Matt's Blog

Home
Blog
Projects
Bookshelf
About

Blog

Welcome to my blog - a lot of these posts are still pretty rough around the edges!

View posts by tag →

View posts by date →

Popular Blog Posts:

You're Building Software Wrong
The AI Development Conundrum
Testing Software
Maintenance Costs
Fractal Refactoring
10x Engineers
The Agentic Engineering Scale

All Posts

The Harness Isn't Your Problem, The Router Is

....

....

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English

....

Website Redesign v11

....

I've once again updated my personal website, this time powered by my own RSC framework and a custom CMS solution as well!

Testing out a new CMS workflow

....

....

A quick recap of my goals from the past year and my one big goal looking forward.

Quick-Tip: Codex Chief of Staff Thread

....

Performative Engineering

....

The act of making noise and delivering output instead of outcomes

The Agentic Engineering Scale

....

A brief outline of how I think of the scale of adoption of AI in software development

Onboarding Your New AI Teammate

....

Are we reinventing the wheel when it comes to onboarding new AI agents to a codebase, when we already have primitives available for onboarding humans?

Things Leaders Should Never Do

....

If you're a leader, please never do these things!

Tip: Secrets for Cloudflare Workers

....

Tip: GitHub Created Date Filtering

....

In Review - I, Robot

....

I've never read a book that has given me such a visceral reaction as 'I, Robot' has by Isaac Asimov

New GitHub Scams

....

The scammers/spammers on GitHub are getting a bit more creative!

Progressive Identifiers

....

In Review - The Nuphy Air75 V3

....

I recently changed out my keyboard for daily use from the Nuphy Air75 V2 to the V3 model - and i've had a mixed experience in that change that I figured I should share more broadly.

....

The trick to successful habits and getting shit done is to just get started and build momentum.

Link: Next.js Is Infuriating

....

Dependabot Hell

....

....

Link: What the hell is going on right now?

....

Recipe: Horchata Protein Latte

....

....

_Taste_ is the last key differentiator between those who win and those who lose.

....

....

A quick recap of my goals from the past year and a few goals looking forward as well.

Link: How I build software quickly

....

Vacation (and streaks)

....

Multi-step Native HTML Forms

....

Git Co-Authorship

....

....

Polish is Important

....

<Blank> Driven Development

....

All Documentation Should Be Dated

....

Adding Microposts

....

Roundup Notes in Obsidian with Dataview

....

A quick tip for creating roundup or summary notes based on other notes in Obsidian using the Dataview plugin!

Quick Tip - Theme Aware Images

....

Have you ever found the need to change the image you render on a web page based on the current preferred color scheme of your theme?

Async Class Creation In JavaScript

....

Have you ever wanted to create a class in JavaScript or TypeScript but also have the initialization be async? Here's a quick tip on a pattern that I've used in the past!

In Review - The Belroy Transit Workpack Pro v2

....

I semi-recently bought a Belroy Transit Workpack Pro v2 backpack, and after using it for about 9 months now I figured I'd write up some of my thoughts on it!

Website Redesign v10

....

I recently launched a rewrite and redesign of this personal website, I figured I'd talk a bit about the changes and new features that I added along the way!

Server Side Rendering Compatible CSS Theming

....

A quick tip to implementing CSS theming that's compatible with Server Side Rendered applications!

Podcasting By Hand

....

A brief overview on how we launched The Bikeshed Podcast, including a deep dive in our recording and distribution workflows!

Replacing Dropbox Capture with Raycast

....

Recently Dropbox announced that it was shutting down the Capture app/service, so I sought out an alternative that provided a similar user experience!

Quick Tip - Specific Local Module Declarations

....

A quick tip outlining how to provide specific TypeScript type definitions for a local module!

On File-System Routing Conventions

....

Some rough thoughts on building a file-system routing based web application

You're Building Software Wrong

....

Slicing software: why vertical is better than horizontal.

Cursor and Obsidian

....

A quick look at combining Cursor with Obsidian to ask questions of your notes!

Single File Web Apps

....

What if you could author an entire web application in a single file?

The AI Development Conundrum

....

Is it a good or a bad thing to offload writing code to AI agents and Large Language Models?

Resetting Controlled Components in Forms

....

A quick way to handle resetting internal state in components when a parent form is submitted!

