Articles by Nicolas Cousin, freelance .NET Tech Lead: .NET migration and support, code quality, Tech Lead practices, F# and AI agents.
4 November 2026
On November 10, 2026, .NET 8 and .NET 9 stop receiving security patches. Your application keeps running, but Microsoft will no longer fix new vulnerabilities. What changes, the three options, and where to start the migration to .NET 10.
4 November 2026
On November 10, 2026, .NET 8 and .NET 9 stop receiving security patches. Your application keeps running, but Microsoft will no longer fix new vulnerabilities. What changes, the three options, and where to start the migration to .NET 10.
3 November 2026
Installing Codex and Claude Code on my VPS took ten minutes. Deciding where they were allowed to write took me much longer. A field report on pnpm, a trusted ~/projects zone, Bubblewrap, and a sandbox I ended up leaving off.
27 October 2026
Six articles in, a local/cloud split is starting to take shape on the VPS. This isn't the series' final architecture, just the first version solid enough to be put to the test. Seventh article in the series.
23 October 2026
My local agent kept telling me “Build succeeded” and “Tests passed”, and I couldn't find a single file in the project. I was quick to blame the model: the first culprit turned out to be my Docker mount. This article opens the part of the series on the Hermes sandbox trap.
20 October 2026
After the local CPU cold shower, I needed a cloud path for interactive work. Two attempts, a clean failure and an immediate success: the question that matters isn't which cloud is best, but which one wires up simply without blowing up the bill. Sixth article in the series.
13 October 2026
Hermes' /bg mode delivers a real service: launch a task and get control back. But three separate experiences taught me that a result that comes back on its own has to be tested before it's trusted. Fifth article in the series.
6 October 2026
Numbers, not a feeling: what a local LLM actually delivers on a CPU-only VPS, compared to the cloud. Fourth article in the series.
29 September 2026
Assembling Docker, Ollama, and Hermes on the hardened VPS, and discovering that a model 'compatible with Ollama' isn't necessarily usable as-is by an agentic orchestrator. Third article in the series.
22 September 2026
Before installing the first AI agent on my VPS, I hardened it: key-only SSH, a firewall, Tailscale, and a safety net in case something goes wrong. Second article in the series on my agentic environment.
15 September 2026
I wanted to build my own agentic environment on a VPS, at a controlled cost. First article in a series documenting what actually works, what breaks, and the architecture that emerges from it.
3 September 2026
AI agents aren't just a tool to write code faster anymore. They're also changing how we need to design the systems they operate on. Two sides of the same coin, seen through the same Tech Lead lens.
2 December 2025
The project barely exists: a simple Next.js home page and a few empty F# projects. And yet, the most important part is already done. Before writing any feature, I focused on building solid foundations. Here’s how I prepare a SaaS so it stands tall from day one.
24 November 2025
After more than two decades in .NET development, I decided to pursue a structured path toward a broader role. Here’s why I chose Studi’s CTO & Tech Lead Master’s Degree.
17 November 2025
What if the way your code expresses business workflows mattered just as much as the workflows themselves? Let's talk about pipelines, explicit errors, and shared understanding — without the spaghetti.
28 October 2025
Becoming a Tech Lead doesn’t mean leaving the keyboard behind. It’s about using code differently — as a tool for teaching, leading by example, and keeping a clear technical vision.
13 April 2025
A pragmatic comparison between C# and F# through the lens of Software Craftsmanship: expressiveness, testability, robustness, and domain modelling. No proselytising - just the facts.
31 January 2025
Discover why F#, the functional language of the .NET ecosystem, deserves your attention. Learn about its advantages, use cases, and how it enriches .NET development.
12 November 2024
Optimise your workflow with DevContainer using these tips and best practices: automate dependencies, configure VS Code extensions, optimise Docker images, manage environment variables securely, and more for maximum productivity.
20 September 2024
Learn how to set up a scalable development environment with DevContainer, evolving from simple configurations to multi-service orchestration with Docker-Compose.
17 January 2021
Discover how to test an ASP.NET Core WebApi with Gherkin and Specflow, using readable integration tests and mocks for external services.
4 September 2019
A guide on migrating from Unity 2 to Unity 5, covering package updates, namespace changes, troubleshooting, and configuration adjustments.
Evergreen: articles focusing on long-lasting concepts.
