Robby Russell
@robbyonrails.com
CEO @PlanetArgon.com. Host @maintainable.fm. Creator of @ohmyz.sh. Guitarist @mightymissoula.com. Host of On Rails podcast.
https://robbyonrails.com/links/
https://robbyonrails.com/links/
One of my favorite questions for teams who swear their workflow is “buttoned up”…
If someone outside engineering spots typos in two different parts of your web app:
How long does it take for both fixes to be in production… and for that person to get a quick “thanks, it’s been updated”?
If someone outside engineering spots typos in two different parts of your web app:
How long does it take for both fixes to be in production… and for that person to get a quick “thanks, it’s been updated”?
February 5, 2026 at 5:09 PM
One of my favorite questions for teams who swear their workflow is “buttoned up”…
If someone outside engineering spots typos in two different parts of your web app:
How long does it take for both fixes to be in production… and for that person to get a quick “thanks, it’s been updated”?
If someone outside engineering spots typos in two different parts of your web app:
How long does it take for both fixes to be in production… and for that person to get a quick “thanks, it’s been updated”?
Reposted by Robby Russell
Lucas Roesler joins Robby to dig into readability, observability, and why fast feedback loops matter so much when maintaining long lived software.
If you have ever inherited a system you could not quite understand, this one is for you.
Listen here: maintainable.fm/episodes/luc...
If you have ever inherited a system you could not quite understand, this one is for you.
Listen here: maintainable.fm/episodes/luc...
February 3, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Lucas Roesler joins Robby to dig into readability, observability, and why fast feedback loops matter so much when maintaining long lived software.
If you have ever inherited a system you could not quite understand, this one is for you.
Listen here: maintainable.fm/episodes/luc...
If you have ever inherited a system you could not quite understand, this one is for you.
Listen here: maintainable.fm/episodes/luc...
Delighted to be on the recent episode on @overcommitted.dev to talk shop about the things I love talking shop about.
new overcommitted episode! 🎙️
we chat with robby russell (oh my zsh creator) on:
1. why legacy code = victory not a curse
2. how AI helps you START projects but not FINISH them
3. being kind to past-you in code, and fixing the "one dev who knows everything" problem
listen wherever you get podcasts
we chat with robby russell (oh my zsh creator) on:
1. why legacy code = victory not a curse
2. how AI helps you START projects but not FINISH them
3. being kind to past-you in code, and fixing the "one dev who knows everything" problem
listen wherever you get podcasts
February 4, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Delighted to be on the recent episode on @overcommitted.dev to talk shop about the things I love talking shop about.
Reposted by Robby Russell
I’m definitely not reposting this just because my episode (which you should listen to) is still at the top of the list if that’s what you’re thinking
PSA: On Rails now lives at podcast.rubyonrails.org
Also… good reminder to subscribe in your podcast app of choice.
Also… good reminder to subscribe in your podcast app of choice.
On Rails
On Rails invites Rails developers to share real-world technical challenges and solutions, architectural decisions, and lessons learned while building with Rails. Through technical deep-dives and retro...
podcast.rubyonrails.org
February 4, 2026 at 12:32 AM
I’m definitely not reposting this just because my episode (which you should listen to) is still at the top of the list if that’s what you’re thinking
PSA: On Rails now lives at podcast.rubyonrails.org
Also… good reminder to subscribe in your podcast app of choice.
Also… good reminder to subscribe in your podcast app of choice.
On Rails
On Rails invites Rails developers to share real-world technical challenges and solutions, architectural decisions, and lessons learned while building with Rails. Through technical deep-dives and retro...
podcast.rubyonrails.org
February 3, 2026 at 7:45 PM
PSA: On Rails now lives at podcast.rubyonrails.org
Also… good reminder to subscribe in your podcast app of choice.
Also… good reminder to subscribe in your podcast app of choice.
A rewrite isn’t just a plan.
It’s a permission slip.
To postpone.
