SokoFlow Build Log — Month 1 of 4
Last semester I set out on a new strategic plan to level up my software development skills through deliberate, project-based learning. That work produced one of the most ambitious things I've built so far: Sim-Pesa, a local-first transactional appliance that lets developers working in the M-Pesa ecosystem test and simulate STK Push workflows entirely on their own machines, without depending on the Daraja sandbox. I documented that build in 16 weekly posts, which you can find here.
This semester, the focus shifts — from fintech foundations to cloud-native integration and real-world systems. The flagship project is SokoFlow, a conversational ERP for small Kenyan shopkeepers to track inventory and record sales entirely through WhatsApp chat. No app to download, no training session required — just natural language.
Where Sim-Pesa lived in a controlled, predictable transactional world, SokoFlow steps into the mess of cloud-native reality: third-party API failures, webhook signature verification, the statelessness of HTTP, and container orchestration. The target audience shifts too — Kenyan SMEs operating on infrastructure that is often unreliable by design, not by exception.
