Backends that keep running at 3 a.m.

I'm Andreas Kunisch and I've been building web applications that hold up in daily use since 2010. Today mostly with Symfony and Laravel, plus AI workflows that connect your systems.

Discuss a projectSee projects

Experience from employment at

Projects:

From practice.

A few examples from my past work.

Travel booking platformTravel, backend development

Booking billing, rebuilt and finally testable.

Billing ran in an old monolith that assembled its XML documents as raw strings right in the code, hard to read and barely testable. I moved it into the modern Symfony monolith and restructured it from the ground up.

  • A typed object model replaces the XML strings. Every invoice is easy to read and extend.
  • Unit tests protect the billing rules, made possible by the new class structure.
  • Before-and-after diffs between old and new system made every deviation visible before it went live.
  • Optimised performance so billing runs finish faster.
  • Structured logging makes every invoice traceable.
  • Symfony
  • PHPUnit
  • XML
  • MySQL
  • Docker

Hundredsof bookings a day run through the new billing

News portal and newsletterTrade publisher, full-stack development

The newsletter that builds itself from the latest articles.

Every issue was put together by hand from the latest articles, about three hours per newsletter. I built a drag-and-drop editor that offers the latest articles directly and switched rendering to MJML.

  • The editor offers the latest articles. A newsletter comes together by drag and drop in about five minutes.
  • The editorial team gets back the working hours that used to go into copying and formatting.
  • Fixed MJML templates give every issue a consistent look and feel.
  • The layout is optimised for desktop, tablet and smartphone and works in Outlook, Gmail and Apple Mail.
  • Laravel
  • MJML
  • JavaScript
  • Elasticsearch
  • MySQL

5 minper issue, down from about 3 hours of manual work

Infrastructure and data operationsHealthcare, system administration and team lead

A data ops team that automated its own routine.

Alongside system administration I built and led a data operations team that transferred several million records a day between business clients. Step by step we automated recurring work until hardly any manual work was left.

  • Building and leading the data operations team
  • Automating daily processes, including monitoring
  • Daily operation of highly available infrastructure across several data centres
  • Linux
  • MariaDB Galera
  • HAProxy
  • Bash
  • nagios

95 %fewer manual interventions thanks to automation

More projects

  • Medical technology

    Sales app

    Cross-platform app for field sales: the full product range with the benefits of each product right in the app, usable offline and connected to the existing CRM.

    Less paper, easier sales conversations

    Flutter, Laravel, REST APIs

  • Automotive

    Car dealership website

    Vehicle listings arrive automatically on the website via the mobile.de API, plus a custom admin area for all content.

    No more maintaining listings twice, which saves time

    Laravel, REST APIs, MySQL

Services:

What I build for you.

From new backends to automating the processes you already have. One contact for everything in between.

Backend development with Symfony and Laravel

Web applications and APIs that stay stable under load and remain maintainable for years. I build new features in grown codebases and deliver new projects with the right tools, tested and documented.

  • Symfony and Laravel on current PHP
  • Clean architecture, tests and static analysis
  • Performance through caching, queues and optimised database access
Symfony developmentLaravel development

APIs and integrations you can rely on

REST APIs for frontends and partners, plus integrations with external services such as payment, billing or CRM systems. With idempotency, retries and clean logging, the interface keeps working even when the other side stumbles.

  • REST APIs with OpenAPI documentation
  • Payment, billing and partner APIs
  • Webhooks, queues and retry logic
PHP backend & modernisation

Legacy modernisation without operational risk

I move grown PHP applications into a modern structure one area at a time, with tests as a safety net and while the system keeps running. A risky full rewrite is rarely necessary.

  • Assessment and step-by-step roadmap
  • Characterisation tests before every change
  • Migration to Symfony and PHP upgrades

Right now I'm preparing, together with the team, the move of a PHP shop that has grown for more than 15 years to Symfony.

PHP backend & modernisation

Operations, testing and deployment

Automated tests, static analysis and CI/CD pipelines take changes safely to production. Monitoring and alerting report problems before your customers notice them, so releases become routine.

  • CI/CD with GitLab, GitHub Actions and Woodpecker
  • PHPUnit, PHPStan and code reviews
  • Docker, Kubernetes, monitoring and alerting
Symfony development

Connect systems, automate workflows

Many processes still run by hand: data gets retyped, emails sorted, lists reconciled. I connect your systems through APIs and queues and use AI where it noticeably takes work off your plate, for example in understanding requests, emails and receipts.

