Allen Pike
@allenpike.com
Building usepowerplant.com, hosting Infer and It Shipped That Way, and writing about software and other tricky things. ⭐️
Vancouver • @apike elsewhere • allenpike.com
Vancouver • @apike elsewhere • allenpike.com
Vancouver Election Guide, 2026 edition: 56 Council candidates, 9 parties, and 1 pragmatic attempt to help people make their vote count. allenpike.com/2026/2026-va...
Vancouver Election Guide, 2026
Breaking down the parties vying for Vancouver Mayor and Council.
allenpike.com
October 1, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Vancouver Election Guide, 2026 edition: 56 Council candidates, 9 parties, and 1 pragmatic attempt to help people make their vote count. allenpike.com/2026/2026-va...
Telling agents to fix mistakes they made isn’t satisfying. Having them help ensure future agents won’t make the same mistakes is much moreso
September 28, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Telling agents to fix mistakes they made isn’t satisfying. Having them help ensure future agents won’t make the same mistakes is much moreso
Scaling coding agents across teams requires strong guidelines (what does good code look like) and guardrails (rejecting bad code).
Fast system-1 models like Jev are a big opportunity for faster, cheaper, and more plentiful guardrails.
Fast system-1 models like Jev are a big opportunity for faster, cheaper, and more plentiful guardrails.
September 19, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Scaling coding agents across teams requires strong guidelines (what does good code look like) and guardrails (rejecting bad code).
Fast system-1 models like Jev are a big opportunity for faster, cheaper, and more plentiful guardrails.
Fast system-1 models like Jev are a big opportunity for faster, cheaper, and more plentiful guardrails.
If you want trains that can run every 75 seconds, all you need to do is automate!
Otherwise you get merge conflicts, which are annoying for code, but worse for trains
Otherwise you get merge conflicts, which are annoying for code, but worse for trains
September 15, 2026 at 4:28 PM
If you want trains that can run every 75 seconds, all you need to do is automate!
Otherwise you get merge conflicts, which are annoying for code, but worse for trains
Otherwise you get merge conflicts, which are annoying for code, but worse for trains
YouTube's parental controls have, for now, deterred our children from getting up at 6am to watch brainrot on the TV.
Feature request: A checkbox to block all content that samples "Industrial Samples & Impacts by Bluezone" aka the Vine Boom. Also screaming
Feature request: A checkbox to block all content that samples "Industrial Samples & Impacts by Bluezone" aka the Vine Boom. Also screaming
September 13, 2026 at 6:44 PM
YouTube's parental controls have, for now, deterred our children from getting up at 6am to watch brainrot on the TV.
Feature request: A checkbox to block all content that samples "Industrial Samples & Impacts by Bluezone" aka the Vine Boom. Also screaming
Feature request: A checkbox to block all content that samples "Industrial Samples & Impacts by Bluezone" aka the Vine Boom. Also screaming
Cool thing about letting agents see the prompts that created the work: they can help fix recurring mistakes (e.g. over-verbose UI copy) by checking how humans are reprimanding the bots.
All three of us had been pushing back on this mistake, but hadn't yet improved our shared AGENTS file to fix it.
All three of us had been pushing back on this mistake, but hadn't yet improved our shared AGENTS file to fix it.
September 8, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Cool thing about letting agents see the prompts that created the work: they can help fix recurring mistakes (e.g. over-verbose UI copy) by checking how humans are reprimanding the bots.
All three of us had been pushing back on this mistake, but hadn't yet improved our shared AGENTS file to fix it.
All three of us had been pushing back on this mistake, but hadn't yet improved our shared AGENTS file to fix it.
With macOS 27, we’ve refined the experience from top to bottom, while still making sure to keep classic experiences that users have come to expect from their Mac
September 4, 2026 at 10:26 PM
With macOS 27, we’ve refined the experience from top to bottom, while still making sure to keep classic experiences that users have come to expect from their Mac
The Brains of the Operation: Some simple steps toward creating a "company brain", and avoiding AI psychosis along the way. allenpike.com/2026/the-bra...
The Brains of the Operation
Simple steps toward a company brain.
allenpike.com
September 1, 2026 at 7:44 AM
The Brains of the Operation: Some simple steps toward creating a "company brain", and avoiding AI psychosis along the way. allenpike.com/2026/the-bra...
As you create more projects to manage your agents, you might find yourself quickly kicking off tasks in different projects.
