Charity Majors
@charity.wtf
cofounder/CTO @honeycombio, co-author of Observability Engineering and Database Reliability Engineering. I test in production and so do you. 🐝🏳️🌈🦄
Reposted by Charity Majors
Talk to me if you have an interesting profiling use case. I'm doing some explorations :)
October 30, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Talk to me if you have an interesting profiling use case. I'm doing some explorations :)
for context: the second edition of "Observability Engineering" starts off swinging with an opinionated chapter called "The Fundamentals of Building Good Software".
which begs the question... what IS ✨ good software ✨?
i'll drop my answers 👇 but curious to hear others.
which begs the question... what IS ✨ good software ✨?
i'll drop my answers 👇 but curious to hear others.
@charity.wtf asked a great question on LinkedIn today. Her question was: "What is ✨ good software ✨?"
I'd love to hear your answers, but I'd also like to share mine. So if you'll allow me a moment of indulgence... 🧵
I'd love to hear your answers, but I'd also like to share mine. So if you'll allow me a moment of indulgence... 🧵
October 27, 2025 at 1:30 AM
for context: the second edition of "Observability Engineering" starts off swinging with an opinionated chapter called "The Fundamentals of Building Good Software".
which begs the question... what IS ✨ good software ✨?
i'll drop my answers 👇 but curious to hear others.
which begs the question... what IS ✨ good software ✨?
i'll drop my answers 👇 but curious to hear others.
yeah let me clarify ... i know that lots of vendors have entry level, "the first hit is free" type of pricing tiers.
i'm looking for a simple monitoring product at a simple price point that can scale up. like something you could get in 2015.
thanks for all the recs! making a list, will investigate
i'm looking for a simple monitoring product at a simple price point that can scale up. like something you could get in 2015.
thanks for all the recs! making a list, will investigate
I'm using the free tier on New relic. It is very annoying but also does all that I need.
And the step to go from free. Is well holy fuck
And the step to go from free. Is well holy fuck
October 22, 2025 at 12:11 AM
yeah let me clarify ... i know that lots of vendors have entry level, "the first hit is free" type of pricing tiers.
i'm looking for a simple monitoring product at a simple price point that can scale up. like something you could get in 2015.
thanks for all the recs! making a list, will investigate
i'm looking for a simple monitoring product at a simple price point that can scale up. like something you could get in 2015.
thanks for all the recs! making a list, will investigate
spotted in the wild!! go matty! 🙌
recently shipped a v2 of this sticker, which i like even better:
recently shipped a v2 of this sticker, which i like even better:
October 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM
spotted in the wild!! go matty! 🙌
recently shipped a v2 of this sticker, which i like even better:
recently shipped a v2 of this sticker, which i like even better:
"Manage subscriptions" is by far the best thing gmail has ever done since....gmail.
discovered this last week, looks like it was rolled out in July.. have y'all found this?!?
click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click, ahhhhh.
simple joys. 🌱
discovered this last week, looks like it was rolled out in July.. have y'all found this?!?
click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click, ahhhhh.
simple joys. 🌱
October 21, 2025 at 11:57 PM
"Manage subscriptions" is by far the best thing gmail has ever done since....gmail.
discovered this last week, looks like it was rolled out in July.. have y'all found this?!?
click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click, ahhhhh.
simple joys. 🌱
discovered this last week, looks like it was rolled out in July.. have y'all found this?!?
click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click, ahhhhh.
simple joys. 🌱
so gartner mentions a customer of theirs who was spending $50k/year on monitoring in 2009, and $24M/year on observability in 2024.
in 2009, people were paying for basic monitoring: up/down, slow, errors?
is there any company out there still selling a monitoring product at a monitoring price point?
in 2009, people were paying for basic monitoring: up/down, slow, errors?
is there any company out there still selling a monitoring product at a monitoring price point?
