Jeremy Smith
@jeremysmith.co
Product-focused Rails dev • Studio: http://hybrd.co • Co-host: @indierails.com • Organizer: @blueridgeruby.com
I've never thought of this as a good rule of thumb, but it just occurred to me, and I'm wondering if it's controversial at all?
For every ActiveRecord model in your Rails app, you should be able to call `.new.valid?` on it without raising any exceptions.
For every ActiveRecord model in your Rails app, you should be able to call `.new.valid?` on it without raising any exceptions.
February 10, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I've never thought of this as a good rule of thumb, but it just occurred to me, and I'm wondering if it's controversial at all?
For every ActiveRecord model in your Rails app, you should be able to call `.new.valid?` on it without raising any exceptions.
For every ActiveRecord model in your Rails app, you should be able to call `.new.valid?` on it without raising any exceptions.
Reposted by Jeremy Smith
RubyConf 2026 is being reimagined as our flagship, community-curated event.
A dedicated program committee is shaping a stellar program with new focus and themes, all with the future of Ruby in mind.
CFP submissions are now open.
sessionize.com/rubyconf-202...
A dedicated program committee is shaping a stellar program with new focus and themes, all with the future of Ruby in mind.
CFP submissions are now open.
sessionize.com/rubyconf-202...
February 10, 2026 at 3:05 PM
RubyConf 2026 is being reimagined as our flagship, community-curated event.
A dedicated program committee is shaping a stellar program with new focus and themes, all with the future of Ruby in mind.
CFP submissions are now open.
sessionize.com/rubyconf-202...
A dedicated program committee is shaping a stellar program with new focus and themes, all with the future of Ruby in mind.
CFP submissions are now open.
sessionize.com/rubyconf-202...
I've been curious for the past couple years to hear more about Super Good, and how it started. Super Glad to finally have my answers! 😄 (Also wondering if we should have done an alternate metal intro for this episode?)
Episode 73 is now in stock! 📦 Jared Norman (@jardo.dev), founder of Super Good Software and Solidus core team member, joins us to talk about building and running a consultancy in the Rails e-commerce space. Thanks again, Jared! ☺️
www.indierails.com/73
www.indierails.com/73
IndieRails | Jared Norman - Building Super Good Software|Teams|OS|companies|.*
In this episode, Jared Norman joins us to talk about his journey from aspiring game developer to founder of Super Good Software, an agency specializing in e-commerce and Solidus. Jared shares the s...
www.indierails.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:38 PM
I've been curious for the past couple years to hear more about Super Good, and how it started. Super Glad to finally have my answers! 😄 (Also wondering if we should have done an alternate metal intro for this episode?)
One thing that's different about using Conductor vs. Claude Code is it wants to take something and run with it. Asking "do you have any idea why this test is failing in CI and not local?" will lead to it pushing up a new commit, not just answering the question.
February 9, 2026 at 9:15 PM
One thing that's different about using Conductor vs. Claude Code is it wants to take something and run with it. Asking "do you have any idea why this test is failing in CI and not local?" will lead to it pushing up a new commit, not just answering the question.
Reposted by Jeremy Smith
I'm going to lead the next cohort of the rails.builders accountability group, taking over from Rich Steinmetz.
Starts this Thursday Feb 12, until May 7.
DM me if interested.
Starts this Thursday Feb 12, until May 7.
DM me if interested.
February 9, 2026 at 2:54 PM
I'm going to lead the next cohort of the rails.builders accountability group, taking over from Rich Steinmetz.
Starts this Thursday Feb 12, until May 7.
DM me if interested.
Starts this Thursday Feb 12, until May 7.
DM me if interested.
Definitely feeling it, everyone just hang onto your board. 🏄 justinjackson.ca/claude-code
February 9, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Definitely feeling it, everyone just hang onto your board. 🏄 justinjackson.ca/claude-code
I'm finding Copilot PR reviews to currently be more trouble than they're worth. Just fighting too many false positives like this. The belongs_to is required by default, meaning it's presence will already be validated.
February 7, 2026 at 2:32 PM
I'm finding Copilot PR reviews to currently be more trouble than they're worth. Just fighting too many false positives like this. The belongs_to is required by default, meaning it's presence will already be validated.
Reposted by Jeremy Smith
Looking for your best articles/videos/podcasts on naming in Ruby. Or naming in programming in general.
What are the timeless pieces you keep coming back to?
