Sarthak Mishra

https://sarthakmishra.com/Sarthak MishraPersonal website and portfolio of Sarthak Mishra - sharing thoughts on technology, design, and entrepreneurship.2026-10-30T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishrahttps://sarthakmishra.com/https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/optimizing-tanstack-startOptimizing the sh*t out of TanStack Start2026-10-26T00:00:00.000Z2026-10-30T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A practical TanStack Start performance guide: how cutting downloads and fixing fonts and images took my home page from 73 to 100 on mobile Lighthouse.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/hiring-a-freelance-designerHow to hire a freelance designer who can deliver2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z2026-10-22T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A founder’s guide to hiring a freelance designer: check real contributions, constraints, working fit, and delivery before committing to the work.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/astro-to-tanstack-startWhy I moved from Astro to TanStack Start2026-10-20T00:00:00.000Z2026-10-26T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Why TanStack Start fit my Cloudflare deployment and React client work, and what moving my portfolio from Astro involved.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/automating-internal-linkingHow I automated internal linking with AI2026-10-19T00:00:00.000Z2026-10-27T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Find internal link opportunities with embeddings and a reranker, make an LLM justify each link, and place links at build time instead of editing MDX.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/building-animated-nav-iconsHow to generate animated icons with TypeScript2026-10-15T00:00:00.000Z2026-10-15T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

How I replaced my Lordicon nav icons with seven animated sprite icons drawn in TypeScript, rendered with sharp, and played on a canvas.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/building-interactive-svg-avatarHow to build an interactive Grok Bot-like avatar2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z2026-10-13T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Build a Grok Bot-like avatar with SVG, Astro, and React. Add cursor tracking, expressive eyes, protective winks, and natural idle animations.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/my-next-filingMy Next Filing - A Tax Plan for Freelancers in India2026-09-11T00:00:00.000Z2026-09-11T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A browser-only tax planner for solo freelancers in India. Answer a few questions and get your next action, its due date, and what you still owe.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/imitation-vs-inspirationWhere to draw the line between Imitation and Inspiration?2026-07-04T00:00:00.000Z2026-07-04T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

AI commoditized execution, so "taste" is the new moat. The programmer's version: imitation is copy by value, inspiration is copy by reference.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/assume-the-endpoint-is-hostileAssume the Endpoint Is Hostile2026-06-27T00:00:00.000Z2026-06-27T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Lakhs of government PCs can reach the core, each trusting whoever sits in front of it. Borrow Apple's closed model and make the wrong move unavailable.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/github-for-governmentGitHub for Government Work2026-06-25T00:00:00.000Z2026-06-25T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

The multi-year, single-vendor RFP is the root cause. Treat the core platform as an open commons: small priced tasks, paid per merged pull request.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/building-govtech-that-lastsHow I'd Build Government Software That Doesn't Fall Over2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z2026-06-24T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

You don't fix a meltdown with experts parachuting in after the breach. You fix it with defaults: a federated core, HTML-first frontends, private storage.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/bts-of-cbses-infra-meltdownBTS of CBSE's Infra Meltdown.2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z2026-06-23T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

CBSE called its result-day collapse a cyberattack. The numbers say plain demand, the kind monolithic, one-vendor government IT can't survive.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/stop-fixing-examsStop Fixing India's Exams2026-05-30T00:00:00.000Z2026-06-23T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

