Matt Stauffer
@mattstauffer.com
🧳 CEO @tighten.com: Laravel and more w/some of the best devs alive.
🎙️ Host of the Laravel Podcast and Business of Laravel Podcast
🍑 "Worst twerker ever, best Dad ever" –My daughter
💍 @imanivaughnjones.bsky.social
🎙️ Host of the Laravel Podcast and Business of Laravel Podcast
🍑 "Worst twerker ever, best Dad ever" –My daughter
💍 @imanivaughnjones.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Short musings on "cognitive debt" - I'm seeing this in my own work, where excessive unreviewed AI-generated code leads me to lose a firm mental model of what I've built, which then makes it harder to confidently make future decisions simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/15/...
How Generative and Agentic AI Shift Concern from Technical Debt to Cognitive Debt
This piece by Margaret-Anne Storey is the best explanation of the term cognitive debt I've seen so far. Cognitive debt, a term gaining traction recently, instead communicates the notion that …
simonwillison.net
February 15, 2026 at 5:22 AM
Short musings on "cognitive debt" - I'm seeing this in my own work, where excessive unreviewed AI-generated code leads me to lose a firm mental model of what I've built, which then makes it harder to confidently make future decisions simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/15/...
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Delegated Types is one of my favorite Active Record patterns! It surfaces the invisible hierarchy in polymorphic relations, lets you define richer models and their nesting, track data changes on the type cleanly, and so much more. Had fun writing this one!
Polymorphic relations are great, but complexity grows with each shared behavior. Delegated types flip this on its head, building a first-class entity for shared behavior!
Fewer entry points, less repetition, cleaner design.
@tonysm.com wrote about it here: tighten.com/insights/del...
Fewer entry points, less repetition, cleaner design.
@tonysm.com wrote about it here: tighten.com/insights/del...
Introduction to Delegated Types
What if you could build richer hierarchies, add shared behavior across models, and make your data immutable while retaining historical data—all without Event Sourcing or graph databases? Delegated Typ...
tighten.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Delegated Types is one of my favorite Active Record patterns! It surfaces the invisible hierarchy in polymorphic relations, lets you define richer models and their nesting, track data changes on the type cleanly, and so much more. Had fun writing this one!
Been working on this for months; it’s so exciting to see it live!
My goal: avoid doom, avoid hype.
Focus on clear-eyed, balanced pragmatism: what you need to know as a human being, business leader, technologist, creator, to interact w/AI well.
@aaronfrancis.com
share.transistor.fm/s/0d04649f
My goal: avoid doom, avoid hype.
Focus on clear-eyed, balanced pragmatism: what you need to know as a human being, business leader, technologist, creator, to interact w/AI well.
@aaronfrancis.com
share.transistor.fm/s/0d04649f
Dreaming Bigger With AI - Aaron Francis | Pragmatic AI with Matt Stauffer | Episode 2
In this episode of Pragmatic AI, host Matt Stauffer interviews Aaron Francis, a Laravel developer and co-founder of Try Hard Studios. They discuss Aaron's journey from being a software developer to an...
share.transistor.fm
February 11, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Been working on this for months; it’s so exciting to see it live!
My goal: avoid doom, avoid hype.
Focus on clear-eyed, balanced pragmatism: what you need to know as a human being, business leader, technologist, creator, to interact w/AI well.
@aaronfrancis.com
share.transistor.fm/s/0d04649f
My goal: avoid doom, avoid hype.
Focus on clear-eyed, balanced pragmatism: what you need to know as a human being, business leader, technologist, creator, to interact w/AI well.
@aaronfrancis.com
share.transistor.fm/s/0d04649f
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Firewatch is a such a good game. If you’re looking for something to play and you’re happy to immerse yourself in an aesthetically beautiful story, with perhaps an even more beautiful soundtrack, this game is for you.