  • Connecting systems via APIs and webhooks
  • AI agents with clear limits and checkpoints
  • Operation with monitoring, logs and error handling

This includes my own Claude Code plugins and agents, plus training for teams that want to work with AI.

AI & process automation
Andreas Kunisch
Andreas Kunisch Leipzig
Since
First code at 13, professionally since 2010
Based
Leipzig, remote or on site
Core
Symfony, Laravel, APIs, AI & automation, mobile apps
Own projects
Webwerk Leipzig, traudel.app

About me: I know software from both sides: from building it and from running it.

I wrote my first lines of code at 13 and have been developing professionally since 2010. I started out as a Java developer. Then I worked as a system administrator for highly available infrastructure across several data centres, where I built and led a data operations team. After that came years as a developer for a trade publisher and for a travel booking platform. Today I work fully freelance: backends with Symfony and Laravel, plus interfaces with React or Vue and apps with Flutter where a project needs them.

How I work

  • Operations planned in from day one

    I build software that can be tested, is shipped automatically and shows what it does in production. Errors surface before your customers notice them.

  • Every change backed by evidence

    Tests, before-and-after comparisons and clean logs show that a change does what it should. You can see where the project stands while it is still under way.

  • Directly with the person who builds it

    No project manager in between: you talk to me. I understand the code and the business that runs on it.

Own projects:

Own projects

A selection of what I build alongside client work.

Co-founder

Webwerk Leipzig

With Webwerk Leipzig we want to help shape the web of tomorrow. The two of us build fast, well-made websites for businesses in Leipzig, personal and local.

webwerk-leipzig.de
Example site for a painting business (Malerbetrieb)
Example site for a driving school (Fahrschule)
Example site for a restaurant (Restaurant)
Co-founder, in progress

traudel.app

Being neighbours means more than living next to each other.

Traudel is our attempt to bring people together again in the digital age: for help, honest recommendations and the good feeling of being there for each other. The app runs in the browser and on the phone. You read posts from around you and write your own, sorted by type and category.

  • Free
  • No ads
  • Give and lend
  • Built in Leipzig
Skills:

What I work with.

From the backend to the interface: the tools I use every day to build and run systems.

  • Symfony

    Backends and APIs for platforms and internal systems, with Doctrine, Messenger and API Platform.

  • Laravel

    Trade portals, newsletter tools and client projects, delivered quickly and easy to maintain.

  • REST APIs and integrations

    Interfaces to payment providers, CRMs and partners. Webhooks, retries and clean error handling keep them stable.

  • React and Vue

    Interfaces and dashboards for the backends, so data and workflows are easy to use in the browser too.

  • Flutter

    Cross-platform apps for iOS and Android, for example for field sales.

  • PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB

    Data models, optimised queries and highly available Galera clusters.

  • CI/CD and quality

    Docker, pipelines, PHPUnit, PHPStan and code reviews. Every change is checked before it goes live.

  • Linux and operations

    Servers, monitoring and high availability across several data centres.

  • AI workflows

    Claude Code, LLM APIs and agents that connect and automate internal processes.

Also in use
  • PHP 8
  • Doctrine
  • Eloquent
  • Redis
  • Elasticsearch
  • Kubernetes
  • nginx
  • Sentry
  • OAuth2
  • JWT
  • OpenAPI
  • MJML
  • Bash
  • Git

Frequently asked questions

What clients usually want to know before the first call.

After a first conversation I put together an offer that fits your requirements. Billing is hourly, daily or per project. While we work we align regularly, and you always know where the project stands.

I work on both small projects (e.g., API development, individual features) and larger undertakings (complete backend systems, legacy modernization). Typical project duration ranges from a few weeks to several months.

Yes. I work fully remote and I am used to distributed teams. Meetings on site in Leipzig and the surrounding area are possible too.

Just ask me directly. I plan projects ahead, so I can tell you reliably from when I have time for yours.

Yes. After a project I can take over maintenance on request: security updates, monitoring, bug fixes and smaller improvements.

Smaller tasks are billed hourly, longer engagements at a daily rate. Clearly scoped projects can also have a fixed price. We sort out the details in a conversation.

Andreas Kunisch usually replies within 24 hours

What are you working on?

A few sentences are enough, whether it is a new backend, a modernisation or a process that should be automated. I will get back to you with questions or a suggested call.

  1. MessageA few sentences about your project, via the form or by e-mail.
  2. Introductory callWe clarify goals, scope and open questions, remote or on site in Leipzig.
  3. Tailored offerFlexible: hourly, daily or per project.
Prefer direct?LinkedIn
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