> is it the hacker spirit

I had this philosophical / existential crisis question lately about my project, and I think I'm at peace with it.

Yes. Gluing together stuff (AKA building on other giants' shoulders) can be done in a neglecting, "just hack it all up until starts to work" way, and it can also be done in a reproducible, "unit tested", documented way that enables you to eventually put even more "hacks" on top of it to deliver value.

Anything is "hacker spirit", as long as you make something _functional_ out of pieces that haven't functioning in a way you wanted before. Let it be witty, hackish, or beautiful, maintainable, as long as it holds up your business or gives you simply joy.