Brad Gessler
@bradgessler.com
I build stuff people want with Ruby—like BeautifulRuby.com, Terminalwire.com, TinyZap.com, Thingybase.com, LegibleNews.com, Sitepress.cc, and more.
🧑🏻💻 bradgessler.com 🏗️ rocketship.io 🌉 SF Bay Area
🧑🏻💻 bradgessler.com 🏗️ rocketship.io 🌉 SF Bay Area
Incorrectly sized Open Graph images commonly crop heads & logos in weird places.
In this video I debug YC's redesigned site with og.plus/tools to show how to identify & fix incorrectly sized images.
Of course sites that use og.plus don't have this problem because images are optimized per network.
In this video I debug YC's redesigned site with og.plus/tools to show how to identify & fix incorrectly sized images.
Of course sites that use og.plus don't have this problem because images are optimized per network.
YCombinator.com Open Graph analysis: solutions to common problems with image sizes
YouTube video by OpenGraph+
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Incorrectly sized Open Graph images commonly crop heads & logos in weird places.
In this video I debug YC's redesigned site with og.plus/tools to show how to identify & fix incorrectly sized images.
Of course sites that use og.plus don't have this problem because images are optimized per network.
In this video I debug YC's redesigned site with og.plus/tools to show how to identify & fix incorrectly sized images.
Of course sites that use og.plus don't have this problem because images are optimized per network.
I saw it, but the README was sprawling and I wasn't confident that it would do as little as possible during runtime.
Now that a few people have asked, I put a section in the README about it under "Prior art".
github.com/rubymonolith...
Now that a few people have asked, I put a section in the README about it under "Prior art".
github.com/rubymonolith...
GitHub - rubymonolith/fixturebot: The speed of fixtures with the syntactic sugar of factories.
The speed of fixtures with the syntactic sugar of factories. - rubymonolith/fixturebot
github.com
February 8, 2026 at 7:26 PM
I saw it, but the README was sprawling and I wasn't confident that it would do as little as possible during runtime.
Now that a few people have asked, I put a section in the README about it under "Prior art".
github.com/rubymonolith...
Now that a few people have asked, I put a section in the README about it under "Prior art".
github.com/rubymonolith...
I got tired of seeing people complain “RSpec and factories takes 14 min to run, minitest and takes 5s” so I’m starting to chip away at it.
First order of business: created FixtureBot after figuring out I use FactoryBot not because of factories, but because I like the syntax.
Might try sus next.
First order of business: created FixtureBot after figuring out I use FactoryBot not because of factories, but because I like the syntax.
Might try sus next.
Don't throw the specs out with the factories
FixtureBot gives you the speed of fixtures with the syntax of factories
beautifulruby.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:29 AM
I got tired of seeing people complain “RSpec and factories takes 14 min to run, minitest and takes 5s” so I’m starting to chip away at it.
First order of business: created FixtureBot after figuring out I use FactoryBot not because of factories, but because I like the syntax.
Might try sus next.
First order of business: created FixtureBot after figuring out I use FactoryBot not because of factories, but because I like the syntax.
Might try sus next.
Second edition of creating Plan objects in Superfeature to display plan tables in a SaaS I’m working on, og.plus.
The objects can upgrade to other plans, control downgrade flow, set prices in stripe, require payment, and more.
Next one I’ll cover Feature & Limit classes.
The objects can upgrade to other plans, control downgrade flow, set prices in stripe, require payment, and more.
Next one I’ll cover Feature & Limit classes.
Superfeature Plan
A Ruby DSL for defining SaaS pricing plans and features
beautifulruby.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:45 AM
Second edition of creating Plan objects in Superfeature to display plan tables in a SaaS I’m working on, og.plus.
The objects can upgrade to other plans, control downgrade flow, set prices in stripe, require payment, and more.
Next one I’ll cover Feature & Limit classes.
The objects can upgrade to other plans, control downgrade flow, set prices in stripe, require payment, and more.
Next one I’ll cover Feature & Limit classes.