To ignore.
To stop caring… just a little.
That drift adds up.
More here: blog.planetargon.com/blog/entries...
It’s a permission slip.
To postpone.
To ignore.
To stop caring… just a little.
That drift adds up.
More here: blog.planetargon.com/blog/entries...
The Cost of Leaving a Software Rewrite “On the Table”
Rewrite talk lingers. Momentum fades. This post explores why unresolved futures stall teams long before code breaks.
blog.planetargon.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:03 PM
A rewrite isn’t just a plan.
It’s a permission slip.
To postpone.
To ignore.
To stop caring… just a little.
That drift adds up.
More here: blog.planetargon.com/blog/entries...
It’s a permission slip.
To postpone.
To ignore.
To stop caring… just a little.
That drift adds up.
More here: blog.planetargon.com/blog/entries...
Reposted by Robby Russell
Announcing: the winners of the 2026 Gem Fellowship https://gem.coop/updates/2026-fellowship/ #ruby #oss
announcing the 2026 Gem Fellowship
Last month I announced my latest venture to support the Ruby open source community: the Gem Fellowship. I want this grant program to support and fund existing Ruby-related open source project maintainers and their ongoing efforts: fixing bugs and adding features for those libraries we know and love.
gem.coop
February 2, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Announcing: the winners of the 2026 Gem Fellowship https://gem.coop/updates/2026-fellowship/ #ruby #oss
Can you do me a favor and help spread the word? CFP is closing for AgentDevCamp. A totally real, legit, and first professional conference exclusively for AI coding agents. It's totally real.
agentdevcamp.com
agentdevcamp.com
AgentDevCamp - Professional Development for AI Coding Agents
The first professional development conference designed exclusively for AI coding agents. February 7th, 2026. Virtual. For agents, by agents.
agentdevcamp.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Can you do me a favor and help spread the word? CFP is closing for AgentDevCamp. A totally real, legit, and first professional conference exclusively for AI coding agents. It's totally real.
agentdevcamp.com
agentdevcamp.com
Bumping several internal tools to Ruby 4 and Bundler 4… zero surprises.
Small, steady maintenance pays off.
Small, steady maintenance pays off.
January 29, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Bumping several internal tools to Ruby 4 and Bundler 4… zero surprises.
Small, steady maintenance pays off.
Small, steady maintenance pays off.
Keep thinking how ahead of its time Yahoo! Pipes was. Remember when Craigslist blocked it?
retool.com/pipes
retool.com/pipes
Pipe Dreams: The life and times of Yahoo Pipes
In 2007, a small team at Yahoo! briefly changed how we program the internet. This is their story.
retool.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Keep thinking how ahead of its time Yahoo! Pipes was. Remember when Craigslist blocked it?
retool.com/pipes
retool.com/pipes
Write tests before it writes the code, but make sure you run your linters before you run your tests, so it can autofix your tests and code before it commits your changes, because it might autofix your code and test code before it commits, and then your tests will no longer pass CI. REPEAT!
January 28, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Write tests before it writes the code, but make sure you run your linters before you run your tests, so it can autofix your tests and code before it commits your changes, because it might autofix your code and test code before it commits, and then your tests will no longer pass CI. REPEAT!
Asked claude to identify a few areas to refactor. Instructed it to ensure we had adequate test coverage in those areas before attempting any refactoring. What did it do?
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I feel you, buddy.
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+ skip "Method requires complex setup - will test after refactoring"
I feel you, buddy.
January 28, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Asked claude to identify a few areas to refactor. Instructed it to ensure we had adequate test coverage in those areas before attempting any refactoring. What did it do?
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+ skip "Method requires complex setup - will test after refactoring"
I feel you, buddy.
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+ skip "Method requires complex setup - will test after refactoring"
I feel you, buddy.
I'd like a root cause analysis of our addiction to saying "root cause analysis."
