What I Learned
Building with AI.
Critical thinking, real projects, and the theories that changed how I work — written as I go.
7
Deep-dive articles
25+
Lessons documented
100%
From production
Deep Dives &
Critical Thinking
Long-form thinking on the ideas, patterns, and hard problems that shape how I build with AI.
The Forge: Knowledge That Compounds
I got tired of re-teaching AI agents the same lessons every session. So I built a system where every correction, pattern, and hard-won fix compounds instead of evaporating.
Recent Thinking
From foundational patterns to production war stories, each post is a lesson earned the hard way.
The Prompt Is Not the Product
After 25 years of shipping products, I can tell you: the prompt is the easy part. The hard part is everything you build around it when it inevitably fails.
Evals Are Unit Tests for Vibes
You can't assert on 'sounds helpful but not condescending.' After thousands of evals, here's what actually works — and the trap that wastes everyone's time.
Context Windows Are a Lie (Sort Of)
128k tokens is a marketing number. The usable window is a fraction of that — and I learned the hard way that how you fill it matters more than how much you have.
Ship the Feature Without the AI First
Counterintuitive? Maybe. But after 25 years of shipping products, I know that the non-AI version teaches you everything the AI version needs to know.
More From
the Archive
Older posts, same depth. Every article here is something I needed to write down before I forgot it.
28 Days
Later...
Real usage data from building with Claude Code every day — 28 days, 67+ messages a day, across a full-stack codebase.
1,893
Messages sent
168
Sessions
52,981
Lines written
418
Files touched
What Worked
Full-Stack at Scale
Complex features driven end-to-end — AI provider CRUD, insight pipelines, call centre platforms. 40 successful multi-file changes across TypeScript and Go.
Rapid Bug Triage
41 bug fix sessions with a fast first-responder pattern. TypeErrors, null refs, race conditions — diagnosed and shipped in minutes.
Iterative UI Vision
Pushing through multiple rounds of visual feedback until the result matches the mental model. Dark mode, component layouts, data viz — all polished to spec.
What Helped Most
Languages
Where the Time Went
~45
Lead Gen Platform
~20
AI Features & Playground
~25
UI/UX Polish
~12
Call Centre & Admin
~8
Strategic Planning
Key Pattern
“A fast-iterating visual perfectionist who gives high-level direction, lets Claude execute broadly, then aggressively corrects course when the output diverges from the mental model.”