First YouTube video for OpenGraph+ about a macOS app I'm building to design and debug Open Graph images.
Still waiting on Apple to approve the thing in Test Flight.
Still waiting on Apple to approve the thing in Test Flight.
OpenGraph+ macOS app demo: debug your tags live
YouTube video by OpenGraph+
youtu.be
February 4, 2026 at 7:42 PM
First YouTube video for OpenGraph+ about a macOS app I'm building to design and debug Open Graph images.
Still waiting on Apple to approve the thing in Test Flight.
Still waiting on Apple to approve the thing in Test Flight.
While working on OpenGraphPlus.com I got tired of how annoying it is working with full prices and discounts, particularly in views, so I created a gem with a Price object that makes it super easy to create discounts and have them display properly on your site.
Next Black Friday will be easy! 😅
Next Black Friday will be easy! 😅
Superfeature Price
A Ruby object for working with prices and discounts
beautifulruby.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:51 PM
While working on OpenGraphPlus.com I got tired of how annoying it is working with full prices and discounts, particularly in views, so I created a gem with a Price object that makes it super easy to create discounts and have them display properly on your site.
Next Black Friday will be easy! 😅
Next Black Friday will be easy! 😅
My first end-to-end demo of og.plus!
You can finally get a sense for how it will integrate into websites to generate an Open Graph image per page, and you can control it all with CSS, meta tags, and HTML cache headers.
As always, Rails is my first integration: opengraphplus.com/docs/rails
💅
You can finally get a sense for how it will integrate into websites to generate an Open Graph image per page, and you can control it all with CSS, meta tags, and HTML cache headers.
As always, Rails is my first integration: opengraphplus.com/docs/rails
💅
How the OpenGraph+ Rails app uses OpenGraph+ to render Open Graph tags for itself
YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com
youtu.be
January 23, 2026 at 6:10 AM
My first end-to-end demo of og.plus!
You can finally get a sense for how it will integrate into websites to generate an Open Graph image per page, and you can control it all with CSS, meta tags, and HTML cache headers.
As always, Rails is my first integration: opengraphplus.com/docs/rails
💅
You can finally get a sense for how it will integrate into websites to generate an Open Graph image per page, and you can control it all with CSS, meta tags, and HTML cache headers.
As always, Rails is my first integration: opengraphplus.com/docs/rails
💅
I've been heads down for the past month cranking on og.plus, and for the first time ever I found LLMs were actually useful for creating production-grade apps, but not how you think ... and a far cry from "vibe coding".
I share thoughts in the video & discuss the workflow I used to ship quality.
I share thoughts in the video & discuss the workflow I used to ship quality.
How I used Claude Code to build OpenGraph+, a Rails Open Graph generator
YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com
youtu.be
January 22, 2026 at 7:29 PM
I've been heads down for the past month cranking on og.plus, and for the first time ever I found LLMs were actually useful for creating production-grade apps, but not how you think ... and a far cry from "vibe coding".
I share thoughts in the video & discuss the workflow I used to ship quality.
I share thoughts in the video & discuss the workflow I used to ship quality.
I've started using ChatGPT's Atlas browser to critique first-draft landing pages to find obvious errors and issues on og.plus.
Overall I've found its useful to map out "completeness", but it will try to make you run in circles, is kinda slow, and requires copy & paste to work with other agents.
Overall I've found its useful to map out "completeness", but it will try to make you run in circles, is kinda slow, and requires copy & paste to work with other agents.
Critique landing pages with ChatGPT Atlas
YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com
youtu.be
January 20, 2026 at 11:18 PM
I've started using ChatGPT's Atlas browser to critique first-draft landing pages to find obvious errors and issues on og.plus.
Overall I've found its useful to map out "completeness", but it will try to make you run in circles, is kinda slow, and requires copy & paste to work with other agents.
Overall I've found its useful to map out "completeness", but it will try to make you run in circles, is kinda slow, and requires copy & paste to work with other agents.
Ironically the Girl Scout website has a cookie banner on their cookie website 🤣
Flavors at www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/c...
