Forem: Felicia Ebikon

How I Built "The Sentinel": My AI Supply Chain Agent

Felicia Ebikon — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 22:45:33 +0000

Last December, I decided to challenge myself. I joined a hackathon because I wanted to see if I could build a real AI tool in just 48 hours.

My goal was to solve a problem I see often in logistics. Companies have too much data and not enough time to understand it. They usually rely on slow spreadsheets to make decisions. I wanted to build something faster.

I built "The Sentinel." It is an intelligent agent that watches inventory levels and tells you exactly when to restock.

Here is how I built it.

The Tools I Used
I needed tools that were fast to set up. I chose these four:

Google Gemini: I used this as the "brain" to analyze the data.
Kestra.io: I used this to connect everything together. It handles the workflow.
Next.js: I used this to build the website so users can see the results.
Vercel: I used this to host the website online. It made deployment very fast.

How It Works

The system follows a simple path.

First, Kestra wakes up and pulls the inventory data from my database. It sends this data to Google Gemini.

I wrote a specific prompt for Gemini. I told it to act like a Senior Logistics Manager. It looks at the numbers and decides if the stock is too low.

If Gemini sees a problem, it sends a message back. Kestra takes that message and triggers an alert. Finally, my Next.js website (hosted on Vercel) updates to show the user the warning immediately.

The Hardest Part

The project was not easy. The biggest challenge was the connection between the AI and the workflow.

At first, Gemini would give me long paragraphs of text. Kestra could not understand that. I had to tweak my prompts many times. I finally got Gemini to reply with "JSON" format. Once I did that, Kestra could easily read the data and take the next step.

It was a frustrating few hours, but fixing it felt great.

What I Learned

This project taught me that you don't need a huge team to build powerful software. By combining a tool like Kestra with AI, I built a working system in a weekend.

I am still on my journey to becoming a DevOps expert. Projects like "The Sentinel" prove to me that I can build things that solve real problems.

Create a Subdomain in Route53 and Attach it to Elastic Beanstalk Environment

Felicia Ebikon — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 12:59:24 +0000

This tutorial guides you through the process of creating a subdomain using Amazon Route 53 and seamlessly integrating it with an Elastic Beanstalk environment. Learn how to establish a distinct subdomain, enabling you to organize and host various applications efficiently.

Step One: Create hosted zone for subdomain

Log in to AWS Console
Search for Route53 on AWS Services
Click on Hosted zones on the route53 dashboard
Click on Create hosted zone button
Fill the form
- On Domain name field enter the full url to your subdomain
- On Description field Write a description of your choice
- On Type select Public hosted zone
- Add tag if you want to
- Then click on Create hosted zone button

You should see a successful page if everything was done correctly

Step Two: Add subdomain NS Values as record on Primary Domain

Scroll down a bit on your newly created subdomain and copy the NS values, all four of them
Click on Hosted zone from the left navigation pane
Look for your primary domain (if you have many domains on the list) and click on it
In the primary domain page click on Create record
Fill the form
- On Record name type your subdomain name Don't include the primary domain name, it will be added by default
- On Record type Select NS from the list
- On Value Paste the NS Values you copied from the subdomain
- On Routing policy Select Simple routing
- Leave TTL as Default
- Then Click on Create records button

A successful message should appear if it went well

Step Three: Create Certificate

Type Certificate manager on the search box and click on it from the search result
Click on the orange color Request a certificate button
Select Request a public certificate then click Next
Fill the form
- On Fully qualified domain name Enter your subdomain name including the primary domain name
- On Validation method Select DNS validation - recommended
- On Key algorithm Select RSA 2048
- You can add tag if you want.
- Then scroll down and Click on the Request button
If successful, Status should display Pending validation Click on the Certificate ID or Name
Click on Create records in Route 53 button
Click on the Create records button
If DNS record creation successful
Wait for one to five minutes and refresh your page; the validation status should change from Pending validation to Issued

Step Four: Add Listener on Elastic Beanstalk

Search for Elastic beanstalk and click on it
Click on the name of your elastic beanstalk Environment name
Click on Configuration from the left pane and scroll down
If your Load balancer under Instance traffic and scaling category, under Capacity is not editable. Click edit on the Instance traffic and scaling category.
Still under Instance traffic and scaling under Capacity then Auto scaling group then Environment type Select Load balanced then scroll down
On Listeners Click Add listener button
Fill the Add listener form
- On Listener port select 443
- On Listener protocol select HTTPS
- On SSL certificate choose the certificate you created
- On SSL policy Choose anyone that has 2023 in it
- On Default process leave it on default
- Then click save
Scroll down to the bottom and click the Apply button

Note: You selected Single instance rather than Load balanced when creating your elastic beanstalk, which is why your load balancer details are not displayed.

