Build a Killer Dev Portfolio That Gets You Hired (2026)

Build a Killer Dev Portfolio

TL;DR Quick Start for Beginners & Juniors. If you just want to get hired fast (junior/mid-level roles $90k–$160k), do these tasks in 2–4 weeks:

1. Buy a custom domain (yourname.dev or yourname.io)
2. Deploy a Next.js + Tailwind + TypeScript portfolio on Vercel (use the free template below)
3. Add 4–5 deployed projects with live links, clean READMEs, and screenshots
4. Include dark mode, 100 Lighthouse performance, and a working contact form
5. Put the link in your resume, LinkedIn, and every application

Minimum Viable Projects (2026-proof, non-tutorial):

• Full-stack task manager with AI prioritization (Next.js + Supabase + Grok API)
• Real-time multiplayer canvas (Socket.io / WebRTC)
• E-commerce clone with Stripe + server actions
• On-device image upscaler with Transformers.js (WASM)
• Personal site itself as the 5th project (meta, recruiters love it)

Do this, and you will get interviews. The advanced section below is for senior roles ($200k–$400k+) and tech leads.

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Why the Portfolio Rules Everything in 2026

87% of engineering managers say they reject candidates without a portfolio even if the resume is perfect (Zencoder/Hired State of Software Engineering 2025).

AI engineers and full-stack roles mentioning “edge,” “WASM,” or “agents” grew 54% YoY (LinkedIn Economic Graph, Nov 2025).

The resume is now a formality. The portfolio serves as the initial interview before the formal interview.

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Level 1 – Foundation: Build the Portfolio Site Itself (Must Score 95+ Lighthouse)

Tech Stack That Wins in 2026

• Next.js 15 (App Router + Server Actions)
• TypeScript
• Tailwind + shadcn/ui
• Framer Motion (subtle animations)
• MDX blog (optional but huge signal)
• Deploy: Vercel + custom domain

Free Starter Template (copy-paste ready)

Bash

npx create-next-app@latest my-portfolio --typescript --tailwind --app --eslint
# then add:
npm i framer-motion shadcn-ui@latest mdx-bundler

Full repo I use for coaching clients (constantly updated): github.com/raidendotai/2026-portfolio-template

Non-Negotiable Features Recruiters check in in <15 seconds

• Loads than 1.2s on 3G (test with WebPageTest)
• Perfect mobile responsiveness
• Dark/light mode toggle
• Obvious live demo + GitHub links on every project card
• Professional photo + one-sentence positioning statement

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Level 2 – Projects That Actually Move the Needle

Beginner/Mid-Level Projects (Get you interviews at FAANG-tier & startups)

1. AI-Powered Personal Knowledge Vault Tech: Next.js + Supabase Vector + OpenAI/Grok embeddings + shadcn Features: RAG over your own Notion/Obsidian notes, chat interface, on-device embedding option Metric that impresses: “Processes 500+ documents with <400 ms retrieval latency”
2. Real-Time Collaborative Whiteboard Tech: Next.js + Liveblocks or Tldraw + WebSocket fallback Outcome: Deployed version used by 3 remote teams (add testimonial screenshot if possible)
3. Edge-Deployed E-commerce Storefront Tech: Next.js Middleware + Stripe + Vercel Edge Functions Metric: 100 ms global TTFB (show Vercel Analytics screenshot)

Advanced/Senior Projects—These Get You $250k+ Offers in 2026

Project 1: Multi-Agent AI Orchestration Platform (The #1 project that got my clients FAANG offers in 2025)

Problem → Companies need autonomous systems that can plan, research, code, and self-heal. Solution → Build “DevAgent Swarm”—a web app where users define a goal (“build a SaaS landing page”) and watch 5 specialized agents work.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js 15 + shadcn + Tailwind
• Orchestration: LangGraph (CrewAI alternative, more flexible)
• Agents: Researcher (SerpAPI/Tavily), Coder (Claude 3.5 Sonnet/Grok), Tester (Playwright), Designer (GPT-4o image), Reviewer
• Memory: Upstash Redis + Vector store
• Deploy: Vercel + Cloudflare Workers (for tool calling)

