Overview
I created a new repo called distsys-forge(https://github.com/nickstrad/distsys-forge) to help me build distributed systems projects. I have struggled for years bridging the gap between distributed systems theory, and implementing projects with that theory. It has been hard finding books to teach practical distributed systems development, but now in 2026 I believe AI is advanced enough to guide developers like me to build these systems. My github(https://github.com/nickstrad) includes a distributed commit log(https://github.com/nickstrad/dcl_store), a small distributed cache(https://github.com/nickstrad/distributed-cache), a Kubernetes-like Task Orchestrator(https://github.com/nickstrad/task-orchestrator) and I also wrote a distributed key value store in Georgia Tech's online program. At my day job at Apple, I work on a service that gives tenants of the platform quota. The quota service runs a leader election algorithm, it builds a cache of platform utilization data, and it makes request to multiple other services. Even with these projects, my brain still itches for a library of books helping me build perfect my distributed systems craft. Distsys-forge builds the books for that library.
Motivation for Distsys Forge
I am building an agent sandbox platform called Quickspin. To keep the project on course, I developed a roadmap for it. The roadmap lives at https://nickstrad.github.io/quickspin/. I love this roadmap because it is a living document that is growing as my knowledge of the field grows. My confidence grows daily because this work proves that I can build an unlimited amount of projects using this approach with AI.
Workflow
Instead of just having AI build Quickspin with prompts and validate the project "works" with tests, I study the concepts in each plan. My fingers hand code the most meaningful aspects of each plan to grow my distributed systems, Go, and sandbox domain knowledge. AI assists me with robust testing and explanations on the topics I am not familiar with, and I study the /simplify adjustments AI makes while I build.
Distsys Forge
Distsys-forge has a full Vite and React.js docs/ folder with the same components as Quickspin's Roadmap. Anyone can create custom greenfield project roadmaps. The repo has a skill to discuss a distributed system topic with AI, and the skill writes a 3 level distributed systems roadmap project folder for you. The first level makes you build "toy" implementations of the fundamental distributed system paradigms used in the project. The 2nd level covers the API's and libraries that power the main project. For example, this tier has you build with tools like Postgresql, Kafka, etcd, etc. The 3rd level wires it all up for a full distributed systems project. Lastly, the plan guides AI to use robust testing throughout each level to help harden your distributed systems skills with a combination of unit tests, Maelstrom checkers, fault-injection, Jepsen-style tests, etc. The more I learn about robust systems, the more I see that the builders of those systems are great at testing them.