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Regi Ellis
Software engineer / Since 2004 Available for new work

Your friendly
neighborhood
software engineer.

I'm Regi, a software engineer in Central Florida. I build applications for businesses and look after the systems they use every day.

Regi Ellis
Based in Central Florida.
Working locally and remotely.

People I love working with

Selected work

applications my clients use

A few things I’ve built for clients.

Payment and Verify are in use at DHN Attorneys. Trueline is what I’m building next for Align Roofing.

DHN Attorneys

Payment

Deployed · 2025

Getting a payment agreement ready to send.

At DHN, preparing an agreement means working out the payments and getting an attorney to approve the document. I built Payment so staff can do that work together and keep track of what happens after it’s sent.

More about Payment
  1. Prepare

    Work out the payment schedule.

    Staff use the balance, fees, costs, and dates on file to prepare the agreement.

  2. Approve

    Get the attorney’s approval.

    The attorney reviews it through an email link. The decision stays with that version of the document.

  3. Follow up

    See what’s due next.

    Reminders cover payment dates and paperwork that needs to come back. Staff can check which notices have already been sent.

Align Roofing Solutions

Trueline

In progress · 2026

Building a job system for Align’s office.

Align pays for roofing software by the user. I’m building Trueline to replace it with an application the company owns, based on how their office handles each job.

More about Trueline
  1. The job

    Keep the job details together.

    The office will be able to find a customer’s estimates, photos, and work orders on the same job record.

  2. Estimates

    Prepare an itemized estimate.

    Staff can create a PDF for the customer using the figures saved with the job.

  3. Scheduling

    Plan the week’s work.

    The calendar and task list use those same job records, so the office can check the details while scheduling work.

DHN Attorneys

Verify

Deployed · 2025

Checking the details before a case moves forward.

Before a case moves forward, DHN’s staff need to check that the names and property details match the documents. I built Verify to help them find discrepancies and keep track of their review.

More about Verify
  1. The file

    Open the records beside the documents.

    The reviewer can check the homeowner’s name, property address, and legal description without switching between files.

  2. Differences

    Find the details that need checking.

    Missing information and conflicting values are marked for review. Small spelling differences can pass without being treated as a mismatch.

  3. The review

    Save the decision and notes.

    The reviewer can approve the file, reject it, or ask for a correction. The checklist stays with the review.

More work, by client →

About

who you would be working with

Building since
2004.

Agency, startup, healthcare,
and business software experience.

I’ve been building software
since 2004.

I started at advertising agencies in the Pacific Northwest. Since then, I’ve worked at startups, built hospital software, led development teams, and spent fifteen years as a real estate brokerage’s sole technology lead.

These days, I work with a law firm, a roofing company, a brokerage, and a psychiatry practice. Some need an application built. Others also need someone to handle the website, email, servers, and backups. That’s my job too.

Career timeline

Hover or focus to pause. Swipe or use left and right arrow keys to navigate. Press Space to pause or resume rotation.
  1. Pacific Northwest First in-house developer at advertising agencies.
  2. Santa Monica Software development at two startups.
  3. Orlando Established an agency’s development team and contributed to its award-winning work.
  4. Chicago Led front-end development, including work on the world’s largest law firm website at the time.
  5. Healthcare Hospital software development.
  6. An award-winning agency Lead Developer at a second award-winning agency.
  7. The brokerage Fifteen years as the brokerage’s sole technology lead.
  8. Central Florida Building software and looking after technology for my clients.

Nice things people have said about me.

  • Regi provides invaluable insight and fervor in all projects involved with; he is consistently among first responders to take initiative in providing resolve for inquiries and troubleshooting needs. Regi's passion for team and systems development is evident in his positive leadership style and effective process development. It is always a pleasure discussing ideas/methods for systems optimization, as Regi always maintains an open, yet constructive perspective in possibilities discussed.

    Elizabeth FitzGerald, MBM, CSM Traffic [Project] Manager, Creative Operations at Atlassian
  • It’s rare to find such a dedicated and resourceful talent as Regi. I have the pleasure of working with Regi at Findsome & Winmore, and he's very quickly become the go-to for any technical issues the company encounters. Regi's ability to lead our development team while juggling multiple projects is unlike any I’ve seen before and is making a dramatic difference in the productivity level of our team. For any project, Regi earns my highest recommendation.

