Ben Curtis
@bencurtis.com
Christian, husband, dad, co-founder of Honeybadger.io, fan of Ruby, creator of the faker gem, EV nut (1, 2, and 4-wheel), LSU football fan, and cycling enthusiast in the PNW.
This post about "Respectful Open Source" by @andrewnez.bsky.social inspired me to have Claude build forkwatch, a tool that analyzes forks of any repo and highlights where multiple forks converge on the same fix.
nesbitt.io/2026/02/13/respectful-open-source.html
github.com/stympy/forkwatch
nesbitt.io/2026/02/13/respectful-open-source.html
github.com/stympy/forkwatch
Respectful Open Source
Maintainer attention as a finite resource.
nesbitt.io
February 13, 2026 at 2:03 PM
This post about "Respectful Open Source" by @andrewnez.bsky.social inspired me to have Claude build forkwatch, a tool that analyzes forks of any repo and highlights where multiple forks converge on the same fix.
nesbitt.io/2026/02/13/respectful-open-source.html
github.com/stympy/forkwatch
nesbitt.io/2026/02/13/respectful-open-source.html
github.com/stympy/forkwatch
I like the term "Automatic programming" from @antirez.bsky.social
I think it fits for the process I was describing in www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
I think it fits for the process I was describing in www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
January 31, 2026 at 2:17 PM
I like the term "Automatic programming" from @antirez.bsky.social
I think it fits for the process I was describing in www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
I think it fits for the process I was describing in www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
For the afternoon folks: I shipped a thing, I had fun, and I blogged about it. ;)
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
Building Breakwater with AI - Ben Curtis
What used to take weeks now takes hours. I used ChatGPT and Claude Code to design and build Breakwater, and the results have changed how I think about shipping software.
www.bencurtis.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:28 PM
For the afternoon folks: I shipped a thing, I had fun, and I blogged about it. ;)
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
It’s fun to tell Claude, "ship it", and watch it commit, push, and open a PR.
I just did that for my latest blog post about using AI to build Breakwater, an app for managing licensing and access control for Docker container distribution:
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
I just did that for my latest blog post about using AI to build Breakwater, an app for managing licensing and access control for Docker container distribution:
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
Building Breakwater with AI - Ben Curtis
What used to take weeks now takes hours. I used ChatGPT and Claude Code to design and build Breakwater, and the results have changed how I think about shipping software.
www.bencurtis.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:57 PM
It’s fun to tell Claude, "ship it", and watch it commit, push, and open a PR.
I just did that for my latest blog post about using AI to build Breakwater, an app for managing licensing and access control for Docker container distribution:
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
I just did that for my latest blog post about using AI to build Breakwater, an app for managing licensing and access control for Docker container distribution:
www.bencurtis.com/2026/01/buil...
I recently shipped something fun for Honeybadger: You can keep closer tabs on your cron jobs now, and even use them to get data into Insights for querying, charts, and alarms. :)
www.honeybadger.io/changelog/ch...
www.honeybadger.io/changelog/ch...
Check-in payloads: know how your jobs ran, not just that they ran on time
Basic check-ins tell you when your cron jobs and background tasks don't run on schedule. But what happens when a job runs and fails? Or takes twice as long as...
www.honeybadger.io
January 28, 2026 at 9:06 PM
I recently shipped something fun for Honeybadger: You can keep closer tabs on your cron jobs now, and even use them to get data into Insights for querying, charts, and alarms. :)
www.honeybadger.io/changelog/ch...
www.honeybadger.io/changelog/ch...
Reposted by Ben Curtis
Production debugging with AI agents has really improved my workflow lately. Here's how to automate fixing bugs on @github.com.
This approach should work for Claude Code and other agents too, lmk if you want ideas.
www.honeybadger.io/blog/copilot...
This approach should work for Claude Code and other agents too, lmk if you want ideas.
www.honeybadger.io/blog/copilot...
How to Build a Copilot Agent That Debugs Production Errors
Learn how to build a Copilot agent that connects to your error tracking tool, fetches stack traces automatically, and proposes fixes with tests.
www.honeybadger.io
January 27, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Production debugging with AI agents has really improved my workflow lately. Here's how to automate fixing bugs on @github.com.
This approach should work for Claude Code and other agents too, lmk if you want ideas.
www.honeybadger.io/blog/copilot...
This approach should work for Claude Code and other agents too, lmk if you want ideas.
www.honeybadger.io/blog/copilot...
I don't trust AI enough to let it loose managing my infrastructure, but ChatGPT and Claude sure are helping in creating runbooks and modifying terraform configurations in response to a an incident!