NEET leaked, CBSE's new marking system melted down, and 23.6% of young Indian graduates are jobless. We keep debugging an exam machine we should replace.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/astro-search-comparisonI Tried 4 Search Engines So You Don't Have To2026-01-26T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-26T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Here's the definitive guide to choosing between Orama, Pagefind, Meilisearch, and Google for your static site.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/google-custom-search-astroWhy I Didn't Use Google Programmable Search2026-01-22T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-22T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Google's search API sounds perfect for static sites. It isn't. Here's why the pricing model and indexing delays make it impractical for most blogs.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/meilisearch-astroMeilisearch is the Best Search You'll Never Need2026-01-14T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-14T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Self-hosting Meilisearch with Docker, Traefik, and Astro - complete with API key management, content indexing, and rate limiting.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/pagefind-astroWhy I Switched from Orama to Pagefind2026-01-13T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-13T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Why I use Pagefind: A deep dive into chunked indexing, bandwidth scaling, and setting up a production-grade search for Astro.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/orama-astroThe Right Way to Add Orama Search to Astro2026-01-12T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-12T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Stop using the Orama Astro plugin. Here is how to build a type-safe, metadata-rich search engine that actually works in Dev Mode.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/optimizing-astro-bundle-sizeHoney, I Shrunk my Frontend Bundle Size!2026-01-11T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-11T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

How I replaced Lottie with Canvas sprites, migrated to Preact, and removed heavy dependencies to cut over 300KB from my bundle.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/automating-image-alt-textAutomating Accessibility: Generating Alt Text with AI2026-01-10T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-11T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

How I automated accessibility across my portfolio by building a build-time pipeline that uses Gemini Flash to generate accurate alt text for hundreds of images.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/building-pixelation-hover-effectBuilding a Smooth Pixelation Reveal Effect with Canvas2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-09T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

How I built a high-performance, interactive pixelation effect for image transitions using HTML5 Canvas and custom easing interactions.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/automating-image-placeholdersHow to generate blurry placeholders for your images2026-01-08T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-08T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

How I eliminated layout shift and improved perceived performance by generating 20px base64 placeholders automatically at build time.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/building-animated-sprite-heroHow to generate animated pixel art with AI and Python2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-07T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

How I built a pixel-perfect animated hero section using Midjourney, a custom Python processing pipeline, and Astro View Transitions.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/semantic-recommendationsHow I built a semantic recommendation engine2026-01-06T00:00:00.000Z2026-10-27T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Building a "related content" engine with embeddings, a reranker and a cache keyed by exact input, and why I dropped tag and category scoring.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/new-year-2026New Year 2026: Little by little2026-01-02T00:00:00.000Z2026-01-02T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Little by little, a little becomes a lot. Reflecting on the small wins of 2025 and laying out the roadmap for 2026.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/linkedin-automationHow to automate LinkedIn outreach?2025-12-24T00:00:00.000Z2025-12-24T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A step-by-step guide to LinkedIn outreach automation concepts using OpenOutreach, an open-source Playwright-based tool.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/how-to-find-and-validate-work-emailsHow to find verified work emails for cold outreach2025-12-20T00:00:00.000Z2025-12-20T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Find verified work emails that never made it into public databases, in a way that is cheaper and more effective than Apollo/Hunter.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/scaling-highly-personalized-outboundScaling highly personalized outbound with AI.2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z2025-12-17T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Build a pipeline to enrich leads with LinkedIn data and generate highly personalized cold emails with AI for under $5.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/is-cold-outreach-dyingIs cold outreach dying, or are you doing it wrong?2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z2025-12-16T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A practical guide to what actually works in 2025: infrastructure, targeting, personalization, and multi-channel strategies that still get meetings.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/drool-is-shut-downDrool is shut down - An honest post-mortem.2025-12-15T00:00:00.000Z2025-12-15T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

An honest post-mortem on shutting down my design agency. Lessons on scope creep, hiring pitfalls and remote ops friction.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/ai-billion-dollar-lieAI's Billion-Dollar Lie: Is inference really profitable?2025-12-10T00:00:00.000Z2025-12-10T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google keep dropping wild revenue numbers, but once you cut through the hype and wild speculations, the numbers don't add up.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/setting-up-traefik-from-local-to-productionSetting Up Traefik: From Local to Production2025-08-09T00:00:00.000Z2025-08-09T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Building three different Traefik configurations - from simple local development to production-ready infrastructure with security layers.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/building-perfect-toc-componentWhy I spent weeks perfecting a TOC component2025-08-04T00:00:00.000Z2025-08-04T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A deep dive into building a Table of Contents component with sophisticated visual debugging and pixel-perfect active state detection.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/building-newsletter-with-astro-cloudflare-and-resendBuilding a Newsletter System Without the Headache2025-08-01T00:00:00.000Z2025-08-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