    Alyssa Kelly, CSM Specialist, Revenue Strategy & Operations at BHG Financial
  • Regi was a pleasure to work with. He is consistently aware of the latest and greatest approaches in Front End Development and shows a real passion for the job. When I had questions or issues for Regi to address he would always give thoughtful and informed recommendations to help solve my problems.

    Nathan Denton VP, Creative & Content at SCHERMER
  • Regi is awesome. The passion he has for his work is unlike anyone else I have ever worked with before. He is a problem solver- and he enjoys figuring out the solution. Regi is an extremely hard worker and truly cares about what he does- including the people he works with. When I work with Regi I know projects are going to get done- and done well. I hope to work with Regi many years to come! :)

    Samantha Eicholtz Director, Author Enablement at Pluralsight
  • In the short amount of time I worked under Regi, I had been easily and quickly brought up on the most current development techniques and languages. He is very helpful and always seems to find a better way to code something. He is an extremely talented individual and it was a pleasure to learn from him.

    Toni Baxter Web Software Developer at Full Sail University
  • For 3 years Regi has been an instrumental piece of Push's digital growth. His ability to learn, apply new languages and advance coding techniques is on par with some of the best talent in the country. In his relatively short tenure with Push he has created dozens of internal processes, tools, and training. I highly recommend Regi in a variety of roles from hardcore back-end development to project leadership.

    Mark Unger Chief Creative Officer/Partner at Push
  • Regi is a dedicated worker who enjoys new challenges. He takes responsibility for his work, plays well with others, and is able to self-manage priorities when necessary.

    Laura Laytham Head of Web at Sisense
  • Regi is a very talented individual with a firm grasp on current web development trends and ways to implement them. He hungers for knowledge and is always researching the newest and best ways to get his job done. He is a very intelligent person and a very creative developer/programmer.

    Matt Ma Senior Software Engineer at Apple
  • I've worked closely with Regi at ThisNext, and have found him to be an excellent front end developer. In addition to doing a great deal of the HTML and CSS for ThisNext, Regi has also made contributions to our graphic design and provided helpful suggestions about our business. He always works hard and develops good relationships with his coworkers.

    Will Redd Cofounder of ZipRecruiter
  • We all know, the front-end of a web site is where potential customers, partners, and employees judge a business on the Internet. Regi Ellis is one of those rare technologists that is acutely aware of how his work impacts the overall business. Regi's attention to detail and sense of urgency about his work makes it clear that he understands its impact on the big picture. It's also clear that Regi prides himself on staying aware of and current with the latest developments, doing great work on time, and having a positive impact for his employer. I would work with Regi again in a heartbeat!

    Hank Wilson Strategic Partnerships Lead at Alai Studios
  • Wicked fast, puts in the hours at crunch time, and has got design talent on top of his coding skills.

    Tyson Woeste COO & Co-Founder at Belliwelli
  • Regi has the combined talent of being fast and producing superior work time and time again. Regi is a team player - he coordinates his efforts well with people, is friendly and positive and I have and continue to enjoy working closely with him. He's an incredible asset to our overall efforts and pleasure to work with.

    Mateo Gutiérrez Faculty Lecturer at Texas State University
  • Regi is a kick-ass developer, I could say the best I've worked with, but I don't want to hurt the delicate feelings of other developers I've worked with. His attitude it completely professional, his skills have saved my life many times. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like to know more about why Regi is excellent at what he dose.

    Three Designer at Apple
  • Aside from oozing creativity, Regi is a detail-oriented designer whose patience and openness to suggestions make him a much-desired friend and colleague.

    Whitney Friedlander Freelance Journalist, former Variety writer
  • I've known Regi as long as I've been designer, and he's always been there to provide support, criticism and constructive opinions. He has a certain air about him when it comes to knowing what looks good and what doesn't. He's also not afraid to speak his mind, and I wish more designers would do that.

    Bryan Veloso VP of Product and Design at VShojo (2023)
  • Regi is a very talented individual with a firm grasp on current design and ways to implement it. He hungers for knowledge and is always researching the newest and best ways to get his job done. Regi is a very intelligent person and a very talented artist. His eye for layout and functionality are second to none. He was great to work with and would recommend his services to anybody.

