Coding Projects That Prove You Can Do the Job

These coding projects are not synthetic puzzles - they are real, approachable problems from production systems across every stack. Fix one in a live cloud workspace and it becomes a portfolio proof point, not just a green checkmark.

Why a fix counts when a clone no longer does

A coding project only counts if someone cannot tell whether you or an AI did it, and a from-scratch app no longer passes that test. Fixing a broken system does: the diagnosis is yours, the dead ends are yours, the reason it works is yours. These stay approachable across every stack, so you start where you are comfortable and still produce something un-fakeable.

24 projects to start with

Restore a Broken LLM API IntegrationAI/ML · Junior Improve an LLM Sentiment Classifier PromptAI/ML · Junior Harden an LLM Pipeline Against API FailuresAI/ML · Junior Parse JSON From an LLM (Strip Markdown Fences)AI/ML · Junior Return the Correct HTTP Status CodeBackend · Junior Repair Broken API PaginationBackend · Junior Add CORS Middleware to an Express APIBackend · Junior Push a Slow Report Into a SQL QueryBackend · Junior Make an ETL Pipeline IdempotentData · Junior Speed Up a Slow SQL Report QueryData · Junior Make a CSV Importer Resilient to Bad DataData · Junior Handle Orphan Records in an ETL JoinData · Junior Fix the Nginx 502 Bad GatewayDevOps · Junior Recover a Crashed Linux ServiceDevOps · Junior Bind a Node App to 0.0.0.0 (All Interfaces)DevOps · Junior Correct a Postgres Port MismatchDevOps · Junior Fix a React useState Stale-State BugFullstack · Junior Fix a Blank React Dashboard (Failed Fetch)Fullstack · Junior Upload Avatars to AWS S3 With Presigned URLsFullstack · Junior Fix the React Search That Won't Filter (useEffect Deps)Fullstack · Junior Fix a Kubernetes CrashLoopBackOffKubernetes · Junior Heal a Kubernetes Service With No EndpointsKubernetes · Junior Fix a Kubernetes ImagePullBackOffKubernetes · Junior Schedule a Pending Kubernetes PodKubernetes · Junior

Pick by the skill you want to prove

Do not pick by language, pick by the gap on your resume. Light on backend? Take the API bug. Never touched infra? Take the deploy outage. Each project is one focused problem, so you can target exactly the skill a job description asks for and have a concrete answer when they say "have you done X."

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