Thankfully ChatGPT née Codex has a keyboard shortcut for this frequently-used switcher – invoked using just two hands and, optionally, an eyeroll
Thankfully ChatGPT née Codex has a keyboard shortcut for this frequently-used switcher – invoked using just two hands and, optionally, an eyeroll
August 14, 2026 at 4:26 PM
As you create more projects to manage your agents, you might find yourself quickly kicking off tasks in different projects.
Thankfully ChatGPT née Codex has a keyboard shortcut for this frequently-used switcher – invoked using just two hands and, optionally, an eyeroll
Thankfully ChatGPT née Codex has a keyboard shortcut for this frequently-used switcher – invoked using just two hands and, optionally, an eyeroll
The joy of a high-quality physical volume knob is the first notch, which must make a satisfying “thock” as you turn the device on.
Thanks @aresluna.org for calling attention to what we can learn from the history as we strive to make great stuff unsung.aresluna.org/the-first-no...
Thanks @aresluna.org for calling attention to what we can learn from the history as we strive to make great stuff unsung.aresluna.org/the-first-no...
The first notch is magical – Unsung
A blog about software craft and quality
unsung.aresluna.org
August 8, 2026 at 3:13 PM
The joy of a high-quality physical volume knob is the first notch, which must make a satisfying “thock” as you turn the device on.
Thanks @aresluna.org for calling attention to what we can learn from the history as we strive to make great stuff unsung.aresluna.org/the-first-no...
Thanks @aresluna.org for calling attention to what we can learn from the history as we strive to make great stuff unsung.aresluna.org/the-first-no...
On the latest It Shipped That Way, Impeccable creator Paul Bakaus shares lessons learned turning a coding harness into a design harness, building ambitious agent skills, fighting slop, and the death of design handoffs.
www.itshipped.fm/episodes/36
www.itshipped.fm/episodes/36
It Shipped That Way – Amplifying Human Intent, with Impeccable Creator Paul Bakaus
Impeccable creator Paul Bakaus shares lessons learned turning a coding harness into a design harness, building ambitious agent skills, getting compelling design from AI, keeping up with slop, and…
www.itshipped.fm
August 5, 2026 at 4:03 AM
On the latest It Shipped That Way, Impeccable creator Paul Bakaus shares lessons learned turning a coding harness into a design harness, building ambitious agent skills, fighting slop, and the death of design handoffs.
www.itshipped.fm/episodes/36
www.itshipped.fm/episodes/36
Weighing the Business Case for Quality: On making a career out of doing things well. allenpike.com/2026/finding...
Weighing the Business Case for Quality
On the economics of doing great work.
allenpike.com
August 1, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Weighing the Business Case for Quality: On making a career out of doing things well. allenpike.com/2026/finding...
It's worth having coding agents attach demo videos to their PRs. (It's worth doing this as a human too, but we're kinda lazy) forestwalk.ai/blog/coding-...
Coding Agents Gotta Attach Demo Videos
The least a coding agent can do is show its work.
forestwalk.ai
July 14, 2026 at 9:16 PM
It's worth having coding agents attach demo videos to their PRs. (It's worth doing this as a human too, but we're kinda lazy) forestwalk.ai/blog/coding-...
With all due respect Google Maps, this is important. I'm going to have to ask you to try harder
July 12, 2026 at 4:53 AM
With all due respect Google Maps, this is important. I'm going to have to ask you to try harder
The persistent gravity of cross platform code, 2026 edition: allenpike.com/2026/gravity...
The Persistent Gravity of Cross Platform - Allen Pike
July 10, 2026 • 1 min read
allenpike.com
July 10, 2026 at 9:14 PM
The persistent gravity of cross platform code, 2026 edition: allenpike.com/2026/gravity...
Claude Fable is useful as a thinking tool for decisions. But I’m going to be honest here, because you deserve the load-bearing quiet part said out loud: it tries too hard to sound deep.
July 2, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Claude Fable is useful as a thinking tool for decisions. But I’m going to be honest here, because you deserve the load-bearing quiet part said out loud: it tries too hard to sound deep.
Now, I’m sure these new butterfly refreshers are delicious. I’m gonna try them like everybody else. But I’m not sure how I feel about Starbucks selling drinks made from insects
July 1, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Now, I’m sure these new butterfly refreshers are delicious. I’m gonna try them like everybody else. But I’m not sure how I feel about Starbucks selling drinks made from insects
How To (Not) Spend $10k/wk on Coding Agents: Some lessons learned on our adventure toward software factories.
allenpike.com/2026/how-to-...
allenpike.com/2026/how-to-...