Today is the tenth anniversary of Firewatch's release. It remains the thing I'm most proud to have worked on. There's more of me inside of Firewatch than in any other game—and I have no doubt there are others on the team who would say the same about themselves. Thanks to everyone who ever played it.
February 10, 2026 at 8:03 AM
Firewatch is a such a good game. If you’re looking for something to play and you’re happy to immerse yourself in an aesthetically beautiful story, with perhaps an even more beautiful soundtrack, this game is for you.
mannn... get you a podcast host that goes the extra mile!!! / @justinjackson.ca
February 7, 2026 at 3:08 AM
mannn... get you a podcast host that goes the extra mile!!! / @justinjackson.ca
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
🔥 new podcast alert
So this is what I've been working on for the last couple months!
First interview w/@aaronfrancis.com goes live next week. @adamwathan.com the week after, then Jeffrey Way!
Y'all are going to love these chats. I'm absolutely confident of it. Subscribe to podcast or YouTube!
pragmaticai.fm
First interview w/@aaronfrancis.com goes live next week. @adamwathan.com the week after, then Jeffrey Way!
Y'all are going to love these chats. I'm absolutely confident of it. Subscribe to podcast or YouTube!
pragmaticai.fm
Pragmatic AI with Matt Stauffer
Pragmatic AI is a podcast about practical AI for business leaders and developers—the stuff that actually works, not the hate or the hype. We cover using AI tools day-to-day and integrating AI into the...
pragmaticai.fm
February 6, 2026 at 9:00 PM
🔥 new podcast alert
Yes--it'll go live on all the podcast directories hopefully by the time the first episode is out!
Will you make it available on Apple Podcast?
February 6, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Yes--it'll go live on all the podcast directories hopefully by the time the first episode is out!
So this is what I've been working on for the last couple months!
First interview w/@aaronfrancis.com goes live next week. @adamwathan.com the week after, then Jeffrey Way!
Y'all are going to love these chats. I'm absolutely confident of it. Subscribe to podcast or YouTube!
pragmaticai.fm
First interview w/@aaronfrancis.com goes live next week. @adamwathan.com the week after, then Jeffrey Way!
Y'all are going to love these chats. I'm absolutely confident of it. Subscribe to podcast or YouTube!
pragmaticai.fm
Pragmatic AI with Matt Stauffer
Pragmatic AI is a podcast about practical AI for business leaders and developers—the stuff that actually works, not the hate or the hype. We cover using AI tools day-to-day and integrating AI into the...
pragmaticai.fm
February 6, 2026 at 3:07 PM
So this is what I've been working on for the last couple months!
First interview w/@aaronfrancis.com goes live next week. @adamwathan.com the week after, then Jeffrey Way!
Y'all are going to love these chats. I'm absolutely confident of it. Subscribe to podcast or YouTube!
pragmaticai.fm
First interview w/@aaronfrancis.com goes live next week. @adamwathan.com the week after, then Jeffrey Way!
Y'all are going to love these chats. I'm absolutely confident of it. Subscribe to podcast or YouTube!
pragmaticai.fm
If you're looking to learn how to use AI/LLMs in *practical*, *pragmatic* ways--not "what's the latest-greatest", but "how can I as a business owner and/or technologist use these tools for my benefit *today*"...
Who do you look to?
Who do you look to?
February 2, 2026 at 11:53 PM
If you're looking to learn how to use AI/LLMs in *practical*, *pragmatic* ways--not "what's the latest-greatest", but "how can I as a business owner and/or technologist use these tools for my benefit *today*"...
Who do you look to?
Who do you look to?
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Dismantle ICE. Prosecute these murderers. Impeach, remove, and charge the people who set this into action.
You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.
January 25, 2026 at 1:49 AM
Dismantle ICE. Prosecute these murderers. Impeach, remove, and charge the people who set this into action.
I'm working on something I'm very excited about. It's launching in a few weeks.
Could you help? I'd love to share, as a part of this project, ways normal ppl use AI creatively as a part of their day-to-day. Not "OMFG Ralph Wiggum", more "I used chat to help plan vacation" etc.
