Full Stack Developer for AI Generation Platform

We're looking for a developer to help build, improve, debug, clean up, and maintain Forge, our AI image/video generation platform.

This role will start part time at around 20 hours per week. If the working relationship is strong and you prove that you can safely handle the codebase, this can grow into a full-time 40 hour/week position.

Important note: the current codebase was built extremely quickly with a lot of AI-assisted / vibe-coded development. That means some parts work well, but other parts are messy, inconsistent, overcomplicated, or fragile. A big part of this job will be cleaning up vibe-coded slop, simplifying confusing code, fixing bugs at the root cause, and making the platform more stable over time without breaking what already works.

Here is what you will do:

Build and improve user-facing features - Work on the Forge web app, including chat, toolbox, production line, media library, dashboards, admin pages, team pages, and account workflows.

Clean up messy AI-generated code - Refactor confusing, duplicated, fragile, or overcomplicated code into something cleaner and easier to maintain, while keeping changes scoped and safe.

Fix bugs quickly and carefully - Investigate user reports, check logs, reproduce issues, identify the real cause, and implement fixes without breaking existing functionality.

Work with AI generation APIs - Help maintain integrations with image/video/audio providers like WaveSpeed, Seedance, Seedream, Nano Banana, GPT image models, ElevenLabs, Venice, and other AI APIs.

Improve backend reliability - Work on job queues, credit charging, upload handling, media storage, webhooks, retries, error handling, admin tools, and logs.

Improve frontend UX - Make sure the app works well on desktop and mobile, including dark mode, modals, dropdowns, mobile keyboard behavior, uploads, lightboxes, video playback, and loading states.

Handle payments and user systems - Help maintain subscription logic, user permissions, admin controls, age verification, payment processor requirements, and account-level settings.

Improve performance - Speed up slow pages, fix loading problems, optimize media loading, reduce unnecessary API calls, and make the app feel more stable.

Work independently - You should be comfortable reading an existing messy codebase, figuring things out, making clean changes, testing your work, and explaining what changed.

Requirements:
Strong experience with Python backend development
Strong experience with React / Next.js frontend development
Experience working with REST APIs, webhooks, async jobs, queues, and databases
Experience debugging production issues using logs and real user reports
Comfortable working with AI APIs or image/video generation tools
Good understanding of mobile web issues, responsive UI, and browser quirks
Able to clean up messy code without randomly rewriting the whole app
Able to make small, safe improvements instead of huge risky refactors
Able to test your own work before saying it is done
Good communication and willingness to explain tradeoffs clearly

Bonus experience:
Docker
Postgres
Redis / RQ / background workers
Stripe or other payment processors
Media storage/CDNs/S3-compatible storage
AI image/video generation APIs
Admin dashboards or internal tools
Compliance, moderation, or age verification systems
Experience taking over messy legacy or AI-generated codebases
This position will start part time, paid weekly through Wise. You will be working directly with the founder on a live production app with real users, so reliability matters. We move fast, but we need someone who is careful, honest, and able to fix the actual problem instead of just patching symptoms.

OVERALL we're looking for someone who is strong at full stack development, good at debugging real production issues, comfortable cleaning up messy AI-generated code, and comfortable working on an AI generation platform with lots of moving parts.

TO APPLY:
message me here
include the word FORGE in your message to me at some point (YOU WILL BE IGNORED OTHERWISE)
send examples of apps, tools, dashboards, backend systems, or production features you have built
tell me about your experience with Python, React/Next.js, APIs, and debugging production bugs
tell me if you have experience taking over messy codebases, legacy codebases, or AI-generated/vibe-coded code
if you have experience with AI tools, image/video generation, payment systems, or admin dashboards, mention that too
let me know your hourly rate and availability

NEXT STEPS: if I like your application, I will respond here and ask for your ---------- username. All future communication will be on ---------- .

After that, selected applicants may receive a short technical screening task. The task will use a small sample project, not the real Forge codebase. This is only meant to show how you debug, read code, communicate, and make safe changes.

For the screening task, I will be looking for:
Can you read unfamiliar code and understand what is happening?
Can you find the real cause of a bug instead of guessing?
Can you make a small, safe fix without rewriting everything?
Can you explain what you changed clearly?
Can you test your own work before saying it is done?
Can you work with messy or AI-generated code without making it worse?

If the screening task goes well, we will start with a paid trial period at around 20 hours per week. During the trial, you will work on real Forge tasks with clear instructions. If the working relationship is strong, this can grow into a long-term role and potentially become full time.

Remember to include FORGE in your initial message to us on here!