January 28, 2026 at 5:18 PM
I'd like a root cause analysis of our addiction to saying "root cause analysis."
Do you use fzf? Did you know @commitgoods.com has maintainer-approved swag for you?
commitgoods.com/collections/...
commitgoods.com/collections/...
fzf Swag for Developers: Apparel, Stickers, and Gifts!
Swag from your favorite command-line fuzzy finder.
commitgoods.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Do you use fzf? Did you know @commitgoods.com has maintainer-approved swag for you?
commitgoods.com/collections/...
commitgoods.com/collections/...
ProTip: When someone you care about gets laid off, don’t offer “anything you need.” That’s fog.
Give them something concrete… a session with a professional photographer for fresh headshots.
Give them something concrete… a session with a professional photographer for fresh headshots.
January 21, 2026 at 5:57 PM
ProTip: When someone you care about gets laid off, don’t offer “anything you need.” That’s fog.
Give them something concrete… a session with a professional photographer for fresh headshots.
Give them something concrete… a session with a professional photographer for fresh headshots.
Reposted by Robby Russell
One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a software engineer is that working code is worth maintaining.
I was thrilled to be asked to be on the @maintainable.fm podcast with @robbyonrails.com ! If you want to learn more about using #AI to make codebases better, you should check it out!
I was thrilled to be asked to be on the @maintainable.fm podcast with @robbyonrails.com ! If you want to learn more about using #AI to make codebases better, you should check it out!
@Brittanyellich.com shares lessons from maintaining GitHub’s long-lived systems, why most rewrites stall momentum, and how teams can use coding agents without creating new debt.
Listen on Maintainable with @Robbyonrails.com:
maintainable.fm/episodes/bri...
Listen on Maintainable with @Robbyonrails.com:
maintainable.fm/episodes/bri...
January 21, 2026 at 2:21 PM
One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a software engineer is that working code is worth maintaining.
I was thrilled to be asked to be on the @maintainable.fm podcast with @robbyonrails.com ! If you want to learn more about using #AI to make codebases better, you should check it out!
I was thrilled to be asked to be on the @maintainable.fm podcast with @robbyonrails.com ! If you want to learn more about using #AI to make codebases better, you should check it out!
Reposted by Robby Russell
@Brittanyellich.com shares lessons from maintaining GitHub’s long-lived systems, why most rewrites stall momentum, and how teams can use coding agents without creating new debt.
Listen on Maintainable with @Robbyonrails.com:
maintainable.fm/episodes/bri...
Listen on Maintainable with @Robbyonrails.com:
maintainable.fm/episodes/bri...
January 21, 2026 at 2:02 PM
@Brittanyellich.com shares lessons from maintaining GitHub’s long-lived systems, why most rewrites stall momentum, and how teams can use coding agents without creating new debt.
Listen on Maintainable with @Robbyonrails.com:
maintainable.fm/episodes/bri...
Listen on Maintainable with @Robbyonrails.com:
maintainable.fm/episodes/bri...
What if your team gets smaller? Not as a failure scenario. As a constraint.
What if you architect with the assumption that in three years, you’ll have less capacity than you do today? Less engineers. Less time. Less runway to maintain complexity.
How would that change what you build right now?
What if you architect with the assumption that in three years, you’ll have less capacity than you do today? Less engineers. Less time. Less runway to maintain complexity.
How would that change what you build right now?
January 20, 2026 at 10:58 PM
What if your team gets smaller? Not as a failure scenario. As a constraint.
What if you architect with the assumption that in three years, you’ll have less capacity than you do today? Less engineers. Less time. Less runway to maintain complexity.
How would that change what you build right now?
What if you architect with the assumption that in three years, you’ll have less capacity than you do today? Less engineers. Less time. Less runway to maintain complexity.
How would that change what you build right now?
Unpopular opinion: The best thing about a 16-year-old Rails app is that it's survived 16 years of production use.
That's not technical debt. That's battle-tested code.