January 17, 2026 at 1:31 PM
I don't trust AI enough to let it loose managing my infrastructure, but ChatGPT and Claude sure are helping in creating runbooks and modifying terraform configurations in response to a an incident!
It's pretty wild to be looking at code that I haven't touched in ten years, especially when this app is getting updated every day.
January 16, 2026 at 2:38 AM
It's pretty wild to be looking at code that I haven't touched in ten years, especially when this app is getting updated every day.
This is pretty cool :)
Here's something I cooked up over the weekend: a terminal user interface (TUI) that renders @honeybadger.io observability dashboards from our YAML source format (which we recently made public, more to come on that).
www.honeybadger.io/changelog/in...
#Monitoring #Rust #Ruby #RubyOnRails #Sidekiq
www.honeybadger.io/changelog/in...
#Monitoring #Rust #Ruby #RubyOnRails #Sidekiq
January 15, 2026 at 8:18 PM
This is pretty cool :)
Some details on how AI helped…
* Product name: workshopped with AI
* Color scheme, HTML, CSS: generated by AI
* Homepage content: workshopped with AI
* Early access form: suggested by AI
* OpenGraph image: created/iterated with prompts
* Terms and privacy policy: *not* generated by AI ;)
* Product name: workshopped with AI
* Color scheme, HTML, CSS: generated by AI
* Homepage content: workshopped with AI
* Early access form: suggested by AI
* OpenGraph image: created/iterated with prompts
* Terms and privacy policy: *not* generated by AI ;)
I’m amazed at how good Claude has gotten recently. It accelerates my work so much that I launched a new product to over the Christmas break:
www.breakwaterapp.com
It went from an idea to launched with less than 20 hours of my time. 2026 is going to be wild for B2B SaaS, y’all.
www.breakwaterapp.com
It went from an idea to launched with less than 20 hours of my time. 2026 is going to be wild for B2B SaaS, y’all.
January 15, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Some details on how AI helped…
* Product name: workshopped with AI
* Color scheme, HTML, CSS: generated by AI
* Homepage content: workshopped with AI
* Early access form: suggested by AI
* OpenGraph image: created/iterated with prompts
* Terms and privacy policy: *not* generated by AI ;)
* Product name: workshopped with AI
* Color scheme, HTML, CSS: generated by AI
* Homepage content: workshopped with AI
* Early access form: suggested by AI
* OpenGraph image: created/iterated with prompts
* Terms and privacy policy: *not* generated by AI ;)
I’m amazed at how good Claude has gotten recently. It accelerates my work so much that I launched a new product to over the Christmas break:
www.breakwaterapp.com
It went from an idea to launched with less than 20 hours of my time. 2026 is going to be wild for B2B SaaS, y’all.
www.breakwaterapp.com
It went from an idea to launched with less than 20 hours of my time. 2026 is going to be wild for B2B SaaS, y’all.
January 15, 2026 at 5:12 AM
I’m amazed at how good Claude has gotten recently. It accelerates my work so much that I launched a new product to over the Christmas break:
www.breakwaterapp.com
It went from an idea to launched with less than 20 hours of my time. 2026 is going to be wild for B2B SaaS, y’all.
www.breakwaterapp.com
It went from an idea to launched with less than 20 hours of my time. 2026 is going to be wild for B2B SaaS, y’all.
One of the perks of using Fastmail: easy setup for outbound email for your side projects. Set up your new domain with Fastmail, then create an app password in Fastmail (limited to just SMTP access), then use that password and Fastmail's SMTP server in your app's mail configuration.
January 6, 2026 at 7:37 PM
One of the perks of using Fastmail: easy setup for outbound email for your side projects. Set up your new domain with Fastmail, then create an app password in Fastmail (limited to just SMTP access), then use that password and Fastmail's SMTP server in your app's mail configuration.
Reposted by Ben Curtis
And see, even in that post I let out yet more context:
I didn't see any condensation around my exterior doors, including on latches and hardware. What little I saw in those rooms was due to the air trapped between the blinds and the glass. Just hard to explain my whole reasoning concisely.
I didn't see any condensation around my exterior doors, including on latches and hardware. What little I saw in those rooms was due to the air trapped between the blinds and the glass. Just hard to explain my whole reasoning concisely.
December 31, 2025 at 3:56 AM
And see, even in that post I let out yet more context:
I didn't see any condensation around my exterior doors, including on latches and hardware. What little I saw in those rooms was due to the air trapped between the blinds and the glass. Just hard to explain my whole reasoning concisely.
I didn't see any condensation around my exterior doors, including on latches and hardware. What little I saw in those rooms was due to the air trapped between the blinds and the glass. Just hard to explain my whole reasoning concisely.
