AI-assisted development
16 articles
Restoring 16 Broken Blog Images Using AI, the Wayback Machine, and a 93GB Photo Backup
How I used Claude Code, the Wayback Machine, and AI vision to restore 16 broken images from a decommissioned Smugmug photo hosting service across 10 blog posts.
Transferable Knowledge: The Fifth Pillar of Synthesis Coding
You understand your AI-generated code. Can your teammates? Transferable Knowledge is the fifth pillar of synthesis coding -- ensuring AI-assisted work is compre
"All tests pass" is a warning, not a clearance
Why a green test suite after a schema change should trigger suspicion, not confidence. A verification methodology that catches what tests structurally cannot —
Stop asking me: configuring Claude Code permissions for uninterrupted flow
A practitioner guide to eliminating Claude Code approval prompt fatigue. Why granular command patterns fail for compound commands, the Bash(*) plus deny list ap
Managing AI agent skills at scale: a three-repo architecture
A three-repo architecture for managing public, private, and team AI agent skills with provenance tracking, drift detection, and synthesis merge — the first stan
Synthesis Skills: install methodology directly into your AI workflow
22 open-source Agent Skills encoding synthesis coding and synthesis engineering methodology. One command installs code review, content quality, project manageme
Synthesis merging: what happens after the first PR
Synthesis merging goes beyond conflict resolution. It is the creative act of integrating contributions into a coherent whole, making the combined result better
When a code review runbook becomes an upgrade playbook
I built a code review runbook to find problems. Then I used it on codebases I owned, and the review categories became execution phases. A checklist for assessme
What reviewing real codebases taught me about code review
I published a 900-check code review runbook. Then I used it on real engagements. The checklist worked, but the real lessons were about the process — starting wi
When Someone Else Contributes to Your Synthesis-Coded Project
Standard merge workflows break down for synthesis-coded projects. The adopt-and-adapt pattern provides a disciplined integration methodology that respects contr
Code Review That Scales: An Open-Source Runbook for Agentic Engineering
Most code review checklists are either too shallow or too heavy. This open-source runbook tiers review depth by project complexity — and is designed for agentic
The Part of Your Job AI Can't Do (And Why It Matters More Now)
There's a lot of anxiety about AI making engineering skills obsolete. But the most valuable part of what you do was never the typing. The judgment, the architec
The Self-Improving System: The Fourth Pillar of Synthesis Coding
Synthesis coding treats both the project and the practice as evolving systems. Iterative context building is one of four threads that compound together — alongs
Active System Understanding: The Third Pillar of Synthesis Coding
AI can generate code faster than you can read it. AI also removes the friction that used to force engineers to read carefully — which is why this pillar is the
Systematic Quality Standards: The Second Pillar of Synthesis Coding
AI-generated code should meet the same quality standards as human-written code — and in practice the bar should be higher, because AI scales the cost of letting
Human Architectural Authority: The First Pillar of Synthesis Coding
AI can write code faster than any human. But it cannot hold a consistent architectural vision across months of development. That is why the first pillar of synt