Ryan Atkinson
@ryanatkn.com
independent free software dev 🐢 https://github.com/ryanatkn 💤 https://www.ryanatkn.com/
I've had a take since Sonnet 3.5, ~Aug 2024, that editor autocomplete has done more to mislead dev perception of AI capability than any other application of the tech.
3.5 could produce style-faithful, correct-enough, maintainable, niche code. Later models learned Unix, & agents optimized the loop.
3.5 could produce style-faithful, correct-enough, maintainable, niche code. Later models learned Unix, & agents optimized the loop.
June 26, 2026 at 2:06 PM
I've had a take since Sonnet 3.5, ~Aug 2024, that editor autocomplete has done more to mislead dev perception of AI capability than any other application of the tech.
3.5 could produce style-faithful, correct-enough, maintainable, niche code. Later models learned Unix, & agents optimized the loop.
3.5 could produce style-faithful, correct-enough, maintainable, niche code. Later models learned Unix, & agents optimized the loop.
I started publishing open source projects to GitHub in 2013, and since 2019 I've been publishing my stuff full-time, building in public without the hash tag.
LLMs were trained on my code and I'm cool with it, and now use agents daily. I design and engineer, agents do much (not all) of the coding.
LLMs were trained on my code and I'm cool with it, and now use agents daily. I design and engineer, agents do much (not all) of the coding.
June 19, 2026 at 7:08 PM
I started publishing open source projects to GitHub in 2013, and since 2019 I've been publishing my stuff full-time, building in public without the hash tag.
LLMs were trained on my code and I'm cool with it, and now use agents daily. I design and engineer, agents do much (not all) of the coding.
LLMs were trained on my code and I'm cool with it, and now use agents daily. I design and engineer, agents do much (not all) of the coding.
The jujutsu model has me curious but agentic coding has given me a newfound appreciation for the git staging area, as its friction pairs well with git-denied agents to resist vibe coding. jj could probably have superior tools for similar workflows, but no-staging isn't a selling point for me now.
June 18, 2026 at 8:37 PM
The jujutsu model has me curious but agentic coding has given me a newfound appreciation for the git staging area, as its friction pairs well with git-denied agents to resist vibe coding. jj could probably have superior tools for similar workflows, but no-staging isn't a selling point for me now.
Announcing tsv - a formatter, parser, and future linter + more for Svelte + TypeScript/JS/HTML/CSS in Rust.
- tailored to Svelte, no irrelevant bloat
- emphasis on performance, no JS bridging
- non-configurable, so hidden dir-specific state never changes behavior
github.com/fuzdev/tsv
tsv.fuz.dev
- tailored to Svelte, no irrelevant bloat
- emphasis on performance, no JS bridging
- non-configurable, so hidden dir-specific state never changes behavior
github.com/fuzdev/tsv
tsv.fuz.dev
GitHub - fuzdev/tsv: formatter, parser, and future linter + more for TypeScript, Svelte, and CSS, written in Rust
formatter, parser, and future linter + more for TypeScript, Svelte, and CSS, written in Rust - fuzdev/tsv
github.com
June 13, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Announcing tsv - a formatter, parser, and future linter + more for Svelte + TypeScript/JS/HTML/CSS in Rust.
- tailored to Svelte, no irrelevant bloat
- emphasis on performance, no JS bridging
- non-configurable, so hidden dir-specific state never changes behavior
github.com/fuzdev/tsv
tsv.fuz.dev
- tailored to Svelte, no irrelevant bloat
- emphasis on performance, no JS bridging
- non-configurable, so hidden dir-specific state never changes behavior
github.com/fuzdev/tsv
tsv.fuz.dev
Announcing svelte-docinfo, a library that extracts JSON describing TypeScript and Svelte modules.
It's like sveld but uses the TypeScript compiler for increased fidelity.
Feedback is very welcome!
svelte-docinfo.fuz.dev
github.com/fuzdev/svelt...
It's like sveld but uses the TypeScript compiler for increased fidelity.
Feedback is very welcome!
svelte-docinfo.fuz.dev
github.com/fuzdev/svelt...
June 11, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Announcing svelte-docinfo, a library that extracts JSON describing TypeScript and Svelte modules.
It's like sveld but uses the TypeScript compiler for increased fidelity.
Feedback is very welcome!
svelte-docinfo.fuz.dev
github.com/fuzdev/svelt...
It's like sveld but uses the TypeScript compiler for increased fidelity.
Feedback is very welcome!
svelte-docinfo.fuz.dev
github.com/fuzdev/svelt...
Svelte is among the best-stewarded projects I've experienced, as a very-online open source tech observer over 15+ years
The always-improving design is a treat. Async integration and remote functions are elegant, and recently {let/const, vite.config.ts eating svelte.config.js, and much nicer env. !!
The always-improving design is a treat. Async integration and remote functions are elegant, and recently {let/const, vite.config.ts eating svelte.config.js, and much nicer env. !!
June 5, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Svelte is among the best-stewarded projects I've experienced, as a very-online open source tech observer over 15+ years
The always-improving design is a treat. Async integration and remote functions are elegant, and recently {let/const, vite.config.ts eating svelte.config.js, and much nicer env. !!