Reposted by Ben Curtis
There are a few people that do realize that racism was wrong, and those people are welcomed with open arms.♥️👍🏿
But what usually happens, is people conflate "Leopards are my face!🤡" with true reconciliation. Eg, as people are trying so hard to do right now with MTG.
No. Rejected. Stay on that side.
But what usually happens, is people conflate "Leopards are my face!🤡" with true reconciliation. Eg, as people are trying so hard to do right now with MTG.
No. Rejected. Stay on that side.
December 31, 2025 at 2:30 AM
There are a few people that do realize that racism was wrong, and those people are welcomed with open arms.♥️👍🏿
But what usually happens, is people conflate "Leopards are my face!🤡" with true reconciliation. Eg, as people are trying so hard to do right now with MTG.
No. Rejected. Stay on that side.
But what usually happens, is people conflate "Leopards are my face!🤡" with true reconciliation. Eg, as people are trying so hard to do right now with MTG.
No. Rejected. Stay on that side.
Kafka pro tip: If you're having performance issues, try increasing your batch size. It's magical! :)
December 9, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Kafka pro tip: If you're having performance issues, try increasing your batch size. It's magical! :)
Reposted by Ben Curtis
Don’t forget to instrument your turkey for #observability today. 📈
Happy Thanksgiving!
blog.thermoworks.com/accurate-pro...
Happy Thanksgiving!
blog.thermoworks.com/accurate-pro...
Proper Probe Placement in Your Turkey
Temperature control is key to cooking a turkey, and it all starts with accurately placing your oven thermometer's probe.
blog.thermoworks.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Don’t forget to instrument your turkey for #observability today. 📈
Happy Thanksgiving!
blog.thermoworks.com/accurate-pro...
Happy Thanksgiving!
blog.thermoworks.com/accurate-pro...
Today I launched a big (back-end, infrastructure) thing and not one customer noticed. 💯 🎉
Just the way I like it. 😉
Just the way I like it. 😉
November 26, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Today I launched a big (back-end, infrastructure) thing and not one customer noticed. 💯 🎉
Just the way I like it. 😉
Just the way I like it. 😉
👀
Incredible, a nice looking type system for Ruby?? https://github.com/low-rb/low_type
GitHub - low-rb/low_type: Elegant types in Ruby
Elegant types in Ruby. Contribute to low-rb/low_type development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:15 PM
👀
We're doing something a bit different (and cool!) with APM at Honeybadger... Josh writes up some of our thoughts on the blog:
APMs drown you in data you'll never use, yet can't answer questions when production breaks.
Our co-founder Josh explores why—it's not lack of data, it's paying for complexity that doesn't translate to capability.
www.honeybadger.io/blog/apm-par...
#Observability #DevOps #Monitoring
Our co-founder Josh explores why—it's not lack of data, it's paying for complexity that doesn't translate to capability.
www.honeybadger.io/blog/apm-par...
#Observability #DevOps #Monitoring
The APM paradox: Too much data, too few answers
Most dev teams don't need 47 dashboards or petabytes of logs—they need answers at 2 AM. Explore the evolution from APM to observability.
www.honeybadger.io
November 14, 2025 at 8:50 PM
We're doing something a bit different (and cool!) with APM at Honeybadger... Josh writes up some of our thoughts on the blog:
Happy Halloween! Watch out for zombie processes!
The only thing scarier than errors in your logs is not knowing about them. 👻
Honeybadger turns your cryptic logs into actionable alerts with all the context you need to exorcise those errors fast.
Sleep better knowing we're watching for the things that go bump in your logs.
#Logging #Monitoring
Honeybadger turns your cryptic logs into actionable alerts with all the context you need to exorcise those errors fast.
Sleep better knowing we're watching for the things that go bump in your logs.
#Logging #Monitoring
October 31, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Happy Halloween! Watch out for zombie processes!
This was great!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQQt...
My keynote, "We Who Remember Magic", from Rocky Mountain Ruby just posted.
My keynote, "We Who Remember Magic", from Rocky Mountain Ruby just posted.
Rocky Mountain Ruby 2025 - We Who Remember Magic by Brandon Weaver
YouTube video by Confreaks
www.youtube.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This was great!
Pro tip: Include the git SHA in an HTML comment when deploying your app... it's super handy to know what is actually deployed in production, especially when you're looking at a side project that hasn't been deployed in months. :)
October 16, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Pro tip: Include the git SHA in an HTML comment when deploying your app... it's super handy to know what is actually deployed in production, especially when you're looking at a side project that hasn't been deployed in months. :)