Could you help? I'd love to share, as a part of this project, ways normal ppl use AI creatively as a part of their day-to-day. Not "OMFG Ralph Wiggum", more "I used chat to help plan vacation" etc.
January 16, 2026 at 5:58 PM
I'm working on something I'm very excited about. It's launching in a few weeks.
Could you help? I'd love to share, as a part of this project, ways normal ppl use AI creatively as a part of their day-to-day. Not "OMFG Ralph Wiggum", more "I used chat to help plan vacation" etc.
Could you help? I'd love to share, as a part of this project, ways normal ppl use AI creatively as a part of their day-to-day. Not "OMFG Ralph Wiggum", more "I used chat to help plan vacation" etc.
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Parental, our Single-Table-Inheritance package, has a new release: v1.5.0! 👇
• Models can now transition from one child type to another, with become()
• You can store child type as integers instead of strings
• Eager loading children is even easier than ever
tighten.com/insights/new...
• Models can now transition from one child type to another, with become()
• You can store child type as integers instead of strings
• Eager loading children is even easier than ever
tighten.com/insights/new...
New in Parental v1.5.0: Becoming, Integers, and Eager-Loading
Parental v1.5.0 introduces three new features for Single Table Inheritance in Laravel: types can now transition to other types with the become() method, you can use integer columns instead of strings,...
tighten.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Parental, our Single-Table-Inheritance package, has a new release: v1.5.0! 👇
• Models can now transition from one child type to another, with become()
• You can store child type as integers instead of strings
• Eager loading children is even easier than ever
tighten.com/insights/new...
• Models can now transition from one child type to another, with become()
• You can store child type as integers instead of strings
• Eager loading children is even easier than ever
tighten.com/insights/new...
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
They say AI is the end for developers.
They say the job market is gone.
They say learning to code is pointless.
I don’t buy it.
I think we're just getting started.
They say the job market is gone.
They say learning to code is pointless.
I don’t buy it.
I think we're just getting started.
January 14, 2026 at 8:38 PM
They say AI is the end for developers.
They say the job market is gone.
They say learning to code is pointless.
I don’t buy it.
I think we're just getting started.
They say the job market is gone.
They say learning to code is pointless.
I don’t buy it.
I think we're just getting started.
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
In addition to Good's murder, ICE has been busy in Minneapolis causing car wrecks and traffic jams, filling the streets with tear gas and goons with loaded weapons, issuing specific threats and sewing general chaos.
This is not law enforcement to preserve order. It's an occupation to cause chaos.
This is not law enforcement to preserve order. It's an occupation to cause chaos.
Trump's thugs are going hog wild and tossing gas around in one of the busiest commercial districts in Minneapolis, just a mile or so from where I live. Complete insanity.
(vid via Ford Fischer on X)
(vid via Ford Fischer on X)
January 12, 2026 at 9:58 PM
In addition to Good's murder, ICE has been busy in Minneapolis causing car wrecks and traffic jams, filling the streets with tear gas and goons with loaded weapons, issuing specific threats and sewing general chaos.
This is not law enforcement to preserve order. It's an occupation to cause chaos.
This is not law enforcement to preserve order. It's an occupation to cause chaos.
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
I've been saying for a while that we, as expert Laravel developers, are just moving a lot of our projects from rescuing bad offshore work to rescuing bad vibe code. You still need the experts.
I just finished up a call with someone who had vibe-coded an error into a revenue-generating application that cost the company 6 figures in (fortunately recoverable) lost revenue. It's recoverable because two developers with a combined 40 years of experience managed to unwind the problem.
January 9, 2026 at 10:29 PM
I've been saying for a while that we, as expert Laravel developers, are just moving a lot of our projects from rescuing bad offshore work to rescuing bad vibe code. You still need the experts.
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Join Laravel's SRE team! 🚀
I'm looking for experienced Engineers who want to work on infrastructure that powers Laravel apps at global scale.