October 21, 2025 at 12:10 AM
so gartner mentions a customer of theirs who was spending $50k/year on monitoring in 2009, and $24M/year on observability in 2024.
in 2009, people were paying for basic monitoring: up/down, slow, errors?
is there any company out there still selling a monitoring product at a monitoring price point?
in 2009, people were paying for basic monitoring: up/down, slow, errors?
is there any company out there still selling a monitoring product at a monitoring price point?
shipping is the heartbeat of your company. it should happen by default after each diff gets merged -- swiftly, automatically, no muss no fuss.
i dub thee 'saint shelby' for thy proselytizing the good word.
i dub thee 'saint shelby' for thy proselytizing the good word.
October 20, 2025 at 11:52 PM
shipping is the heartbeat of your company. it should happen by default after each diff gets merged -- swiftly, automatically, no muss no fuss.
i dub thee 'saint shelby' for thy proselytizing the good word.
i dub thee 'saint shelby' for thy proselytizing the good word.
yessss, grasshopper. code is liability. carry on 📈✨
my toxic engineer trait is that I'm basically allergic to code
all code is bad. the less code the better. why are you writing new code stahp *sprays devs with squirt bottle*
all code is bad. the less code the better. why are you writing new code stahp *sprays devs with squirt bottle*
October 20, 2025 at 11:48 PM
yessss, grasshopper. code is liability. carry on 📈✨
I have a friend whose cat's name is Claude, and I'm just mad I didn't think of that.
I'm pretty sure Clawed would be the best AI tool to use for this.
October 14, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I have a friend whose cat's name is Claude, and I'm just mad I didn't think of that.
Reposted by Charity Majors
Was turned on to this list by a post from @charity.wtf : mollysheets.com/2024/05/05/s...
Has anyone put these into a bluesky starter pack for an easy follow?
Searched here: blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs but didn't see anything.
Has anyone put these into a bluesky starter pack for an easy follow?
Searched here: blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs but didn't see anything.
Sr. Directors, VPs, SVPs, and Distinguished Engineers Women Would Like to See in their Reporting Chain | SEV 1 Party
Let me get out my binder.
mollysheets.com
October 5, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Was turned on to this list by a post from @charity.wtf : mollysheets.com/2024/05/05/s...
Has anyone put these into a bluesky starter pack for an easy follow?
Searched here: blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs but didn't see anything.
Has anyone put these into a bluesky starter pack for an easy follow?
Searched here: blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs but didn't see anything.
Reposted by Charity Majors
And these stickers are awesome! My team is going to leave me nothing if they see these - also, we are literally living by these words at the moment!! #stickers #shipdangerously #featureflags
September 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
And these stickers are awesome! My team is going to leave me nothing if they see these - also, we are literally living by these words at the moment!! #stickers #shipdangerously #featureflags
Reposted by Charity Majors
@charity.wtf kicked #o11yDaySFO off with truth bombs: observability teams are the single greatest leverage point in engineering orgs. stop treating them like cost centres! run them like platform teams. Our 2nd edition of o11y engineering (2026) will be 🔥🔥🔥!
September 15, 2025 at 11:49 PM
@charity.wtf kicked #o11yDaySFO off with truth bombs: observability teams are the single greatest leverage point in engineering orgs. stop treating them like cost centres! run them like platform teams. Our 2nd edition of o11y engineering (2026) will be 🔥🔥🔥!
Reposted by Charity Majors
Yes! 😅 At my team in "Clarity AI" we were doing Continuous Deployment... actually, that was referenced in another talk by Charity, two years ago, talking about ISO 27001 and SOC2: speakerdeck.com/charity/case...
Case Studies: Modern Development Practices In Highly Regulated Environments
I gave a talk at Fintech Devcon in August 2023 on why <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/charity/compliance-and-regulatory-standards-are-not-incompatible-…
speakerdeck.com
September 14, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Yes! 😅 At my team in "Clarity AI" we were doing Continuous Deployment... actually, that was referenced in another talk by Charity, two years ago, talking about ISO 27001 and SOC2: speakerdeck.com/charity/case...
Reposted by Charity Majors
@charity.wtf, for me she is a reference in many things.
One of them is her stand against compliance and regulatory being seen as enemies of XP practices.
This talk is pure gold: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR1J...
"Stop blaming regulations and frameworks."
One of them is her stand against compliance and regulatory being seen as enemies of XP practices.
This talk is pure gold: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR1J...
"Stop blaming regulations and frameworks."
