Bryce Watson

Work

I'm an independent software engineer. I help people work through technical decisions, build features, and get systems working reliably. My work spans production applications, developer tools, and AI systems. Tell me what you're working on and where you'd like help.

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Experience I bring to the work

Eleven years at . I rebuilt the eBay for Charity site , shipped the item page's bidding-flow redesign, and replaced the Promoted Listings promote flow with the one that carried dynamic ad rate. The linked public site has continued to evolve since that work. The full record, team by team →

Client relationship: Akaya . Engagement details remain confidential.

Where I can help

You might need another engineer to investigate a problem, or someone to help build the solution. We agree on the scope and price before I begin.

A technical problem to work through

Have a technical problem you'd like another engineer to look at? Tell me what's happening, what you've tried, and what you'd like to understand. It could be an architecture decision, an unfamiliar codebase, or a system that isn't behaving as expected.

I'll suggest a scope, price, and timeline. Once we've agreed, I investigate the relevant code, configuration, or examples and write up my findings. Then we meet to go through what I found, discuss the options, and answer your questions.

You keep the written findings and recommendations, including what still needs checking and the next steps I'd take. If you'd like help implementing them, we can discuss that afterward.

Read a sample written recommendation: why turning a merge workflow back on wouldn't, by itself, establish trustworthy approval. It's an illustration from my own project review.

Tell me about the problem →

Something to build or improve

I can build a feature, improve an existing application, or help get a struggling project moving again. We agree on what I'll take on and how we'll check the result. You can follow the code, tests, and decisions as I work.

I can take on a defined piece of work or work alongside your team for a stretch. I'll discuss timing and pricing with you before we start.

Tell me what you'd like to build →

Working alongside your team

I join your team and work through its issue tracker, pull requests, code review, and automated checks. We agree on the work I'll take responsibility for; the decisions and handoff stay in your team's process.

Day rate, start window, and hours stated privately after one conversation.

Tell me about your team →

You keep the writing, plans, code, and handoff notes I produce for your project. I'll explain the decisions and anything your team still needs to know when I hand the work over.

Have a question about something I've written? You're welcome to ask . I also work with consulting firms and agencies .

How I work inside a team's process

I write pull request descriptions for the person reviewing them: what changed, what's still a TODO, which pull request has to merge first, and how to try it locally.
When a change carries risk, I say so in the description: the flag that turns it off, the fallback it takes on error, or the release it has to wait for.
When a change went wrong after merging, I reverted it in its own pull request and re-landed the fix under review.
When a shared internal library broke my app, I filed an issue on that library and, where I could, the fix.

Those examples come from my eBay work. The September 10, 2026 export counted 593 merged pull requests across 62 repositories between 2015 and 2023 [measured 2026-09-10, the eBay pull-request export].

For consulting partners

I also work with consulting firms and agencies. You manage the client relationship, pricing, and scope; I take responsibility for the engineering we agree on. Your team can follow the work and the decisions as I go.

Working with your firm or agency

Before you reach out

I'm still figuring out what I need.: That's fine. Tell me what you're trying to do and where you're stuck. We can work out whether I can help from there.
The project is not AI-related.: That's fine. I also build web applications, developer tools, and integrations.
I need an engineer inside my consulting firm.: Read about working with me through your firm . You keep the client relationship, and we agree on the engineering I'll take on.
What happens to confidential material?: Anything you share while we discuss or do the work stays confidential. I'd need your separate permission for the specific material before using any of it publicly.

Tell me what you need

Tell me what you're working on and where you'd like help. I'll reply within two business days to discuss the work. We agree on the scope and price before I begin.

Sending this inquiry does not commit you to paid work.

What I've built

Systems, released tools and earlier experiments, with the status and date recorded in each account.

You can also follow the latest published work week , the recorded goals , and the writing behind the decisions.

Systems

Projects recorded as active at their last check. The accounts explain what was working and what was still being tried.

Command

Active

A shared kit of skills, rules, and guard hooks for my Claude Code project sessions. What each session inherits, the September trial, and the earlier operator reference.

Last checked Sep 11, 2026

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ShopForge

Active

An agent for preparing Etsy listings, with persistent operational memory and human publication approval. A dated implementation account and early results.

Last checked May 11, 2026

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Open source

Released tools and upstream contributions, with source links and dated status.

Earlier work and experiments

Completed, superseded, or archived work kept for the decisions and engineering patterns it documents.