What are the timeless pieces you keep coming back to?
February 6, 2026 at 8:35 AM
Looking for your best articles/videos/podcasts on naming in Ruby. Or naming in programming in general.
What are the timeless pieces you keep coming back to?
What are the timeless pieces you keep coming back to?
Here's the best clip from my kickoff call with Joshua yesterday for the @blueridgeruby.com Ashevillagers project.
February 5, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Here's the best clip from my kickoff call with Joshua yesterday for the @blueridgeruby.com Ashevillagers project.
I teased this a couple days ago, but now I'm ready to share the Ashevillagers project for @blueridgeruby.com (inspired by the @sfruby.com Clouds app). Joshua Paine kindly volunteered to take on this project! 🙏 Here's our *actual* kickoff call. 😄
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOQI...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOQI...
Blue Ridge Behind the Scenes - Ashevillagers Kickoff
YouTube video by Jeremy Smith
www.youtube.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:27 PM
I teased this a couple days ago, but now I'm ready to share the Ashevillagers project for @blueridgeruby.com (inspired by the @sfruby.com Clouds app). Joshua Paine kindly volunteered to take on this project! 🙏 Here's our *actual* kickoff call. 😄
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOQI...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOQI...
Reposted by Jeremy Smith
Yo, @balkanruby.bsky.social's CFP is ending this week on the 9th of February, and I'm awaiting your hot takes! Let's have a bit of self-deprecating fun this year. Apply at balkanruby.com. 🙌
February 4, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Yo, @balkanruby.bsky.social's CFP is ending this week on the 9th of February, and I'm awaiting your hot takes! Let's have a bit of self-deprecating fun this year. Apply at balkanruby.com. 🙌
When @blueridgeruby.com is over, I'm tempted to build a [CFP management service] competitor in anger. It's hard to get worse than having the submission form silently break, and then never respond to support requests. (Well, I guess there's losing submissions, that'd be worse.)
February 3, 2026 at 8:02 PM
When @blueridgeruby.com is over, I'm tempted to build a [CFP management service] competitor in anger. It's hard to get worse than having the submission form silently break, and then never respond to support requests. (Well, I guess there's losing submissions, that'd be worse.)
I let slip on Remote Ruby that I wanted to do something like the @sfruby.com Clouds app for @blueridgeruby.com, and that I was going to try to enlist some help for it. And wouldn't you know, I had a Ruby friend reach out right after! More coming on this later in the week!
February 3, 2026 at 2:03 AM
I let slip on Remote Ruby that I wanted to do something like the @sfruby.com Clouds app for @blueridgeruby.com, and that I was going to try to enlist some help for it. And wouldn't you know, I had a Ruby friend reach out right after! More coming on this later in the week!
Just over 7 hours left to submit to @blueridgeruby.com!
I want to read your talk proposal this week! 📖👀
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
I want to read your talk proposal this week! 📖👀
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
February 2, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Just over 7 hours left to submit to @blueridgeruby.com!
I want to read your talk proposal this week! 📖👀
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
I want to read your talk proposal this week! 📖👀
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
I don't have data about this, just gut instinct. But when I started building software 20+ years ago, all the tools I needed felt costly. Then it got extremely cheap. And now it feels like it's creeping toward costly again. Not a complaint, just observation.
February 1, 2026 at 8:08 PM
I don't have data about this, just gut instinct. But when I started building software 20+ years ago, all the tools I needed felt costly. Then it got extremely cheap. And now it feels like it's creeping toward costly again. Not a complaint, just observation.
I've been using conductor.build a ton for the past week, and iterating on my Conductor scripts for the various Rails apps I work on. These seem to be pretty particular to your setup. Here's what's working for me.
gist.github.com/jeremysmithc...
gist.github.com/jeremysmithc...
Conductor Setup for Rails App 2026-01-31
Conductor Setup for Rails App 2026-01-31. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
gist.github.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:10 AM
I've been using conductor.build a ton for the past week, and iterating on my Conductor scripts for the various Rails apps I work on. These seem to be pretty particular to your setup. Here's what's working for me.
gist.github.com/jeremysmithc...
gist.github.com/jeremysmithc...
Vibecoded a little Stimulus countdown timer for the @blueridgeruby.com CFP page.
github.com/jeremysmithc...
Good self-destructing example: boringrails.com/articles/sel...
Oh and btw, 2 more days. 👀👇
github.com/jeremysmithc...
