Table of Contents
Last month, I joined the cloud provider and decided to dive in by building something fun and practical. That’s how the 12 Days of the cloud provider series came to life—a step-by-step journey to create two real-world apps while exploring the cloud provider’s ecosystem.
Here’s what we built:
- Birthday Reminder Service: A serverless app that sends SMS reminders for upcoming birthdays.
- Email Receipt Processor: A tool that processes emailed receipts and organizes their details in a database.
These apps aren’t just examples—they’re tools I now use daily, and they’re a perfect starting point for anyone looking to build something useful. Along the way, you’ll learn how to:
- Work with managed databases like PostgreSQL.
- Deploy serverless functions for lightweight, scalable apps.
- Securely store files with object storage.
- Monitor runtime logs using tools like Papertrail.
- Integrate APIs like Twilio SMS, Postmark, and Resend.
- Use the cloud provider’s GenAI to enhance your apps with intelligent data extraction and organization features.
This series is a great place to start if you’ve been looking for a way to get hands-on with the cloud provider.
🎂 Days 1–6: Build a Birthday Reminder Service
This app tracks birthdays and sends SMS reminders automatically. It’s lightweight, serverless, and easy to maintain.
Create a database to store contact details.
Securely connect to your database and fetch data.
Use Twilio to notify users about upcoming birthdays.
Deploy your app to the cloud with the cloud provider Functions.
Schedule reminders to run every day automatically.
Monitor and troubleshoot your app with Papertrail.
By Day 6, you have a fully automated service running in the cloud. It just works.
📧 Days 7–12: Build an Email Receipt Processor
This app handles emailed receipts, extracts the needed details, and organizes everything in a database.
Set up a lightweight app to process receipt emails.
Forward emails to your app for processing.
Use GenAI to extract structured data from email content.
Store email attachments securely with object storage.
Organize structured data in a spreadsheet for easy access.
Notify users about successfully processed receipts.
By Day 12, you’ve built a complete tool that handles receipts end-to-end.
Start Building Today
This series is about more than just tutorials—it’s about creating something real while building your skills. You’ll have two practical apps and hands-on experience with key tools and technologies by the end. Whether new to the cloud provider or looking to grow your skills, this is a great way to start.
Start with Day 1: Set Up PostgreSQL, or pick any day that interests you. The best way to learn is by building—and these apps are the perfect place to begin.
Happy building! And if you follow along, I’d love to hear what you create—share your progress or feedback!