Thoughts on New Years Resolutions

....

You don't need to wait until January 1st to set yearly goals and resolutions for yourself!

....

A snippet of some shared terminology/concepts (memes) from my time on the Frontend Platform team at Wayfair!

A Quick Look at Import Maps

....

A brief look at Import Maps and package.json#imports to support isomorphic JavaScript applications!

Recommended Tech Talks

....

A collection of tech talks that I regularly re-watch and also recommend to everyone!

Request for a (minimal) RSC Framework

....

Some features and functionality that I'd like within a React Server Component compatible framework.

My Updated Obsidian Task Management

....

A quick update on how I manage my tasks within Obsidian!

Bluesky Tips and Tools

....

A (running) collection of Bluesky tips, tools, packages, and other misc things!

The Bookkeeping Pattern

....

A quick look at a small but powerful pattern I've been leveraging as of late!

Building a Custom Ghostty Theme

....

How to generate a custom Ghostty theme based on any iterm2 theme!

....

A proposal for a minimal variant of TypeScript!

Monorepo Tips and Tricks

....

Sharing a few core recommendations when working within monorepos to make your life easier!

Offload Complexity, Don't Offload Learning

....

A rough mental model for how you should be leveraging AI as a tool for your own growth

Next.js with Deno v2

....

This is a quick post noting that Next.js should now work with Deno v2!

More Thoughts on Dogfooding

....

Even more thoughts on dogfooding!

....

The secret to excellent product teams is using your own product, and often!

Git Notes as a Tool for Thought

....

(Ab)using Git as yet another tool for thought!

Don't Break the Implicit Prop Contract

....

React components have a fundamental contract that is often unstated in their implementation, and you should know about it!

A Better useSSR Implementation

....

Replace that old useState and useEffect combo for a new and better option!

....

A quick recap of my goals from the past year and a few goals looking forward as well.

Simple Obsidian Task Management

....

A brief overview of how I manage my tasks in Obsidian

My Current Dev Setup

....

A quick look at the applications and tools that I (generally) use day to day for web development!

Switching back to Obsidian

....

Previously I wrote about switching from Obsidian to Notion, now almost exactly 2 years later, I've opted to give Obsidian another try as my go-to note taking software, here's why!

Abstract Your API

....

Proposing a solution for sharing core "business" logic across services!

Tip: Request and Response Headers

....

There's a common gotcha when creating Web Request and Response instances with Headers!

Using Feature Toggles to De-risk Refactors

....

Feature toggles are often underused by most software development teams, and yet offer so much value during not only feature development but also refactors

Leaving Wayfair

....

The other week was my last week at Wayfair, rounding out almost 8 years at the company. I wanted to reflect a bit on my time there!

....

A quick introduction to my new side project, hohoro. An incremental JS/TS library build tool!

Funport: True Dynamic Imports in webpack

....

webpack, and tools built on it like Next.js, don't support true dynamic imports, but I found a way to trick the system!

My Current AI Stack

....

I've been using a variety of AI tools as of late, I figured I'd document the ones I'm primarily using!

Configuring Cloudflare Domains with Vercel

....

I've started to use Cloudflare to manage my domains for several side projects, have had to jump through the same hooks multiple times that I figured I should document them here!

React Error Boundaries: Revisited

....

Revising my previous blog post on React Error Boundaries and my preferred go-to implementation!

Exporting Custom Slack Emoji

....

How to easily mass-export your custom slack emoji without API access!

Custom Favicon Recipes

....

Two neat tricks for enhancing your site's favicon!

Corporate Sponsored OSS

....

The various risks and pitfalls of open source software run by corporations.

The Library-Docs Monorepo Template

....

A monorepo template for managing a library and documentation together.

Building Better Beacon

....

How we solved an almost show-stopping production bug, and how you can avoid it in your own projects.

Project Deep Dive: Tails

....

A(nother) deep dive into one of my recent side projects; tails - a plain and simple cocktail recipe app.

....

When did semver major changes become so scary?

Service Monitors and Observability

....

Leveraging service monitors properly to improve service observability.

Type Safe process.env

....

Consistent Local Ports with Wrangler

....

On Adopting CSS-in-JS

....

A brief recap of how Wayfair changed it's CSS approach not once but twice in the span of 5 years!

Being Unopinionated

....

