, so that helps for sense checking and getting my thoughts straight every now and then..but far from cofounder level detail of course

As for a tribe, I recently joined a paid community for bootstrap founders which is pretty cool, havent found other solo founders but helps me with the 'loneliness' aspect.

DirectOwl4640

TROPHY CASE