The always-improving design is a treat. Async integration and remote functions are elegant, and recently {let/const, vite.config.ts eating svelte.config.js, and much nicer env. !!
a billion robots that can run around and be hacked, running software vibe coded by hacks
May 28, 2026 at 7:26 PM
a billion robots that can run around and be hacked, running software vibe coded by hacks
conscientious Svelte:
- does not track you with telemetry
- yet makes web developers feel seen
www.youtube.com/live/s1x2Wm6...
- does not track you with telemetry
- yet makes web developers feel seen
www.youtube.com/live/s1x2Wm6...
▲ Svelte on Vercel
YouTube video by Vercel
www.youtube.com
March 21, 2026 at 1:51 PM
conscientious Svelte:
- does not track you with telemetry
- yet makes web developers feel seen
www.youtube.com/live/s1x2Wm6...
- does not track you with telemetry
- yet makes web developers feel seen
www.youtube.com/live/s1x2Wm6...
Even with powerful AI, tokens cost electricity/time/hardware/externalities and people will continue to care about how much money it costs to make things. Efficiencies=gains when automating.
To coldly compare token counts with flawed data, from component-party.dev - gist.github.com/ryanatkn/1a2...
To coldly compare token counts with flawed data, from component-party.dev - gist.github.com/ryanatkn/1a2...
March 12, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Even with powerful AI, tokens cost electricity/time/hardware/externalities and people will continue to care about how much money it costs to make things. Efficiencies=gains when automating.
To coldly compare token counts with flawed data, from component-party.dev - gist.github.com/ryanatkn/1a2...
To coldly compare token counts with flawed data, from component-party.dev - gist.github.com/ryanatkn/1a2...
Flight is one of my favorite LLM metaphors. When flying over terrain, you miss details, disconnected from whatever's going on below, but you move fast, skip obstacles like they're nothing, leveraging the 3rd dimension, gliding on air currents, fluid but detached, less inhibited but more distanced
February 27, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Flight is one of my favorite LLM metaphors. When flying over terrain, you miss details, disconnected from whatever's going on below, but you move fast, skip obstacles like they're nothing, leveraging the 3rd dimension, gliding on air currents, fluid but detached, less inhibited but more distanced
module < library < framework < stack
I expect more uptick
I expect more uptick
January 24, 2026 at 5:30 PM
module < library < framework < stack
I expect more uptick
I expect more uptick
Count me among those impatient users who learned Rust "too early". In 2015 the 1.0 DX was very rough, but the community has made amazing improvements to the language and tooling. Tried it again last year and now so fond of it, makes me less C-brained (had rejected C++). Likely still Zig for gamedev.
January 7, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Count me among those impatient users who learned Rust "too early". In 2015 the 1.0 DX was very rough, but the community has made amazing improvements to the language and tooling. Tried it again last year and now so fond of it, makes me less C-brained (had rejected C++). Likely still Zig for gamedev.
There are many "tricks" for tools like Claude Code because it's so new and raw. One of my favorites is telling it to leave `// TODO`s in the code when it can't fix something in the current pass -- for the Claude 4 models this avoids a lot of busted reward hacking. Same process I've used for years!
September 4, 2025 at 10:13 AM
There are many "tricks" for tools like Claude Code because it's so new and raw. One of my favorites is telling it to leave `// TODO`s in the code when it can't fix something in the current pass -- for the Claude 4 models this avoids a lot of busted reward hacking. Same process I've used for years!
Claude Code today cannot be trusted with cd (doesn't follow its state) or sed (can do serious damage, lol amounts), and personally for my current workflows I have git denied too (sometimes this means it fails to search history tho, I need a better solution)
August 21, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Claude Code today cannot be trusted with cd (doesn't follow its state) or sed (can do serious damage, lol amounts), and personally for my current workflows I have git denied too (sometimes this means it fails to search history tho, I need a better solution)
code quality is inversely proportional to rocket emoji count
August 21, 2025 at 9:54 AM
code quality is inversely proportional to rocket emoji count
"bigger on the inside" feels helpful for LLM intuition, they're little finite information multiverses
"next token predictor" acknowledges linear time but I don't think it's as profoundly limiting as it sounds, especially for machine-compressed time at many hz
"next token predictor" acknowledges linear time but I don't think it's as profoundly limiting as it sounds, especially for machine-compressed time at many hz
August 21, 2025 at 12:37 AM
"bigger on the inside" feels helpful for LLM intuition, they're little finite information multiverses
"next token predictor" acknowledges linear time but I don't think it's as profoundly limiting as it sounds, especially for machine-compressed time at many hz
"next token predictor" acknowledges linear time but I don't think it's as profoundly limiting as it sounds, especially for machine-compressed time at many hz
I don't think the scifi I've consumed has prepared me for all of the cults that AI tools will enable
August 18, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I don't think the scifi I've consumed has prepared me for all of the cults that AI tools will enable
I like thinking of LLMs as information telescopes, rendering views or summoning portals into their massive latent space
August 16, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I like thinking of LLMs as information telescopes, rendering views or summoning portals into their massive latent space
My instinct would have made $state/$state.raw instead reversed like $state/$state.deep
users wouldn't have to reason about "how does $state affect this particular value?" in the default case, with $state.deep opt-in for arrays/POJOs/etc
but I can see how it's more "natively reactive" as is?
users wouldn't have to reason about "how does $state affect this particular value?" in the default case, with $state.deep opt-in for arrays/POJOs/etc
but I can see how it's more "natively reactive" as is?
