Default Picks

Defaults are starting points. Override them with product constraints.

Product shape	Default pick	Avoid trigger
Docs, reports, content-heavy sites, prototypes	Astro static output	Needs sessions, Actions, bindings, SSR, or APIs
Private/internal lab preview	Caddy tailnet route	Needs shareable protected access without tailnet
Shareable static surface	R2/Worker/Access-style protected static hosting	Needs heavy local service behavior
Installable/offline workflow app	PWA/web-first	Needs restricted native permissions or deep background execution
Android-first app	Kotlin + Jetpack Compose + Room/WorkManager as needed	Equal iOS launch matters more than Android depth
Android+iOS standard app	Expo/React Native	Custom rendered brand UI dominates or native modules dominate
Custom cross-platform UI	Flutter	Platform-native feel and platform-specific UX matter more
New Windows-only native app	Windows App SDK + WinUI 3	Existing WPF/WinForms app only needs incremental modernization
Small local-first desktop app	Tauri 2	Chromium consistency, Node modules, or mature Electron packaging matters more
Keyboard-heavy desktop productivity app	Electron + sidecar	Footprint/security constraints dominate and WebView differences are acceptable
Go-backed local service/admin UI	Go backend with embedded Vite/React UI	Static/PWA is enough or a managed backend is clearly cheaper
Developer automation	Go or Rust CLI	Non-technical users need GUI onboarding
AI-native local assistant	Desktop/web shell + SQLite + MCP + sandboxed tools	AI is a minor feature, not the product boundary

Lab Biases

Prefer static/content and local-first options before adding servers.
Prefer native Android for permission-heavy Android-first apps.
Prefer explicit quality gates over framework enthusiasm.
Prefer one maintainer-friendly repo/runtime unless the product truly needs more.
Prefer official docs and source examples before AI-generated starter code.