How I added a complete newsletter system to my static Astro site using Cloudflare KV, Resend, and MDX - no external CMS required.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/setup-ubuntu-server-in-10-minutesSetup your Ubuntu Server in Under 10 Minutes2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z2025-07-29T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Skip the manual server setup with a three-stage Ansible approach that gets you from fresh Ubuntu install to production-ready in under 10 minutes.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/self-hosting-done-rightSelf-hosting done right with Ansible & Docker2025-07-23T00:00:00.000Z2025-07-23T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Learning infrastructure automation the hard way - from multi-node cluster-f*ck to a production-ready, single-node setup with Ansible.

https://sarthakmishra.com/blog/the-greater-foolThe Greater Fool: Why I Chose the Hard Path2025-07-15T00:00:00.000Z2025-07-15T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

On embracing risk, learning from failure, and why I believe the unconventional path leads to the most meaningful growth.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/winitiateWinitiate2025-02-01T00:00:00.000Z2025-02-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A unified platform for freelancers and agencies that replaces scattered tools for client messaging, CRM, billing, and scheduling with one dashboard.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/codemapCodemap2025-01-01T00:00:00.000Z2025-01-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

An AI-powered coding assistant that started as a git commit helper and grew into smart commits, pull requests, and semantic search over your code.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/ux-folioUX-Folio - Design Explorations & Experiments2024-11-15T00:00:00.000Z2024-11-15T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A collection of interesting design work, hackathon projects, and experimental interfaces created during my time at Drool agency.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/mydripMy Drip - AI-Powered Personalized Shopping Experience2024-09-15T00:00:00.000Z2024-09-15T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

An innovative MVP that combines generative AI with personalized eCommerce, delivering daily outfit recommendations with realistic photos of users wearing them.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/phidataPhidata - AI Assistant Platform Landing Page2024-04-20T00:00:00.000Z2024-04-20T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A comprehensive landing page redesign for an innovative AI assistant platform, focusing on clear communication and conversion optimization.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/learnwayLearnway2024-03-01T00:00:00.000Z2024-03-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

AI-powered learning platform that generates personalized learning paths, featuring intelligent pathway generation, content curation, and an AI tutor.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/sellscaleSellScale - AI-Powered Cold Outreach Platform2023-12-10T00:00:00.000Z2023-12-10T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A comprehensive design overhaul of an all-in-one cold outreach platform that automates LinkedIn and email campaigns for B2B sales teams.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/blendnbrewBlend & Brew - Community-Driven Tea Brand2023-06-15T00:00:00.000Z2023-06-15T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

An experimental venture creating a flavoured tea brand inspired by new-age coffee culture, focused on supporting small indigenous tea growers.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/droolDrool2023-01-01T00:00:00.000Z2023-01-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Drool was a design agency for early-stage startups in AI, B2B, data analytics, and no-code SaaS, built on cold outreach and later sunset.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/altpackAltpack2022-01-01T00:00:00.000Z2022-01-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

Modular backpacks designed for any environment: lightweight, durable, and adaptable. A leap into physical products and D2C manufacturing.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/logo-folioLogo-Folio - Brand Identity & Logo Design2022-01-01T00:00:00.000Z2022-01-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A collection of logo designs and brand identity projects created for clients - showcasing versatile branding solutions across industries.

https://sarthakmishra.com/work/weaveuWeaveu2021-01-01T00:00:00.000Z2021-01-01T00:00:00.000ZSarthak Mishra

A fashion ecommerce marketplace connecting consumers, raw-material producers, and boutique tailors for custom clothing creation.