June 6, 2025 at 8:22 PM
My instinct would have made $state/$state.raw instead reversed like $state/$state.deep
users wouldn't have to reason about "how does $state affect this particular value?" in the default case, with $state.deep opt-in for arrays/POJOs/etc
but I can see how it's more "natively reactive" as is?
users wouldn't have to reason about "how does $state affect this particular value?" in the default case, with $state.deep opt-in for arrays/POJOs/etc
but I can see how it's more "natively reactive" as is?
Svelte is a beautiful synthesis of HTML with JS and CSS
it just gets out of my way
without it I obsessed about performance in many more cases; the default overhead is lower than some key threshold
and it's nudged me to be a better dev - I value a11y/SSR/progressive enhancement more than I used to
it just gets out of my way
without it I obsessed about performance in many more cases; the default overhead is lower than some key threshold
and it's nudged me to be a better dev - I value a11y/SSR/progressive enhancement more than I used to
June 1, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Svelte is a beautiful synthesis of HTML with JS and CSS
it just gets out of my way
without it I obsessed about performance in many more cases; the default overhead is lower than some key threshold
and it's nudged me to be a better dev - I value a11y/SSR/progressive enhancement more than I used to
it just gets out of my way
without it I obsessed about performance in many more cases; the default overhead is lower than some key threshold
and it's nudged me to be a better dev - I value a11y/SSR/progressive enhancement more than I used to
One of the roughest DX edges in Svelte right now IMO is reading the deps of $effects - overall it's ⚞incredible⚟
I've seen some ideas floated like listing them in an editor placeholder comment - here's another, but can it be done in vscode? and what would be the ideal styling that doesn't conflict?
I've seen some ideas floated like listing them in an editor placeholder comment - here's another, but can it be done in vscode? and what would be the ideal styling that doesn't conflict?
March 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
One of the roughest DX edges in Svelte right now IMO is reading the deps of $effects - overall it's ⚞incredible⚟
I've seen some ideas floated like listing them in an editor placeholder comment - here's another, but can it be done in vscode? and what would be the ideal styling that doesn't conflict?
I've seen some ideas floated like listing them in an editor placeholder comment - here's another, but can it be done in vscode? and what would be the ideal styling that doesn't conflict?
I'm making a toy 2D web game engine with a focus on topdown action RPGs
www.dealt.dev
It's pre-alpha, can't make+share games quite yet
uses Svelte, TypeScript, PixiJS - github.com/ryanatkn/dealt
collaborators welcome! lots of interesting problems - architecture, perf, UI/controls, game design 🔮
www.dealt.dev
It's pre-alpha, can't make+share games quite yet
uses Svelte, TypeScript, PixiJS - github.com/ryanatkn/dealt
collaborators welcome! lots of interesting problems - architecture, perf, UI/controls, game design 🔮
December 19, 2024 at 8:14 AM
I'm making a toy 2D web game engine with a focus on topdown action RPGs
www.dealt.dev
It's pre-alpha, can't make+share games quite yet
uses Svelte, TypeScript, PixiJS - github.com/ryanatkn/dealt
collaborators welcome! lots of interesting problems - architecture, perf, UI/controls, game design 🔮
www.dealt.dev
It's pre-alpha, can't make+share games quite yet
uses Svelte, TypeScript, PixiJS - github.com/ryanatkn/dealt
collaborators welcome! lots of interesting problems - architecture, perf, UI/controls, game design 🔮
polishing my Svelte app like
`transition:slide`
work complete.
`transition:slide`
work complete.
December 15, 2024 at 5:01 AM
polishing my Svelte app like
`transition:slide`
work complete.
`transition:slide`
work complete.
underappreciated that they didn't namesquat googol, it's a good word, that's what I'm thankful for this season
also Bluesky getting the web folks I follow I'm v. thankful for that
also Bluesky getting the web folks I follow I'm v. thankful for that
November 21, 2024 at 9:54 PM
underappreciated that they didn't namesquat googol, it's a good word, that's what I'm thankful for this season
also Bluesky getting the web folks I follow I'm v. thankful for that
also Bluesky getting the web folks I follow I'm v. thankful for that
Reposted by Ryan Atkinson
I often see people lament the loss of HyperCard type tools for building non-linear experiences. But there are actually a bunch of HyperCard-esque tools and app knocking around.
November 19, 2024 at 4:12 AM
I often see people lament the loss of HyperCard type tools for building non-linear experiences. But there are actually a bunch of HyperCard-esque tools and app knocking around.