How To (Not) Spend $10k/wk on Coding Agents
On too much of a good thing.
allenpike.com
July 1, 2026 at 4:35 AM
How To (Not) Spend $10k/wk on Coding Agents: Some lessons learned on our adventure toward software factories.
allenpike.com/2026/how-to-...
allenpike.com/2026/how-to-...
I should have known that 20 minutes early was *not* early enough to line up for Paul Bakaus’ Impeccable skills workshop at AIE World’s Fair
June 29, 2026 at 11:22 PM
I should have known that 20 minutes early was *not* early enough to line up for Paul Bakaus’ Impeccable skills workshop at AIE World’s Fair
It's fun to talk to an agent and have it respond with rich visuals – but building low-latency experiences like this is a pain in the ass.
In my AI Engineering World's Fair talk, I share some of the joy and suffering from our work on this problem.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=65X0...
In my AI Engineering World's Fair talk, I share some of the joy and suffering from our work on this problem.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=65X0...
Voice In, Visuals Out: The Agony and the Ecstasy - Allen Pike, Forestwalk Labs
The latest AI models have made it possible to go past text-based chats, and build what Andrej Karpathy argues is the pinnacle of AI UX: voice-in, visuals-out.
In this talk, Forestwalk Labs…
m.youtube.com
June 29, 2026 at 9:05 PM
It's fun to talk to an agent and have it respond with rich visuals – but building low-latency experiences like this is a pain in the ass.
In my AI Engineering World's Fair talk, I share some of the joy and suffering from our work on this problem.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=65X0...
In my AI Engineering World's Fair talk, I share some of the joy and suffering from our work on this problem.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=65X0...
“Stop! Who would refresh the Flight Status of Death must swipe me with fingers three, ere the other side he see.”
The United app is less bad than most, but there’s a reason people love Flighty
The United app is less bad than most, but there’s a reason people love Flighty
June 28, 2026 at 3:26 PM
“Stop! Who would refresh the Flight Status of Death must swipe me with fingers three, ere the other side he see.”
The United app is less bad than most, but there’s a reason people love Flighty
The United app is less bad than most, but there’s a reason people love Flighty
I don't use Safari often, but after downloading an invoice from my cell carrier, this delightfully ancient fossil popped up out of nowhere.
I couldn't quite bring myself to "Allow" and see what account Safari thought it'd found
I couldn't quite bring myself to "Allow" and see what account Safari thought it'd found
June 22, 2026 at 9:32 PM
I don't use Safari often, but after downloading an invoice from my cell carrier, this delightfully ancient fossil popped up out of nowhere.
I couldn't quite bring myself to "Allow" and see what account Safari thought it'd found
I couldn't quite bring myself to "Allow" and see what account Safari thought it'd found
Reposted by Allen Pike
Could I possibly nerd-snipe anyone into polishing something like this non-modal update flow into an official UI for Sparkle? weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2026/04/28/u...
June 17, 2026 at 5:33 AM
Could I possibly nerd-snipe anyone into polishing something like this non-modal update flow into an official UI for Sparkle? weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2026/04/28/u...
When you try a SaaS for free, no credit card required, what do you expect to happen when you hit the usage limit? Maybe a warning email about being cut off, then suspension? Or perhaps, a warning email about being cut off... then a $1000 invoice?
forestwalk.ai/blog/surpris...
forestwalk.ai/blog/surpris...
Surprise! Pay $1000
What's the right behaviour when "try for free" ends?
forestwalk.ai
June 9, 2026 at 5:28 PM
When you try a SaaS for free, no credit card required, what do you expect to happen when you hit the usage limit? Maybe a warning email about being cut off, then suspension? Or perhaps, a warning email about being cut off... then a $1000 invoice?
forestwalk.ai/blog/surpris...
forestwalk.ai/blog/surpris...
Jenn Cooper, Forestwalk's CTO, writes about the limitations of traditional test coverage – it won't stop coding agents from devolving your codebase into an incoherent funhouse. forestwalk.ai/blog/test-co...
Test Coverage Won't Save You
On protecting agent-written codebases from incoherence.
forestwalk.ai
June 8, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Jenn Cooper, Forestwalk's CTO, writes about the limitations of traditional test coverage – it won't stop coding agents from devolving your codebase into an incoherent funhouse. forestwalk.ai/blog/test-co...