Step Five: Create Alias for subdomain to use Elastic beanstalk

Search for Route53 on AWS Services
Click on Hosted zones on the Route 53 dashboard
Click on your subdomain name, then click on the Create record button
The initial create record should look like this
Fill the form
- On Record name Leave it as is
- On Record type select A - Routes traffic to an IPv4 address and some AWS resources
- Check or Click on the Alias button
- On the Route traffic to fields
  - On Choose endpoint select Alias to Elastic Beanstalk environment
  - On Choose region select your region
  - On Choose environment select your elastic beanstalk environment
- On Routing policy select Simple routing
- Evaluate target health can be Yes
- Then click on Create records button
If everything was done correctly, a success message will appear.

Step Six: Redirect HTTP to HTTPS

Search for EC2 and click on the search result
Click on Load Balancers on the side menu
Click on the name of your load balancer
Then click on HTTP:80 at the bottom
Click on default
Click on Actions then click on Edit rule
Leave Listener details and Listener configuration as it is. Then fill out the Default actions category
- On Routing actions tick Redirect to URL
- On Redirect to URL select URI parts
- On Protocol select HTTPS
- On Port type 443
- On Status code select 301 - Permanently moved
Click save changes

Successfully modified listener message should display if successful

Enter your newly created subdomain in a browser, it should have https.

What Is DevOps? A Beginner’s Guide to How Development and Operation Teams Work Together

Felicia Ebikon — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:26:57 +0000

Understanding DevOps — The Big Picture

Software development involves many roles — developers, testers, and operations engineers — all working together to build and maintain applications. But how do these roles connect, and what exactly does DevOps do?

This guide breaks it down simply, so even if you’re new to tech, you’ll understand how DevOps fits into the bigger picture.

The Software Development Flow

Imagine a big app like Instagram or Facebook. It takes multiple teams to make it work smoothly:

Developers write and improve the code.
Testers make sure everything works properly.
Operations (Ops) run the app on servers and make sure it’s always available.

Each team plays a vital role — and all of them must coordinate to ensure users get a seamless experience.

What Developers Do

Developers write the code that brings an app to life. For large applications, there are usually several teams, each handling a different feature.

For example:

One team might build the chat system.
Another manages photo uploads.
Another focuses on user profiles.

Developers not only build new features but also fix bugs and improve performance. Once they finish, they test their work before passing it along.

The Role of Testing

Testing ensures that everything still works after new updates. It happens at several levels:

Developers test their code locally.
QA teams run manual and automated tests.
Automated tests verify that new code doesn’t break old features.

For huge apps like Facebook, manual testing alone isn’t practical — that’s why automation plays such a big role.

The Release Process

After testing, the application is built (packaged) and deployed (released) to production.

This is where Operations comes in. They:

Deploy new versions without downtime.
Manage servers.
Ensure stability and performance.

When Facebook adds a new feature, users don’t notice the update — that’s because the Ops team ensures it’s smooth and uninterrupted.

The Operations Team

Operations engineers focus on reliability and performance.
They make sure:

Servers stay online.
The app can handle millions of users.
Crashes and downtime are minimized.

They use Linux, automation scripts, and monitoring tools to keep everything running.
But here’s the challenge — developers and operations often use different tools and languages, making communication difficult.

The Problem Before DevOps

Traditionally, developers and operations worked separately:

Developers wrote code and sent deployment instructions to Ops.
Ops tried to follow them to deploy the app.
Things often went wrong — instructions were unclear or incomplete.

This disconnect caused delays. Deployments could take weeks or months. Teams needed a better way to collaborate.

The Birth of DevOps

DevOps emerged to fix this gap between development and operations.

At first, it was just a culture — a way of working that encouraged collaboration and communication between teams.

Over time, DevOps became its own role, combining development and operations skills to make software delivery faster, more automated, and more reliable.

What a DevOps Engineer Does

A DevOps engineer acts as a bridge between developers and operations. They understand both sides and use automation to make deployment easier.

Common DevOps tools and skills include:

CI/CD pipelines – automate building, testing, and deploying apps
Docker and Kubernetes – containerize and manage applications
Monitoring tools – track performance and reliability

The goal is to move code from “works on my machine” to production seamlessly and safely.

From Waterfall to Agile to DevOps

In the past, many companies used the Waterfall model — a slow, step-by-step process where teams built everything before testing or releasing.

Then came Agile, which encouraged smaller, faster updates through short “sprints.”
Agile made software development more flexible — and DevOps made it more automated.

DevOps builds on Agile by focusing on:

Continuous Integration (CI) – merging and testing code frequently
Continuous Delivery (CD) – releasing updates quickly and safely
Automation – reducing human errors and delays

Together, Agile and DevOps allow teams to move faster and adapt better to change.

Why DevOps Matters

DevOps has transformed how modern software is built.
It helps companies:

Deliver new features faster
Improve collaboration between teams
Reduce deployment errors
Automate repetitive tasks
Get quick feedback from users

In short: DevOps makes development faster, safer, and more efficient.

Conclusion

DevOps isn’t just about tools — it’s about culture.
It’s about breaking down barriers between developers and operations, using automation to work smarter, and focusing on continuous improvement.

As technology evolves, DevOps continues to shape how software is built, deployed, and maintained — helping teams deliver better products, faster than ever.