    Michael Matthews Designer at EM-Assist, INC.
  • Regi is a very creative mind with a lot of knowledge in his field. Regi has several years of experience as a freelancer and working for various media solutions entities, which have allowed him to expand his portfolio and use his new age skills to develop user friendly media.

    Rodrigo Sanchez Accessibility Manager at Square Enix
  • Regi was a Overture team member who oversaw the community growth of our company's debut application, Symphony (web publishing system). Regi was tasked to maintain Symphony's community oriented site, Overture. His role included writing tutorial articles, managing community activities and help voice development requests on behalf of the community.

    Allen Chang CSO at Launch Tabletop

Warden

the tools behind my work

AI is part of how I work.
These tools help me use it.

I use AI for research and first drafts of code. I decide how the application should work, review the changes, and test what gets built.

Warden keeps the project’s instructions with the code, so I don’t have to explain the same decisions every time I start a new session.

I built Warden to give AI tools better instructions.

Its seven tools cover everything from the project’s design and writing to code review. Open one to see what it does.

Kura

the system behind my clients' websites

I built Kura so clients can
update their own websites.

Clients edit pages, posts, and images in a private admin. Kura publishes those changes to the website a few minutes after they save.

The public pages are saved as files, so reading a page doesn’t require a database. They can be hosted on any ordinary web server, including one managed by someone else.

What clients can manage with it.

Kura covers the things my clients used WordPress for: pages, a blog, images, redirects, and scheduled posts. Those features are built in, so I can maintain them together without a separate set of third-party plugins.

Right now it runs this site; the DHN Attorneys, Le Psychiatry Group and Areate Realty sites are in progress.

Built with Astro (open source)Go (open source, from Google)SQLite

Built per client

Integrations

I can add features for an individual client, such as appointment requests or newsletter sign-up. They appear in the same admin as the pages and use the same settings and change history.

DHN Attorneys
Google reviews and a Mailchimp newsletter sign-up, with the blog brought over from WordPress.
Le Psychiatry Group
A form for requesting an appointment, with the articles brought over from WordPress.
Areate Realty
Document signing for leases and listing agreements, in progress to replace a paid signing service.
This site
The booking calendar at the bottom of this page.

Visitor numbers

Stats

Each site counts its own visits. The admin shows where visitors came from, the pages they start and leave on, the devices they use, and how many go on to get in touch.

  • Addresses are stored as one-way hashes.
  • Browsers set not to be tracked are not counted.
  • The numbers come from the site itself; no outside tracking script loads.

Admin guard

Sentinel

Sentinel watches every request to the admin and the site's data. An address that keeps asking for pages that don't exist is blocked for a day. One that asks for a file only attack tools look for, such as a WordPress login page or a password file, is blocked on its first try.

  • Signed-in editors and the office's own addresses are never blocked.
  • The stats page shows what it stopped.

Editing and history

Pages

A client edits each section through a form. The form checks the values before saving, and each save is kept in the history. An earlier version can be restored from there.

Writing

Posts and images

A post can be scheduled for later. The image library records a focal point for cropping and shows which pages use each image.

Publishing status

Publishing

A light in the admin shows whether the live site matches the latest save. Redirects, the RSS feed and site notices are managed in the same admin.

Off-site copies

Backups

The site’s content and images are encrypted and backed up to Google Drive each day. A saved backup can be used to restore them.

HyperChi

the framework I wrote for web applications

HyperChi is how I build
web applications.

Web applications need forms, sign-in, database storage, and live updates. I wrote HyperChi to keep those parts together so I can reuse them in new applications.

When someone clicks a button or submits a form, the server sends back the part of the page that changed. The browser updates it without reloading the whole page.

Most of the application runs on the server.

The server handles the application’s logic and sends HTML to the browser. That lets me build an interactive application without maintaining a separate frontend application alongside it.

It is public and free to use, with guides at hyperchi.regiellis.com.

Built with Go (open source, from Google)htmx (open source)SQLite

The core

Page updates

After a click or form submission, the server sends back the HTML that changed. A visitor opening a link gets the whole page. Both responses use the same application code.