Apply: wrkbl.ink/jbFJn5
I'm looking for experienced Engineers who want to work on infrastructure that powers Laravel apps at global scale.
Apply: wrkbl.ink/jbFJn5
Senior Site Reliability Engineer - Laravel
At Laravel, we don’t just build tools; we build the foundation that empowers millions of developers to ship their dreams. We are looking for a Senior Site Reliability Engineer to help us scale that mi...
wrkbl.ink
January 7, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Join Laravel's SRE team! 🚀
I'm looking for experienced Engineers who want to work on infrastructure that powers Laravel apps at global scale.
Apply: wrkbl.ink/jbFJn5
I'm looking for experienced Engineers who want to work on infrastructure that powers Laravel apps at global scale.
Apply: wrkbl.ink/jbFJn5
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
I occasionally like to share these "Mercator vs Real Country Size" animations to encourage you to buy a globe. Nothing fancy - just a basic globe. It does wonders in helping you (and your kids) to understand the world. Source: buff.ly/EGdKGR3
December 29, 2025 at 10:49 PM
I occasionally like to share these "Mercator vs Real Country Size" animations to encourage you to buy a globe. Nothing fancy - just a basic globe. It does wonders in helping you (and your kids) to understand the world. Source: buff.ly/EGdKGR3
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
via The New Yorker, Ellis Rosen cartoon
December 23, 2025 at 5:31 AM
via The New Yorker, Ellis Rosen cartoon
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
Is AI good at Pictionary?
In our latest post, we build a Laravel app to test—using Prism by @tjmiller.bsky.social to connect with our AI provider in a snap.
And it supports images, too! We'll capture an image using HTML canvas and then send it off to the AI.
tighten.com/insights/bui...
In our latest post, we build a Laravel app to test—using Prism by @tjmiller.bsky.social to connect with our AI provider in a snap.
And it supports images, too! We'll capture an image using HTML canvas and then send it off to the AI.
tighten.com/insights/bui...
Build an AI-Powered Drawing Guessing Game with Laravel, Prism, and HTML Canvas
AI is everywhere. It can create songs, build entire apps, and even drive our cars. But... can it play Pictionary? We're about to find out.
Today, we're building an AI-powered drawing guessing game. I...
tighten.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Is AI good at Pictionary?
In our latest post, we build a Laravel app to test—using Prism by @tjmiller.bsky.social to connect with our AI provider in a snap.
And it supports images, too! We'll capture an image using HTML canvas and then send it off to the AI.
tighten.com/insights/bui...
In our latest post, we build a Laravel app to test—using Prism by @tjmiller.bsky.social to connect with our AI provider in a snap.
And it supports images, too! We'll capture an image using HTML canvas and then send it off to the AI.
tighten.com/insights/bui...
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
JUST IN: Around 90% of the released Epstein files are redacted, per the Guardian.
December 20, 2025 at 2:04 AM
JUST IN: Around 90% of the released Epstein files are redacted, per the Guardian.
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
I’m starting a new role and am looking to hire a Staff Developer Advocate immediately (Remote in the US)
Range is $168,000—$252,000
Fully remote
Looking for someone that:
- Excels at events
- Has high+positive energy 🤩
Let me know if you or someone you know would be interested!
Range is $168,000—$252,000
Fully remote
Looking for someone that:
- Excels at events
- Has high+positive energy 🤩
Let me know if you or someone you know would be interested!
December 19, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I’m starting a new role and am looking to hire a Staff Developer Advocate immediately (Remote in the US)
Range is $168,000—$252,000
Fully remote
Looking for someone that:
- Excels at events
- Has high+positive energy 🤩
Let me know if you or someone you know would be interested!
Range is $168,000—$252,000
Fully remote
Looking for someone that:
- Excels at events
- Has high+positive energy 🤩
Let me know if you or someone you know would be interested!
Reposted by Matt Stauffer