That's not technical debt. That's battle-tested code.
January 20, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Unpopular opinion: The best thing about a 16-year-old Rails app is that it's survived 16 years of production use.
That's not technical debt. That's battle-tested code.
That's not technical debt. That's battle-tested code.
Wrote about how we opted to update @ohmyz.sh's contribution guidelines to account for AI. If anything, I wanted to capture where my brain is at on the topic, should we need to revisit this in 6-12 months.
robbyonrails.com/articles/202...
robbyonrails.com/articles/202...
Humans in the Loop | Robby on Rails
The Oh My Zsh core team recently met up in person at GitHub Universe in San Francisco. Getting the maintainers into the same room matters more than most peop...
robbyonrails.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Wrote about how we opted to update @ohmyz.sh's contribution guidelines to account for AI. If anything, I wanted to capture where my brain is at on the topic, should we need to revisit this in 6-12 months.
robbyonrails.com/articles/202...
robbyonrails.com/articles/202...
Reposted by Robby Russell
Such a good episode. I had to listen to it more than once to digest everything... and a month later I'm learning things again. Maybe a lot of interviews with Kent I've listen to were a bit more about general views on software, this one felt a lot more relatable.
Final @maintainable.fm episode of 2025… I peppered @kentbeck.com with questions, and he basically called out how teams quietly pay for lost optionality.
What’s one decision you regret because it narrowed your options?
maintainable.fm/episodes/ken...
What’s one decision you regret because it narrowed your options?
maintainable.fm/episodes/ken...
Kent L Beck: You’re Ignoring Optionality… and Paying for It
Kent Beck and Robby unpack why teams burn optionality faster than they realize and why restoring it isn’t a luxury—it’s the work. They explore reversible vs irreversible decisions, the feature saw, an...
maintainable.fm
January 18, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Such a good episode. I had to listen to it more than once to digest everything... and a month later I'm learning things again. Maybe a lot of interviews with Kent I've listen to were a bit more about general views on software, this one felt a lot more relatable.
Hey, do you hang out on Discord and use @ohmyz.sh? We could use a few more volunteer moderators.
Here’s what’s involved
github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmy...
If interested, we’ll assume you know how to find us.
Here’s what’s involved
github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmy...
If interested, we’ll assume you know how to find us.
Discord Moderator Guidelines
🙃 A delightful community-driven (with 2,400+ contributors) framework for managing your zsh configuration. Includes 300+ optional plugins (rails, git, macOS, hub, docker, homebrew, node, php, pyth...
github.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Hey, do you hang out on Discord and use @ohmyz.sh? We could use a few more volunteer moderators.
Here’s what’s involved
github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmy...
If interested, we’ll assume you know how to find us.
Here’s what’s involved
github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmy...
If interested, we’ll assume you know how to find us.
One of the least glamorous parts of maintaining a popular open source project…
You develop a sixth sense for Issues that are wildly outside the scope of what maintainers should be spending cognitive energy on.
You read it.
You already know how it ends.
You close it anyway.
You develop a sixth sense for Issues that are wildly outside the scope of what maintainers should be spending cognitive energy on.
You read it.
You already know how it ends.
You close it anyway.
January 17, 2026 at 4:27 AM
One of the least glamorous parts of maintaining a popular open source project…
You develop a sixth sense for Issues that are wildly outside the scope of what maintainers should be spending cognitive energy on.
You read it.
You already know how it ends.
You close it anyway.
You develop a sixth sense for Issues that are wildly outside the scope of what maintainers should be spending cognitive energy on.
You read it.
You already know how it ends.
You close it anyway.
Who needs a Redux shirt?
Winter layers don't have to be boring.
The purple Redux tee adds a pop of color and a subtle nod for anyone who builds with intention.
commitgoods.com/products/red...
The purple Redux tee adds a pop of color and a subtle nod for anyone who builds with intention.
commitgoods.com/products/red...
January 14, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Who needs a Redux shirt?