Building practical software systems for real-world workflows: web apps, desktop tools, backend services, automation, and AI-assisted engineering.

I am a full-stack software engineer and product builder based in Fargo, North Dakota.

Through NK-Forge, I build and refine practical software across full-stack web applications, backend systems, desktop utilities, automation tools, and AI-assisted engineering workflows.

My background is not limited to code. I have worked around warehouses, manufacturing, equipment, trucking, and real-world operations long enough to care deeply about software that fits how people actually work. I value clear workflows, reliable systems, useful automation, and tools that reduce friction instead of adding more of it.

I build with a verification-first mindset: clear architecture, documented decisions, tests, CI checks, runtime validation, and careful review before calling work complete.

If you are reviewing my work, these four repositories show the clearest range of my engineering experience:

• Backend systems: Document Dispatch Service
• Real-world desktop software: Space Marine 2 Mod Loader / Launcher
• Full-stack product delivery: Full-Stack E-Commerce Application
• Full-stack fundamentals: ForgeBoard

• Full-stack applications — React, TypeScript, Node.js, APIs, authentication, PostgreSQL, deployment, and documentation
• Backend systems — service boundaries, job processing, retries, data modeling, concurrency, and operational visibility
• Desktop tools — Electron and local-first utilities for file workflows, automation, and user-controlled operations
• Business automation — scripts, pipelines, dashboards, data processing, and workflow cleanup
• AI-assisted engineering tools — structured workflows that use AI as a force multiplier while keeping human verification in the loop
• Practical product prototypes — taking rough ideas from problem statement to usable, testable software

Frontend React, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, TailwindCSS, responsive UI, dashboard interfaces

Backend Node.js, Express, ASP.NET Core, REST APIs, authentication, PostgreSQL, Entity Framework Core

Desktop & Local Tools Electron, Python, Tkinter, local file workflows, installer/release packaging

Data & Automation CSV/Excel processing, pandas, NumPy, validation pipelines, reporting, workflow automation

DevOps & Engineering Practices Git, GitHub Actions, Docker, CI/CD, testing, API design, documentation, issue-driven development

A backend-focused document-processing simulation built with ASP.NET Core, Entity Framework Core, PostgreSQL, Docker, background workers, lease-based job coordination, retry handling, Prometheus metrics, and an operations dashboard.

Why it matters: This project demonstrates backend system design, concurrency handling, job ownership, operational visibility, and production-style workflow thinking.

Repository: github.com/NK-Forge/DocumentDispatchService

A Windows desktop mod manager and launcher for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, built to make modding safer, simpler, and more reversible for real users.

The tool has been released publicly through Nexus Mods and has reached 1,000+ unique users and 1,300+ total downloads.

Key features:

• Automatic Steam/Epic install detection
• Dedicated mod vault and mod-play vault workflows
• Safe enable/disable behavior
• Vanilla and modded launch modes
• Automatic and manual save mirroring
• Real-time watcher activity panel
• Reversible modding with no intentional game-file overwrites

Why it matters: This is real user-facing desktop software with public adoption, installation friction, support concerns, release packaging, and workflow safety considerations.

Repository: github.com/NK-Forge/mod_Loader

Nexus Mods release: Space Marine 2 Mod Loader and Game Launcher — NK-Forge

A full-stack e-commerce application built with React, Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL, Google OAuth, Stripe Checkout, Stripe webhooks, OpenAPI documentation, tests, linting, and Render deployment.

Why it matters: This project demonstrates end-to-end product delivery across frontend, backend, authentication, payments, database modeling, API structure, and deployment.

Repository: github.com/NK-Forge/fullstack-ecommerce-app

A full-stack project and task management application built with React, Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL/Neon, route tests, component tests, security middleware, and deployment-ready configuration.

Why it matters: This project demonstrates clean full-stack fundamentals: CRUD workflows, project/task data modeling, frontend/backend integration, validation, testing, and practical application structure.

Repository: github.com/NK-Forge/ForgeBoard

Some larger projects are private because they contain family data, business logic, security-sensitive workflows, unreleased product direction, or internal automation details. I still list select projects here because they reflect the kind of systems I am actively building.

A private TypeScript CLI/workspace system for coordinating AI-assisted engineering work across missions, tickets, reviews, generated documentation, and repeatable development checks.

Current state: Active private/internal engineering tool.

Focus areas: Local AI orchestration, structured engineering workflows, CLI design, CI validation, documentation generation, review loops, and project automation.

A private household education platform for assigning coursework, tracking student progress, reviewing work, managing students/subjects, and supporting parent/student role-based workflows.

Current state: Active private full-stack project.

Focus areas: Full-stack architecture, authentication, role isolation, PostgreSQL schema design, household-scoped data access, API contracts, testing, and CI.

A private business operations and invoicing platform focused on clients, invoices, payment tracking, reporting, and small-business workflow clarity.

Current state: Private/in-progress product system.

Focus areas: Product modeling, dashboard UX, financial workflow design, data validation, reporting, and maintainable full-stack structure.

A desktop utility for validating, cleaning, deduplicating, and preparing email lists from CSV, TXT, and spreadsheet workflows.

Current state: Private product/tooling project.

Focus areas: Local-first processing, privacy-conscious tooling, file handling, validation pipelines, review-before-action workflows, and export generation.

I try to build software the way real work actually happens.

• Understand the workflow before overbuilding the solution
• Keep architecture understandable enough to maintain
• Validate behavior with tests, CI, and runtime checks
• Document decisions so future work is easier
• Prefer useful reliability over fragile cleverness
• Use AI carefully, but never as a substitute for verification
• Build tools that respect the people who actually have to use them
• Improve the system with each pass instead of chasing short-term hacks

• Hardening NK-Forge Orchestrator into a practical engineering force multiplier
• Building private systems into polished case studies without exposing sensitive code
• Improving public project documentation, screenshots, and deployment notes
• Continuing to grow across full-stack engineering, backend systems, automation, and applied AI workflows

• Portfolio: nevinkadlec.com
• GitHub: github.com/NK-Forge
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nevin-kadlec
• Email: dev@nkforge.com

Based in Fargo, North Dakota. Building practical software for real-world workflows.