Good self-destructing example: boringrails.com/articles/sel...
Oh and btw, 2 more days. 👀👇
January 31, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Vibecoded a little Stimulus countdown timer for the @blueridgeruby.com CFP page.
github.com/jeremysmithc...
Good self-destructing example: boringrails.com/articles/sel...
Oh and btw, 2 more days. 👀👇
github.com/jeremysmithc...
Good self-destructing example: boringrails.com/articles/sel...
Oh and btw, 2 more days. 👀👇
I'm using a gitignored CLAUDE.local.md file in a client project, but I still wanted it under version control. So I created a secret gist for it, and asked Claude to add instructions for itself to the beginning of the file, to sync after making changes. Totally works!
January 30, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I'm using a gitignored CLAUDE.local.md file in a client project, but I still wanted it under version control. So I created a secret gist for it, and asked Claude to add instructions for itself to the beginning of the file, to sync after making changes. Totally works!
Alright, my second Behind the Scenes video for @blueridgeruby.com is out!
In this one, I chat with my friend @adrianthedev.com about Ruby Passports (the origin story, how to setup an embassy, and future possibilities).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeUD...
In this one, I chat with my friend @adrianthedev.com about Ruby Passports (the origin story, how to setup an embassy, and future possibilities).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeUD...
Blue Ridge Behind the Scenes - Ruby Passports
YouTube video by Jeremy Smith
www.youtube.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Alright, my second Behind the Scenes video for @blueridgeruby.com is out!
In this one, I chat with my friend @adrianthedev.com about Ruby Passports (the origin story, how to setup an embassy, and future possibilities).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeUD...
In this one, I chat with my friend @adrianthedev.com about Ruby Passports (the origin story, how to setup an embassy, and future possibilities).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeUD...
If I could go back in time, I'd tell myself:
Don't make a .co domain your primary email address, you will miss countless important emails and have to say, "yes, that's right, .co" as long as you live.
Don't make a .co domain your primary email address, you will miss countless important emails and have to say, "yes, that's right, .co" as long as you live.
January 28, 2026 at 2:50 PM
If I could go back in time, I'd tell myself:
Don't make a .co domain your primary email address, you will miss countless important emails and have to say, "yes, that's right, .co" as long as you live.
Don't make a .co domain your primary email address, you will miss countless important emails and have to say, "yes, that's right, .co" as long as you live.
Reposted by Jeremy Smith
Hey, psst… 🤫 Don't tell anybody, but you've got less than a week left to submit your talk to Blue Ridge Ruby. 🤐 Seriously, mum's the word. And whatever you do, don't share this link… 😶🌫️
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
January 27, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Hey, psst… 🤫 Don't tell anybody, but you've got less than a week left to submit your talk to Blue Ridge Ruby. 🤐 Seriously, mum's the word. And whatever you do, don't share this link… 😶🌫️
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
blueridgeruby.com/cfp/
Yesterday, my oldest left to spend the spring semester in Luxembourg. (Her university has a center there in a cool chateau.) She and her friends will be living with a host family above their bakery. If you know me, you can guess how extremely proud *and* deeply jealous I am. 🥲
January 27, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Yesterday, my oldest left to spend the spring semester in Luxembourg. (Her university has a center there in a cool chateau.) She and her friends will be living with a host family above their bakery. If you know me, you can guess how extremely proud *and* deeply jealous I am. 🥲
I had wanted to have this conversation with John for quite a while, and it didn't disappoint! We got into so many great topics: architecture, UX, early Rails, speaking, consulting gigs, coaching, farming, remote work, Rails Guides project. Just not enough time on permaculture. ☺️
Episode 72 just sprouted! 🌱 John Athayde (@johnathayde.com) joins us to chat about how a student of architecture ends up in software, guiding design in software development, consulting in user experience, and his work on the Rails Guides refresh project.
www.indierails.com/72
www.indierails.com/72
IndieRails | John Athayde - Guiding Design in Software
In this episode, John Athayde joins us to chat about how a student of architecture ends up in software, finding the Ruby and Rails community, working at the intersection of design and development, ...
www.indierails.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:25 PM
I had wanted to have this conversation with John for quite a while, and it didn't disappoint! We got into so many great topics: architecture, UX, early Rails, speaking, consulting gigs, coaching, farming, remote work, Rails Guides project. Just not enough time on permaculture. ☺️