Using AI—particularly Anthropic’s Claude—and a development process described as “vibe coding,” Adam Hyde built two scholarly publishing platforms: EasyJournal (a more conventional system) and Kotahi (a collaborative-first alternative). EasyJournal mirrors legacy platforms like OJS and Janeway, while Kotahi rethinks scholarly publishing workflows to be non-linear and communication-driven.
Benefits & outcomes
- Demonstrated that a multitenant journal platform can be built solo using AI assistance
- Kotahi enables concurrent workflows and real-time collaboration
- Highlights the limitations of traditional “digital conveyor belt” systems like OJS
- Provides a proof-of-concept that AI-assisted solo development of complex platforms is viable
Notes & quotes
“Vibe coding… really started to get better with the evolution of agent implementations and increasing utility of Anthropic’s LLMs.”
“EasyJournal is just a bad way of doing things… It’s fundamentally dumb.”
“Kotahi… offers everything expected from conventional journal systems while emphasizing smart, communicative collaboration.”
Developed EasyJournal and Kotahi with minimal traditional engineering support, thanks to LLMs and prompt-driven development.
Publisher / company: Adam Hyde / Robots Cooking
Date of case study: 29/03/2025
Source: https://www.robotscooking.com/building-legacy-with-ai/