You’ll buy the course, I’ll email you, you pick what flavors you want for your 4 boxes, give me your address, and then you’ll have some cookies and Phlex 💪
Flavors at www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/c...
You’ll buy the course, I’ll email you, you pick what flavors you want for your 4 boxes, give me your address, and then you’ll have some cookies and Phlex 💪
January 19, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Ironically the Girl Scout website has a cookie banner on their cookie website 🤣
Flavors at www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/c...
You’ll buy the course, I’ll email you, you pick what flavors you want for your 4 boxes, give me your address, and then you’ll have some cookies and Phlex 💪
Flavors at www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/c...
You’ll buy the course, I’ll email you, you pick what flavors you want for your 4 boxes, give me your address, and then you’ll have some cookies and Phlex 💪
Girl Scout cookies and Phlex on Rails!?
I'm sending people 4 boxes to any address in the US (can't ship i18n 🫠) for people who buy the course at beautifulruby.com/phlex
After you purchase, I'll reach out to get your address & cookie preferences (real cookies 🍪, not browser cookies)
I'm sending people 4 boxes to any address in the US (can't ship i18n 🫠) for people who buy the course at beautifulruby.com/phlex
After you purchase, I'll reach out to get your address & cookie preferences (real cookies 🍪, not browser cookies)
Girl Scouts on Rails: Walk & Talk
YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Girl Scout cookies and Phlex on Rails!?
I'm sending people 4 boxes to any address in the US (can't ship i18n 🫠) for people who buy the course at beautifulruby.com/phlex
After you purchase, I'll reach out to get your address & cookie preferences (real cookies 🍪, not browser cookies)
I'm sending people 4 boxes to any address in the US (can't ship i18n 🫠) for people who buy the course at beautifulruby.com/phlex
After you purchase, I'll reach out to get your address & cookie preferences (real cookies 🍪, not browser cookies)
Phree Phlex videos are back! This one shows how to cram lots of Phlex components into one file with nested classes and endless method.
I also kept the Black Friday deal going for a couple more days.
I also kept the Black Friday deal going for a couple more days.
Inheritance
This video course teaches you how to use Phlex to build high quality Rails frontends that you can use with existing Erb apps or go all-in and build from the ground up with components. Phlex brings san...
beautifulruby.com
December 11, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Phree Phlex videos are back! This one shows how to cram lots of Phlex components into one file with nested classes and endless method.
I also kept the Black Friday deal going for a couple more days.
I also kept the Black Friday deal going for a couple more days.
I ditched the 10 minute time-box for the videos so I wouldn’t have to be as rushed.
37 signals released the source code for their latest Rails SaaS called Fizzy. I did a source code read through video and wrote about it.
I think I found 2 potential security issues along the way too.
Enjoy!
beautifulruby.com/code/fizzy
I think I found 2 potential security issues along the way too.
Enjoy!
beautifulruby.com/code/fizzy
37 Signals Fizzy Kanban board
I walk through the source code of the latest Rails application open-sourced by 37 Signals
beautifulruby.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I ditched the 10 minute time-box for the videos so I wouldn’t have to be as rushed.
Hotwire counts. Adding to list!
December 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Hotwire counts. Adding to list!
Last Ruby deals push, this time for Cyber Monday!
I picked up a few more deals and listed them at the bottom of Friday’s list.
There’s some great deals on software & lots of discounted courses if you have some training budget left in the tank this year.
beautifulruby.com/articles/rub...
I picked up a few more deals and listed them at the bottom of Friday’s list.
There’s some great deals on software & lots of discounted courses if you have some training budget left in the tank this year.
beautifulruby.com/articles/rub...
2025 Ruby Cyber Monday & Black Friday Deals
Save money on Ruby books, courses, licenses, & software
beautifulruby.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Last Ruby deals push, this time for Cyber Monday!
I picked up a few more deals and listed them at the bottom of Friday’s list.
There’s some great deals on software & lots of discounted courses if you have some training budget left in the tank this year.
beautifulruby.com/articles/rub...
I picked up a few more deals and listed them at the bottom of Friday’s list.
