A 15-second coding test with a hidden character trick filters out 50% of unqualified job applicants, as good candidates would solve the code mentally
TLDR Dev 2025-12-23
Articles & Tutorials
Logging Sucks (18 minute read)
Traditional logging is inadequate for modern, distributed systems, usually providing little useful context for debugging issues. A shift to “wide events” or canonical log lines, which are single, comprehensive log entries emitted per request per service, may solve this problem. These events are rich in high-cardinality and high-dimensionality data, allowing for powerful queries and analytics instead of string searches.
Scaling LLMs to larger codebases (12 minute read)
Scaling LLMs within large codebases requires investments in both guidance and oversight. Guidance focuses on providing LLMs with high-quality context, such as prompt libraries and well-structured, modular codebases, to allow for efficient “one-shot” code generation without needing a lot of rework. Oversight refers to human engineers who validate LLM choices, making sure of architectural integrity and aligned solutions.
Opinions & Advice
Everyone is a Staff Engineer Now (8 minute read)
AI coding agents have become so good that they have fundamentally transformed software engineering, making code implementation inexpensive. This means engineers are increasingly expected to focus on higher-level skills like architectural judgment, system-level thinking, and managing complex contexts across multiple domains. Devs will need to start adapting their workflows, including planning and steering AI agents and developing habits to maintain focus amidst asynchronous work.
A Year Of Vibes (12 minute read)
In 2025, this dev left Sentry, launched a new company, and shifted his programming approach to embrace hands-off agentic coding with tools like Claude Code. He became deeply integrated with AI agents for tasks from code generation to daily organization. However, he’s sometimes worried about emergent human-like tendencies of LLMs, questioning terms like “agent.”
Launches & Tools
Tambo AI is a Generative UI SDK for React. It allows AI to dynamically render components based on natural language conversations. Components are defined with Zod schemas, which the AI then generates one-time elements or manages persistent, interactable UI.
CocoIndex is a fast data transformation framework for AI. It uses a dataflow programming model, with plug-and-play building blocks and guaranteed data freshness through incremental processing and data lineage.
snitch is a prettier way to inspect network connections. It enables users to inspect network connections with a clean tui or styled tables. Examples are available in the repository.
Miscellaneous
A 15-second coding test with a hidden character trick filters out 50% of unqualified remote job applicants, as good candidates would solve the code mentally, while others using interpreters or AI would get an incorrect answer.
Your Supabase Is Public (3 minute read)
This dev frequently finds Supabase projects with exposed credentials, which, due to a lack of proper Row Level Security (RLS), grant full access to sensitive user data within the database. This vulnerability is surprisingly common. It allows simple `curl` requests to retrieve all user information from unprotected tables. While users are responsible for RLS, Supabase’s design could be improved with clearer warnings or default secure configurations to prevent the anon key from becoming a master key.
Quick Links
Well Being in Times of Algorithms (12 minute read)
Reclaiming well-being from the attention-grabbing algorithms of big tech calls for a return to an open internet and a focus on fundamental life pillars like health, family, and self-contentment.
I Program on the Subway (5 minute read)
This dev programs on the subway during their commute to reclaim time for side projects, finding benefits from the focused, distraction-free environment.
You Can’t Opt-Out of Accessibility (11 minute read)
Web accessibility is a fundamental human responsibility that is currently neglected and not properly addressed by the industry.
Things I learnt about passkeys when building passkeybot (11 minute read)
passkeybot is a hosted sign-in page that allows developers to add passkey auth to their sites with just a few server-side HTTP handlers.
Debian’s git transition (15 minute read)
Debian is actively transitioning its source code management from `.dsc` source packages to a git-based workflow.
You Don’t Need It (7 minute read)
Take a step back and evaluate the problems you are trying to solve because you may find a better alternative.
Thanks for reading, Priyam Mohanty, Jenny Xu & Ceora Ford