Six tools we built ourselves, one login: time tracking, CRM, tasks, inventory, notes and proposals. Developed with Claude Code by our own team, running on our own server, and in daily use since August 2026.
All screenshots on this page come from our demo instance with made-up companies and people; the tools themselves speak German.
The Challenge.
Like most companies, we had piled up software over the years: rental software for our tech inventory, an HR tool for hours and leave, a CRM for sales and a project management tool for tasks. On top came an Excel template for working hours that had been passed around the team for years, and proposals pieced together from old Word files.
Each tool made sense on its own. Together: per-seat licences, data in many places and processes shaped by the software instead of by us.
The real question was whether building our own pays off for a team our size. Two years ago the answer would have been no. AI-assisted development made us ask again.
The Solution.
Written with Claude Code by people from our team, alongside their day jobs. The tools have been in use for two months. In September CANDY NOTES followed, together with an onboarding for new colleagues and a demo for client meetings.
At the heart of it sits CANDY DASH, the front door to everything: sign in once and every tool opens without a second password. A bell collects whatever is waiting for you across the tools. And every tool carries the same menu bar at the top: if you can use one, you can use them all.
Because all tools are built under one roof, they talk to each other: a deal in CANDY PIPE becomes a proposal in CANDY PROPOSAL, tasks in CANDY TASK and project hours in CANDY WORK. That is exactly what a collection of separate subscriptions can't do.
How it fits together
Inquiry – CANDY PIPE
Every inquiry becomes a deal, including the ones from the contact form on this website. The tool builds the title itself from company, service, date and location.
Proposal – CANDY PROPOSAL
One click on the deal opens the proposal with company, address and subject already filled in. The number comes from CANDY PIPE, and the deal's history shows the proposal automatically.
Order – CANDY TASK
Won means the deal moves to the orders board. Once the service is delivered, CANDY PIPE creates the next tasks in CANDY TASK itself: first "upload receipts", then "send invoice".
Delivery – CANDY NOTES & CANDY WORK
The kick-off notes are attached to the deal, their to-dos become tasks. Where clients need timesheets, we book the hours in CANDY WORK directly onto the deal.
Paid – back in CANDY PIPE
Every instalment is a line on the deal, the remaining amount calculates itself. Only when everything is paid is the deal done.
The bell in the portal collects whatever is waiting for you across the tools: a new task, the answer to a status request, approved leave, a lead that's due again. One click takes you straight to the spot in the tool.
The Tools
Each tool solves one process, exactly the way we actually work. The order is the one from the portal: by how often the team needs it.
Time tracking, leave & expenses
Working hours, leave, business trips and receipts in one place. Hours and overtime balance are calculated automatically, Hamburg's public holidays are already built in, and so are travel allowances. The monthly statement comes out in the format our accounting needs. Anyone who just wants to log start and end presses "Start your Day" in the portal.
Deals, contacts & invoices
Our CRM knows two life cycles per deal: sales and delivery. A won deal doesn't disappear, it moves to the orders board and is only done once the invoice is paid. Plus leads with follow-up dates, a forecast by delivery month and the team's commissions.
Projects, tasks & collaboration
The board asks just one question: today or later? At its core is one rule: whoever delegates a task keeps track of it until it's done, and only the person who currently holds it can tick it off. Asking for a status takes one click, and so does the answer: "on it", "yes, but later", "I'm blocked".
Inventory & TECH FLAT planning
Our tech arsenal: every device with serial number, shelf location and depreciation. Which device is currently with which TECH FLAT client is derived from the assignments, nobody types it in by hand. Plus planning for the coming quarters and selling off retired tech.
Meeting notes, minutes & to-dos
Open the tool, the cursor is blinking, start typing: saving happens on its own. Below the text sits what follows from the conversation: one line per to-do, sent to CANDY TASK as a task with one click. Attached to a deal, the note can be read by anyone who opens that deal.
Create & manage proposals
One template per proposal type: tech event, keynote, consulting, innovation journey, TECH FLAT. Company and address come from the deal, the proposal number is issued by CANDY PIPE, and next to every price you see what comparable items have cost so far. The result is a finished Word file.
Onboarding & demo
New colleagues don't learn the tools from a manual but right in the portal: the onboarding walks them step by step through CANDY DASH and every tool, with highlighted screens and short texts. What matters on day one, logging hours and creating the first task, comes first.
For client meetings CANDY DASH runs a second time: as a clickable demo with made-up companies, made-up deals and a made-up colleague called Lena Brause. It starts from scratch every time. Every image on this page comes from exactly this demo; we never show real client data.
And since hours are often logged on the go, all tools work on a phone too: the tabs fold into a menu, while balance, bell and the way back to the portal stay at the top.
Operations & security
Software you build yourself isn't free: someone has to run it. That's why we built the operations side in from day one.
One login, two factors
One sign-in for all tools, optionally with a second factor via code. Sessions can be revoked instantly, and signing out in the portal signs you out everywhere.
Server in Germany
All tools run on our own server in Germany, each with its own database. The public website is completely separate.
Daily backups
Encrypted every night onto a second machine. We rehearse restoring regularly: a backup that has never been restored is just an assumption.
A watchdog
Every five minutes a script checks that each tool responds, the backup is fresh and the certificate is valid. It only posts to our Teams channel when something newly breaks, and again when it's fixed.
Live automatically
The server pulls new versions itself every two minutes. If a build fails, the previous version simply keeps running.
Weekly security check
Every Monday all dependencies are checked for known vulnerabilities, so new findings reach the channel before the week is planned.
A few people from the team, alongside their day jobs. The effort shifts from coding to describing: whoever can explain their process precisely gets exactly that process as software.
No vendor would have built the delegation chain in CANDY TASK or the two life cycles of a deal in CANDY PIPE for us. Change requests don't land in a vendor's backlog, they're often live the same day.
Instead of per-seat licences we pay for a server, AI usage and our own time. We deliberately don't rebuild accounting or email: where specialist knowledge and liability begin, renting remains the better choice.
We don't recommend anything to clients that we don't do ourselves. We build your own software for your processes with vibe coding. It starts with a Scoping & Build Day on site with you.