It's fine for a library to express some opinions about how it should be adopted and how the overall workflow/application in which it is adopted should function. However, it's false advertising to say that it is unopinionated.

....

No I don't mean those Milano cookies you keep taking from the office snack wall either (although you should probably stop snacking on those as often as well).

No Process is Invisible Process

....

Low/no process workflow wasn't actually no process, it was only an "invisible" process. An implicit contract with everyone on the team to do that async workflow on their own time.

Fixing Zed's language server

....

Zed language server quick tip; fixing Zed's language server

Project Deep Dive: Microfibre

....

A deep dive into one of my recent side projects; microfibre - a minimal text posting application

Pair Programming

....

Pair programming can be good sometimes - but not all the time

AI Driven Development

....

Teams and Caterpillar Tracks

....

Go To Git Utils

....

Jabs and Fluff: On CTO Office Hours

....

Using Marquee with React and TypeScript

....

Finding React Artifacts

....

....

....

Idea: Distributable Web Apps

....

....

on turning 29

Principles for Automated Testing

....

....

Fractal Refactoring

....

....

Avoid Distractions

....

My Thoughts on Tailwind

....

Setting up Next.js with Tailwind

....

....

Setting up Shiki on Next.js

....

Dollar: Devlog 2

....

Navigating Monorepos with Ease

....

Dollar: Devlog 1

....

My Updated Next.js Setup

....

Yarn Berry Gitignore Settings

....

....

On Writing Tests

....

Switching back to Notion

....

....

....

My Opinionated Next.js Setup

....

My Two Favorite React Tricks

....

Switching to iPhone

....

....

Pair Programming (stub)

....

Fast Feedback Systems

....

....

....

Linear Tools Enforce Linear Thinking

....

Mac Setup Guide

....

Build Your Developer Toolbox

....

....

On Written Communication

....

Updating Forked Repos

....

React Testing Library: Checkboxes and events

....

Roll your own Obsidian sync

....

....

....

....

....

....

Writing Node Scripts

....

....

....

....

....

Computed Design Tokens

....

2021: Resolutions

....

2020: Year in Review

....

Building a Web Sandbox: Part 1

....

Literate (web) Programming

....

NextJS Analytics with Airtable

....

Pair Code Reviews

....

Enhancing Slack

....

A Note on Consistency

....

The Rabbit Hole

....

A Note On Meetings

....

A Note On Anti-Patterns

....

Stateful Providers

....

Draft Pull Requests

....

February 20, 2020

....

Summer 2019 - Bend Oregon

....

Theme First UI Development

....

Deploying Automatically using GitHub Actions

....

Simpler and Smaller

....

Maintenance Costs

....

Snapshot Testing

....

useReducer, don't useState

....

Hooks Tips Ep. 2 - Migrating Instance Variables

....

Hooks Tips Ep. 1 - The Dependency Array

....

Building a Live Editor

....

Start Small, Accept Change

....

React Error Boundaries

....

....

Testing Software

....

Suspense Plus GraphQL

....

A few thoughts on using Suspense with GraphQL to optimize application data loading

....

A few thoughts on the article "Reality has a surprising amount of detail"

Matt's Log - October

....

A quick log of what I have been up to in October

You've Launched, Now What?

....

A few thoughts on what to do after you launch a new project

Summer 2018 Trip

....

A few photos from my summer trip!

....

A few quick thoughts on burn out and taking a break

Managing Complex UI Component State

....

A few thoughts on managing complex UI component state within React

Understanding React 16.3 Updates

....

A quick overview of the new lifecycle methods introduced in React 16.3

....

A recap and update on some of the projects I am working on at the start of 2018

....

A few thoughts and patterns for using styled-jsx or other CSS-in-JS solutions

....

A few thoughts on the redesign of my personal site, adopting Next.js and deploying via Now

JavaScript Weirdness

....

A few weird things about JavaScript

....

Building a calendar web application

Rebuilding Mustache

....

Push vs Pull AI

....

....

The Great CSS Debate

....

....

....

....

....

Attribute Selectors

....

....

....

....

....

10,000 Characters

....

Building in 2016

....

....

My First Project of 2016

....

....

Looking Ahead: 2016

....

Blogging vs Working

....

....

....

....

....

Weekend Projects

....

The Message is in the Medium

....

....

....