Paul Bakaus

Paul Bakaus

Product Engineer before it was cool.

I move between code, design, and product. I've been doing this since jQuery UI, through Chrome DevTools at Google, and now with AI tools. I like building things right before they become obvious.

I'm driven by making AI work for everyone, not just developers, and by bringing curation and human judgment back to a web drowning in slop.

Currently Building

Impeccable

AI coding tools have no design sense. Impeccable gives them one — a skills system for tools like Claude Code and Cursor that teaches them real design expertise.

Website / GitHub / 3k+ stars

agent-reviews

Code review shouldn't be busywork. Token-efficient, automated GitHub review workflows and bug fixing that actually understand your codebase.

Website / GitHub / Open Source

burn-after-login

AI agents can't log in. This skill analyzes your auth system, creates dev-only login shortcuts, then self-destructs. Works with any stack.

Website / GitHub / Open Source
Writing
The Curse of 'Cursor for X' 4 min read min Why certain creators have fans and others don't 2 min read min Vibe Editing 2 min read min Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger 2 min read min
View all writing →
Career
2007 jQuery UI Created the interaction library used by millions of developers
2010 Zynga Built Aves, the first browser game engine — acquired by Zynga
2013 Google Chrome DevTools, AMP, Web Stories, Head of Creator Relations
2021 Koji Head of Creators
2022 Spotter EVP Product — built AI tools for YouTube creators at scale
Now Independent Fractional CTPO, advisor, open source

Stay in the loop on what I'm building and thinking about.

Sending... Please check your inbox and click the link to confirm your subscription. There was an error sending the email, please try again.
You’ve successfully subscribed to Paul Bakaus
Welcome back! You’ve successfully signed in.
Great! You’ve successfully signed up.
Success! Your email is updated.
Your link has expired
Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.