Sell Roblox currency through a storefront that takes the payment itself, with Stripe direct instead of Shopify in the middle.
What I built
The Next.js storefront end to end: Stripe direct checkout, pg-boss job queues on Supabase for fulfilment, Sanity for content.
What breaks
A checkout that takes money, then drops the order on the way to fulfilment. Stripe goes straight into pg-boss job queues, so every order is a tracked job, and money stays a string, never a float.
Result
Live since June 2026 with 2,500+ orders. The account tooling became its own open-source SDK.
Stack
Next.js
Supabase
PostgreSQL
Stripe
pg-boss
Sanity
Store backend · 2023–2026
BloxCart / HappyCrown
Lead Backend & Automation Engineer, contract · 2023–2026
A group of trading stores growing faster than manual fulfilment and hand-run servers could keep up with.
What I built
REST APIs, WebSockets and Shopify integrations from scratch. Automated delivery pipelines in Lua and TypeScript. A Windows/Linux VPS fleet, WebSocket↔HTTP bridges and Discord support bots.
What breaks
Manual fulfilment does not survive 30k+ orders a quarter: every paid order waited on a person. Automating delivery end to end removed the wait.
Result
HappyCrown stores run 30k+ orders a quarter. Checkout conversion up by as much as 70%, ops cost down ~60%.
Manual fulfilment vs automated delivery
illustration, not to scale
Before · manual
Staff sees order
Logs in, delivers
Checks payment
Marks done
After · automated
Webhook
Job queued
Bot delivers
Buyer notified · done
order paidtime →
Stack
TypeScript
Node
Lua
WebSockets
Shopify
Linux/VPS
Delivery infrastructure · 2026
AquaBlox
Backend & Automation Engineer, freelance · 2026
Private client build, not public · no link, no demo
SKIP LOCKEDno item claimed twice
2 botsat launch, sized for more
Problem
Orders paid on a Shopify store need their goods delivered by bots, fast, and two orders must never claim the same item.
What I built
The whole system end to end: a claim site, a bot dashboard, the backend and the delivery bot. Backend in TypeScript on Fastify, Postgres and Drizzle.
What breaks
Two orders racing for the last item, and a bot stalling mid-delivery. Stock reservations hold under FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED, so an item is only ever claimed once. Multi-bot assignment goes fewest-legs-first, splits orders across bots and retries delayed legs.
Result
Shipped in 14 working days. Launched on 2 bots and sized for more.
LaTeX builds are slow, and the loop between an edit and the PDF is slower.
What I built
A stdlib-only Python build script that grew into an editor, an MCP server and a hosted multi-user mode.
What breaks
Hosting other people's builds means running their code on your machine. Hosted builds run sandboxed with bubblewrap, and incremental rebuilds keep the preview fast.
Result
Fast incremental builds with live preview: alone, by agents over MCP, or hosted for a team.
Email hi@tahaali.dev, or use the contact form. Also on GitHub and LinkedIn as NotTahaAli.
LootBun for Zelta Digital, HappyCrown with BloxCart, and BloxPlaza. Plus private client builds I can describe but not link, like AquaBlox.
A direct-checkout storefront for Roblox currency on Next.js, pg-boss, Supabase, Sanity and Stripe, with no Shopify in front. Live since June 2026, 2,500+ orders. Case study.
I built the backend from scratch for a group of Roblox trading stores: REST APIs, WebSockets, Shopify integrations and automated delivery. 30k+ orders a quarter, checkout conversion up to 70% higher. Case study.
A private client build, not public: a virtual-goods delivery store with a claim site, bot dashboard and delivery bot, shipped in 14 working days on Fastify, Postgres and Drizzle. Case study.
A VS Code extension that assembles, runs and debugs 8086 assembly in DOSBox, and installs its own toolchain on Windows, macOS and five Linux package managers. 7,040 installs, 5.0 rating. Case study.
Fast incremental LaTeX builds with live preview. A stdlib-only Python script that grew into an editor, an MCP server and a hosted multi-user mode with sandboxed builds. Case study.
A Claude Code usage and cost monitoring dashboard. v1 shipped after 167 tickets, built with AI agents, live at sessclone.com.
I co-built the QR ticketing and check-in system in Next.js: 1,831 tickets issued by email, 1,342 attendees checked in live by phone-camera scan.
An open-source typed async Python package on PyPI wrapping 22 endpoints, pulled out of the LootBun work.
BS Computer Science at FAST NUCES, Lahore, 2023–2027. CGPA 3.92, Rector's List twice at a 4.00, Dean's List four times.
Three years, three roles: Infrastructure officer (2024), Deputy Head of Infrastructure (2025), Head of Automations & Cyber Security Competition (2026). I co-led a CTF for 39 teams.
Every day. SessClone v1 was built with AI agents across 167 tickets. AI writes the code. I still own the merge.
That's the core of what I do. HappyCrown stores run 30k+ orders a quarter on a backend I built from scratch. Tell me what has to work in the form below.
Money is a string, not a float. Every refusal gets a machine-readable error code. And every paid order becomes a tracked job, so none get lost between payment and delivery.
I see how it breaks first. Then I build the version that doesn't. Freeze the protocol first, then build both sides against a fake.
NASM Tools, LaTeX Studio and the Roblox Account Manager SDK. All on github.com/NotTahaAli.
tahaali.dev, LaTeX Studio, and my final-year project.
I was a Teaching Assistant for Digital Logic Design in Spring 2025, for 43 students.
Systems Limited, 2024: an auth system with Google OAuth, WebAuthn passkeys and Jest.
I started in Roblox because that's where the clients were, and they kept coming: storefronts, delivery bots, payment flows, the boring parts that have to be right.
2,500+
LootBun orders since launch. Orders through the storefront since it went live in June 2026, as of October 2026.
source · Client-reported · Zelta Digital
30k+
orders a quarter, HappyCrown stores. Quarterly order volume across the HappyCrown stores, running on the backend I built from scratch.
source · Client-reported · HappyCrown
7,040
NASM Tools installs. Read from the Marketplace on 13 October 2026. The live site syncs it at build time. 5.0 rating, 3 outside contributors.