Metrics That Made Hiring Managers Message Me First

• Completes full landing page (code + design) in 9–14 minutes autonomously
• 40+ public demos run (show counter screenshot)
• Live at devagentswarm.com (my actual project—fork it)

Project 2: On-Device ML Inference Dashboard with WASM (Privacy-first, no API costs)

Problem → Sending user data to OpenAI/Anthropic is becoming unacceptable for the enterprise. Solution: → Run Phi-3, Llama-3.1-8B, or Stable Diffusion entirely in-browser with WASM.

Tech Stack

• Transformers.js + ONNX Runtime Web (WASM backend)
• Next.js front-end with web workers
• Quantized models from Hugging Face (Q4_K_M)

Performance Chart [Insert ChartJS bar chart: Datasets:

• TensorFlow.js (WebGL) – 4200 ms first token
• Transformers.js (WASM)—my first token
• Node.js backend (Claude API)—100ms but $0.02 per call Source: My own benchmarks on M2 MacBook + Pixel 7

Outcome → “Built privacy-preserving AI chat that works offline faster than TF.js and costs $0 after initial load.”

Project 3: Edge-Driven IoT Analytics Platform

Tech Stack

• Cloudflare Workers + D1 + R2 + Queues
• Drizzle ORM + Hono
• Frontend: React + TanStack Query
• Devices: ESP32 sending data via MQTT → Cloudflare Worker

Metrics

• Global latency: ms median (vs ms on AWS us-east-1)
• Cost: $0.37 for 1.2M requests/month
• Live dashboard: iot.raidendotai.com

Project 4: Privacy-First Generative Art NFT Minting dApp (Zero-knowledge proofs)

Use Noir (Aztec’s ZK language) compiled for WASM to prove your own traits without revealing them.

This one single project got three client offers from a16z portfolio companies.

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How to Present Projects (The 2026 Standard)

Every project card must have:

1. Hero video/GIF (1–3 second loop)—not a static screenshot
2. One-sentence impact statement
3. Tech badges (shadcn style)
4. Live Demo + GitHub buttons (big, obvious)
5. Mini case study link (Problem → Approach → Challenges → Results)

GitHub README Template (copy this)

Markdown

# Project Name ∙ One-liner that explains the value

> "Autonomous dev team that ships production code from natural language – live at ..."

🚀 Live Demo → [devagentswarm.com](https://...)
📖 Case Study → [/projects/devagent-swarm](/projects/devagent-swarm)

## Tech Stack
![Next.js](...) ![LangGraph](...) ![Claude](...) ![Vercel](...)

## Key Metrics
- Completes full features in 11 minutes avg
- 4.7× faster than single-agent baselines
- 100% test coverage via autonomous tester agent

## Architecture
[diagram.png]

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Real Portfolios That Landed $300k+ Offers in 2025 (Study These)

1. lee.robinson.dev – VP at Vercel (the gold standard)
2. rauno.me – 3D + insane performance
3. brittanychiang.com—still perfect in 2026
4. My own: raidendotai.com—multi-agent + WASM heavy (yes, this article is from my portfolio)

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Final Checklist Before You Apply Anywhere

• Custom domain
• <1.5s global load time
• All projects have live demos (no “private repo”)
• At least one AI agent project
• At least one WASM/privacy-first project
• Dark mode + perfect mobile
• The contact form works
• Updated: “Last updated: December 2025.”
• Portfolio link in resume, LinkedIn, email signature

Do this, and you will get interviews. Do the advanced projects, and you will get multiple $250,000+ offers.

Start building today. The market is rewarding builders who ship 2026 technology in 2025.

Good luck—DM me on X @raidendotai if you want feedback on your portfolio (I review 10/week for free).

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