Notes on automation, AI and web scraping
Practical notes from real projects — what I've learned shipping for international clients from Baku over the last 3+ years.
Python Web Scraping in 2026 — Playwright vs Selenium vs BeautifulSoup
After shipping scrapers with all three, here is a practical breakdown of when Playwright wins, when Selenium still has a place, and when BeautifulSoup is all you need.
n8n vs Make.com — A Practical Comparison After 50+ Workflows
After building 50+ workflows on both platforms, here's where each one wins, the real pricing math, and how I decide which to use for a new project.
Self-Hosting n8n on a $5 VPS — A Production Setup That Actually Works
From bare Hetzner VPS to production-ready n8n in one sitting — Docker, PostgreSQL, nginx with SSL, automated backups and monitoring. The exact setup I use for clients.
Building a Telegram Bot for Business Automation in a Day
How to ship a Telegram bot that actually solves a real business problem in one day — order notifications, customer Q&A, internal team alerts. With working code.
How to Cut OpenAI API Costs by 80% — Real Numbers and Tactics
OpenAI bills creeping up? I cut one client's monthly spend from $1,200 to $240. Here are the tactics that actually worked, with real numbers, not theoretical optimisations.
Building a RAG System — Make Your Own Documents Answer Questions
Step-by-step guide to building a RAG system that answers questions from your own documents — chunking, embeddings, vector DB, retrieval, prompt strategy. Production-tested.
CRM API Integration — Lessons From Connecting Bitrix24, HubSpot and Zoho
After integrating with all three, here's the practical comparison — authentication quirks, rate limits, webhook reliability, and what to expect on real client projects.
Bypassing Cloudflare and Captchas — An Ethical Scraper's Playbook
How modern anti-bot systems actually detect you, the technical layers used to get past them, and where to draw the ethical line. Deep technical with a clear ethics frame.
Real-Time Monitoring Systems for Prices, News and Competitors
How to build a system that catches a competitor price change in 5 minutes — scraping, diff detection, alert rules, notification channels. With real client examples.
Customer Support Bot With GPT-4 on Your Own Knowledge Base
How to ship a GPT-4 customer support bot grounded on your own docs, FAQs and product catalog — Telegram, WhatsApp, web chat. Patterns from real projects.
Automating YouTube Analytics Reports — Daily Email Pipeline
Build a system that pulls channel metrics nightly via YouTube Data API and turns them into a human-readable daily email — no manual dashboard checking.
Getting Started With Automation in 2026 — A No-Hype Roadmap
Workflow automation, no-code platforms, AI integration — a six-month roadmap for newcomers, with the traps to avoid. Written for technical and non-technical readers.
AI for Small Businesses in Emerging Markets — Where to Start
A practical AI adoption guide for small and medium businesses in emerging markets — which use cases give real ROI, realistic pricing, and the traps to avoid.
Free vs Paid Automation Tools — A 2026 Reality Check
Which automation tools you can stay on the free tier with, when the paid tier earns its keep, and which choice fits which business size. With real cost data.
Is Web Scraping Legal? Ethics, Law and Best Practices
Where web scraping sits legally, where the ethical line falls, how to stay compliant with both laws and terms of service — with real court cases and practical guidance.