  • The address bar can follow along, so back, forward and bookmarks keep working.
  • There is no separate browser application to build and keep in step with the server.

Real time

Live updates

The server can send an update to connected browsers as something happens. That’s useful for a progress bar, a shared board, or a chat where people need to see new activity without refreshing.

  • One-way updates suit dashboards and progress bars. Two-way connections suit chat and games.
  • A room sends one update to everyone in it.
  • Messages people send are checked by the same rules as forms.

Input

Forms

Each form defines its fields and validation rules together. If someone misses a required field or enters an invalid value, a message beside the field explains what to fix.

  • Uploaded files are checked for size and type before they are kept.
  • Longer forms can run over several steps.

Accounts

Sign-in

Session data stays on the server, with a random ID in the visitor’s browser. Passwords are stored as one-way hashes. Signed cookies let the application detect changes to values stored in the browser.

On by default

Protection

Standard security headers go out with every response, and forms refuse submissions sent from another site. In production the framework also forces secure connections and limits what a page is allowed to load.

  • Request limits can be set per visitor.

Storage

Database

Records live in SQLite, a database kept in a single file, so there is no separate database server to install or look after.

Pages and posts

Content

Pages and posts are text files with fields for details such as the title. HyperChi checks those fields when the application starts. Static pages can be generated once instead of on every visit.

The base

Guides and tests

I wrote guides with working examples, including a version for AI tools. I also test whether an AI tool can follow those guides and use the framework correctly on a new task.

  • Four complete example applications come with it: a multiplayer dice game, a small studio's website, an internal tool for merging letters, and a search across a folder of notes.
  • Each example is checked automatically to confirm it uses the framework's own parts.

Warden The toolkit

Warden

Instructions that stay with the project.

Warden keeps instructions alongside the code. Before an AI tool changes something, it reads the guidance for that part of the project. Afterward, it updates any instructions the change affects.

I use it on client projects and on this site. A new session can pick up the project’s decisions without my having to explain them again.

Warden The toolkit

Kara

Design decisions written down.

Kara records a project’s fonts, colors, spacing, layouts, and interactions. I use it to give AI tools a design to follow when they add or change a screen.

This site has a Kara file too. When I change the design, I update it.

Warden The toolkit

Kiko

Writing guidance for each project.

Kiko records how a project’s writing should sound, with examples and phrases to avoid. It checks drafts for repetitive wording, unsupported claims, and changes in tone.

I use it on this site too. The guidance needs editing when the results sound wrong, just like the copy does.

Warden The toolkit

Kata

Code I can come back to and understand.

Kata gives AI tools rules for writing code that’s easy to read and change. It checks whether the structure makes sense, the reasoning is clear, and the code does more than it needs to.

I want to be able to come back to an application months later and understand it. So should another developer who takes it over.

Warden The toolkit

Review

Check changes against the project’s instructions.

Review checks a code change against the project’s instructions and expected behavior. It lists problems by severity so the issues that affect how the application works come before minor style changes.

Warden The toolkit

Kioku

Notes I can use on the next project.

Kioku keeps notes on problems I’ve worked through and decisions I’ve made across projects. Each note includes where it came from and why the decision made sense there.

The next time a similar problem comes up, I have a place to start. The old answer still needs checking against the current project.

Warden The toolkit

Shiki

Divide up larger jobs and check the results.

Shiki divides a larger job into tasks and assigns them to AI models. Smaller models can handle routine work, while a coordinating model handles planning and puts the results together.

It records progress and checks each result against the original task before accepting it.

Projects

the tools I built for myself

Start a project

scope, budget, timing

Let’s talk

Have something
in mind?

Tell me what you need built or what’s giving you trouble. A rough budget and an idea of when you’d like to start will help.

  • What you are trying to fix

    What do you need the software to do?

  • A rough budget

    An estimate is fine if you don’t have an exact number.

  • When you want to start

    Let me know if there’s a deadline.

Prefer email?

Pick a time to talk.

We’ll talk through what you need and whether I can help.

Time requests confirmed by email

All times are Eastern. I’ll reply within one business day to confirm your request. Please choose a day after today.

01 / Pick a day

Loading availability.

02 / Pick a time

Pick a day above first. All times Eastern.

03 / Confirm

You and I will agree on the work and the price before I start.