September 14, 2025 at 5:56 PM
@charity.wtf, for me she is a reference in many things.
One of them is her stand against compliance and regulatory being seen as enemies of XP practices.
This talk is pure gold: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR1J...
"Stop blaming regulations and frameworks."
One of them is her stand against compliance and regulatory being seen as enemies of XP practices.
This talk is pure gold: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR1J...
"Stop blaming regulations and frameworks."
Nobody is born a great engineer. Great engineers are forged in the fires of experience -- year after year of compounding challenges and opportunities.
Does your org frustrate the pursuit of greatness, or unlock and accelerate it? For whom?
And then yes: shipping is the mechanics of learning.
Does your org frustrate the pursuit of greatness, or unlock and accelerate it? For whom?
And then yes: shipping is the mechanics of learning.
"If there is a single non-negotiable truth in Charity’s worldview, it’s this: shipping is how engineers learn. Not architecture diagrams. Not months of planning. Not 400-comment design docs. Shipping."
October 14, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Nobody is born a great engineer. Great engineers are forged in the fires of experience -- year after year of compounding challenges and opportunities.
Does your org frustrate the pursuit of greatness, or unlock and accelerate it? For whom?
And then yes: shipping is the mechanics of learning.
Does your org frustrate the pursuit of greatness, or unlock and accelerate it? For whom?
And then yes: shipping is the mechanics of learning.
Reposted by Charity Majors
This is a post by Anastasjia Uspenski
about how the "myth of the 10x engineer" is actively harmful (the post is itself based on a talk by @charity.wtf at the Craft Conference in Budapest):
shiftmag.dev/10x-engineer...
about how the "myth of the 10x engineer" is actively harmful (the post is itself based on a talk by @charity.wtf at the Craft Conference in Budapest):
shiftmag.dev/10x-engineer...
Are you chasing the 10x engineer dream — or building a 10x team?
Organizations built on heroes eventually break. You don’t need a 10x engineers — you need a 10x organization that scales sustainably.
shiftmag.dev
September 12, 2025 at 5:14 PM
This is a post by Anastasjia Uspenski
about how the "myth of the 10x engineer" is actively harmful (the post is itself based on a talk by @charity.wtf at the Craft Conference in Budapest):
shiftmag.dev/10x-engineer...
about how the "myth of the 10x engineer" is actively harmful (the post is itself based on a talk by @charity.wtf at the Craft Conference in Budapest):
shiftmag.dev/10x-engineer...
You can't always trust your gut when you're just starting out, but if you've had at least one good job in your life, you know what it feels like. Trust that.
link: charity.wtf/2025/06/08/o...
link: charity.wtf/2025/06/08/o...
October 14, 2025 at 8:14 PM
You can't always trust your gut when you're just starting out, but if you've had at least one good job in your life, you know what it feels like. Trust that.
link: charity.wtf/2025/06/08/o...
link: charity.wtf/2025/06/08/o...
Reposted by Charity Majors
. @charity.wtf (Honeycomb) interviews @alexewerlof.com(Volvo Cars) on the gap between Google's SRE ideals & reality. Key insight: SLOs are your team's API for pushing back against micromanagement.
Reliability Engineering Mindset • Alex Ewerlöf & Charity Majors • GOTO 2025
This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. #GOTOcon #GOTObookclub
http://gotopia.tech/bookclub
Read the full transcription of the interview here:
https://gotopia.tech/episodes/395
Alex…
youtu.be
September 4, 2025 at 12:01 PM
. @charity.wtf (Honeycomb) interviews @alexewerlof.com(Volvo Cars) on the gap between Google's SRE ideals & reality. Key insight: SLOs are your team's API for pushing back against micromanagement.
Reposted by Charity Majors
Somehow this one didn't get wiped from the @honeycomb.io laptop before I bought it after leaving.
@lizthegrey.com and @charity.wtf feel free to use this if you want, although questionable if you'd want to
@lizthegrey.com and @charity.wtf feel free to use this if you want, although questionable if you'd want to
August 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Somehow this one didn't get wiped from the @honeycomb.io laptop before I bought it after leaving.