There’s some great deals on software & lots of discounted courses if you have some training budget left in the tank this year.
beautifulruby.com/articles/rub...
100% discount? What’s the normal price?
December 1, 2025 at 1:45 AM
100% discount? What’s the normal price?
Gearing up for one last push on Cyber Monday! I picked up a few more deals that I put on the page. If there's any more please LMK today so I can include in my final Ruby deal push.
I collected all Ruby Black Friday deals I could find & posted them in one spot. Highlights include:
$130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course
$81 off @gorails.com annual subscription
+20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content
Lots of @pragprog.com deals
Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰
$130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course
$81 off @gorails.com annual subscription
+20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content
Lots of @pragprog.com deals
Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰
2025 Ruby Black Friday Deals
Save money on Ruby books, courses, and software
beautifulruby.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Gearing up for one last push on Cyber Monday! I picked up a few more deals that I put on the page. If there's any more please LMK today so I can include in my final Ruby deal push.
Time to open a bakery. Is the brown stuff cinnamon sugar? Looks delicious.
November 29, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Time to open a bakery. Is the brown stuff cinnamon sugar? Looks delicious.
I collected all Ruby Black Friday deals I could find & posted them in one spot. Highlights include:
$130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course
$81 off @gorails.com annual subscription
+20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content
Lots of @pragprog.com deals
Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰
$130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course
$81 off @gorails.com annual subscription
+20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content
Lots of @pragprog.com deals
Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰
2025 Ruby Black Friday Deals
Save money on Ruby books, courses, and software
beautifulruby.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I collected all Ruby Black Friday deals I could find & posted them in one spot. Highlights include:
$130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course
$81 off @gorails.com annual subscription
+20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content
Lots of @pragprog.com deals
Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰
$130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course
$81 off @gorails.com annual subscription
+20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content
Lots of @pragprog.com deals
Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰
I was surprised at how few talks I got to sit down and watch. Also looking forward to watching the videos.
November 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
I was surprised at how few talks I got to sit down and watch. Also looking forward to watching the videos.
I've got a few more in the queue from the SF Ruby Conf.
I'm definitely going to be shooting more of these in different locations with other Rubyists and people who are building cool stuff.
I'm definitely going to be shooting more of these in different locations with other Rubyists and people who are building cool stuff.
During the @sfruby.com conference I got a chance to walk with @adrianthedev.com, founder of @avohq.io, and talk about the business of selling self-hosted, installed software to developers.
Turns out it's pretty challenging, but there's some upsides if you can figure out how to do it. 💪
Turns out it's pretty challenging, but there's some upsides if you can figure out how to do it. 💪
Adrian Marin, founder of Avo, talks about the business of selling software to developers
YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:31 PM
I've got a few more in the queue from the SF Ruby Conf.
I'm definitely going to be shooting more of these in different locations with other Rubyists and people who are building cool stuff.
I'm definitely going to be shooting more of these in different locations with other Rubyists and people who are building cool stuff.
Did customs accept the Ruby passports?
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Did customs accept the Ruby passports?
I’m there Tuesday through Friday.
November 18, 2025 at 4:59 AM
I’m there Tuesday through Friday.
Where are Ruby devs looking for Black Friday deals this season?
I’ve got an $80 off BFD for the @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course and want to get it in front of more Ruby developers.
beautifulruby.com/phlex
I’ve got an $80 off BFD for the @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course and want to get it in front of more Ruby developers.
beautifulruby.com/phlex
Phlex on Rails
Build amazing user interfaces in Rails with Phlex 💪
beautifulruby.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Where are Ruby devs looking for Black Friday deals this season?
I’ve got an $80 off BFD for the @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course and want to get it in front of more Ruby developers.
beautifulruby.com/phlex
I’ve got an $80 off BFD for the @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course and want to get it in front of more Ruby developers.
beautifulruby.com/phlex
I write a lot about Ruby @beautifulruby.com and on here.
November 16, 2025 at 5:21 AM
I write a lot about Ruby @beautifulruby.com and on here.