I have been building a small family of open source business tools called the NeNe series.
The idea is simple:
small teams should be able to run useful business software on their own infrastructure, with clear APIs and readable boundaries.
Most of the tools are still being refined, but the direction is already visible:
- self-hosted
- API-first
- bilingual where Japan operations need it
- OpenAPI documented
- MCP-ready for AI agents
- small enough for one developer or a small team to understand
The foundation is NENE2, my PHP 8.4 API-first micro-framework.
Repository:
Why Japan-specific business tools?
Many teams operating in Japan have a mixed workflow.
The technical team may be comfortable with English.
The business workflow is still deeply local:
- qualified invoices
- received-document retention
- payment reconciliation
- Japanese bank CSV formats
- bilingual admin screens
- small company operations
Generic tools can work.
But sometimes the local workflow leaks through the cracks.
That is why the NeNe series is not just “another CRUD app collection”.
It is an attempt to build small, self-hosted tools that understand specific business boundaries.
The products
The series includes several focused tools.
NeNe Invoice
Self-hosted quote and invoice management for Japan small businesses.
It focuses on qualified invoices, quotes, invoices, payments, PDF output, and admin UI workflows.
Repository:
NeNe Vault
Received-document archive for PDFs and business documents.
It focuses on storing received invoices, receipts, and contracts with search, audit history, and retention-oriented workflows.
Repository:
NeNe Deal
Lightweight B2B deal pipeline management.
It handles opportunities, stages, simple forecasts, and handoff to NeNe Invoice as draft client / quote data.
Repository:
NeNe Contact
Embeddable contact forms and an operator inbox.
It lets operators build forms, embed them with a script tag, receive submissions, manage statuses, and route notifications.
Repository:
NeNe Records
API-first typed CMS / flexible entity platform.
It lets users define entity types, typed fields, records, public pages, and OpenAPI/MCP-facing operations.
Repository:
My rule of thumb is:
MCP tools should wrap application capabilities, not bypass the application.
That means:
AI Agent
-> MCP Tool
-> documented HTTP API
-> handler
-> use case
-> repository / transaction boundary
Not:
AI Agent
-> MCP Tool
-> direct SQL query
-> production database
4. Boring architecture on purpose
The stack is intentionally not magical.
Most products follow a shape like:
Handler
-> Use Case
-> Repository
The frontend is a client.
The database stays behind repositories.
The MCP layer stays behind HTTP APIs.
This is boring.
That is a feature.
Why PHP?
Because PHP still matters for small business software.
It is widely deployable.
It is easy to host.
It is familiar to many developers who work on business systems.
Modern PHP can be strict, typed, tested, and API-first.
NENE2 is my attempt to keep PHP small and explicit instead of recreating a large full-stack framework.
What is NENE2?
NENE2 is the small framework underneath many of these tools.
It provides:
- PSR-style HTTP runtime
- explicit routing
- Problem Details error responses
- OpenAPI contracts
- database boundaries
- auth middleware
- optional frontend starter patterns
- local MCP server support
It is not trying to replace Laravel.
It is a small foundation for building business APIs that humans and AI agents can both understand.
First DEV article:
I am still refining the NeNe series and NENE2.
But the shape is becoming clearer:
small, self-hosted, API-first business tools with AI-readable boundaries.
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