@lizthegrey.com and @charity.wtf feel free to use this if you want, although questionable if you'd want to
@lizthegrey.com and @charity.wtf feel free to use this if you want, although questionable if you'd want to
ah. yes, it's true, as the AI has learned, i *do* have an evil doppelganger.
her name is Charity Majors and she is a pastor's wife & influencer from Idaho who writes blush pink books about how Christian women can find their purpose.
i can only hope she is more embarrassed by me than i am by her.
her name is Charity Majors and she is a pastor's wife & influencer from Idaho who writes blush pink books about how Christian women can find their purpose.
i can only hope she is more embarrassed by me than i am by her.
October 14, 2025 at 8:10 PM
ah. yes, it's true, as the AI has learned, i *do* have an evil doppelganger.
her name is Charity Majors and she is a pastor's wife & influencer from Idaho who writes blush pink books about how Christian women can find their purpose.
i can only hope she is more embarrassed by me than i am by her.
her name is Charity Majors and she is a pastor's wife & influencer from Idaho who writes blush pink books about how Christian women can find their purpose.
i can only hope she is more embarrassed by me than i am by her.
Reposted by Charity Majors
Also @alexewerlof.bsky.social calls this the 10x/9 rule: "For every 9 you add to your SLO, you’re making the system 10x more reliable but also 10x more expensive." 💭
July 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Also @alexewerlof.bsky.social calls this the 10x/9 rule: "For every 9 you add to your SLO, you’re making the system 10x more reliable but also 10x more expensive." 💭
Reposted by Charity Majors
Another great post by @charity.wtf and well said: "No point in over-engineering software to be more reliable or performant than it needs to be. Reliability is especially very expensive to design and maintain."
Working with a lot of customers I find premature optimisation a common trap to fall into.
Working with a lot of customers I find premature optimisation a common trap to fall into.
Definitely not the first blog post inspired by a @monkchips.com comment, and won't be the last.
Monkchips is the sand in my oyster that makes beautiful pearls. 🦪😆💕
(Still mean to circle back to the question of what it means to have good technical taste...)
www.honeycomb.io/blog/disposa...
Monkchips is the sand in my oyster that makes beautiful pearls. 🦪😆💕
(Still mean to circle back to the question of what it means to have good technical taste...)
www.honeycomb.io/blog/disposa...
July 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Another great post by @charity.wtf and well said: "No point in over-engineering software to be more reliable or performant than it needs to be. Reliability is especially very expensive to design and maintain."
Working with a lot of customers I find premature optimisation a common trap to fall into.
Working with a lot of customers I find premature optimisation a common trap to fall into.
We are getting close to a wrap on (the first draft of) the second edition of "Observability Engineering", but there are a few places where I could use some of y'all's help.
Find more details, Buffy quotes, AND a funtastic grammar quiz... 👉 charity.wtf/2025/10/13/g...
Find more details, Buffy quotes, AND a funtastic grammar quiz... 👉 charity.wtf/2025/10/13/g...
Got opinions on observability? I could use your help (once more, with feeling)
Last month I dropped a desperate little plea for help in this space, asking people to email me any good advice and/or strong opinions they happened to have on the topic of buying software. I wasn’t…
charity.wtf
October 14, 2025 at 6:49 PM
We are getting close to a wrap on (the first draft of) the second edition of "Observability Engineering", but there are a few places where I could use some of y'all's help.
Find more details, Buffy quotes, AND a funtastic grammar quiz... 👉 charity.wtf/2025/10/13/g...
Find more details, Buffy quotes, AND a funtastic grammar quiz... 👉 charity.wtf/2025/10/13/g...
This one goes out to my family members, whom I dearly love, who will leave me 30, 45 minutes worth of voice recordings on their way to work, because they "don't have time to text".
On FB Messenger, which does not have voice to text transcription.
I just ...
On FB Messenger, which does not have voice to text transcription.
I just ...
October 14, 2025 at 8:13 AM
This one goes out to my family members, whom I dearly love, who will leave me 30, 45 minutes worth of voice recordings on their way to work, because they "don't have time to text".
On FB Messenger, which does not have voice to text transcription.
I just ...
On FB Messenger, which does not have voice to text transcription.
I just ...