Chris Towles's Blog

Blog

Those are posts of Chris Towles.
Switchback reasoning tracker concept
Development

Switchback: Browser History for Your Thoughts

Designing a doubly linked list app to navigate chains of reasoning - and how writing this post became the first use case.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A software engineer's desk with a MacBook Pro displaying AWS Console with Aurora DSQL connection details, the screen showing empty username and password fields with only "Use IAM authentication" text, a coffee mug and notebook nearby showing crossed-out connection string notes. Dramatic side lighting creates strong contrast between the cool blue glow of the laptop screen and warm desk lamp illumination, shallow depth of field focusing on the screen. Cinematic realism, professional photography quality, 8k detail, high contrast color grading with teal screen glow and warm orange ambient light, contemplative and slightly frustrated atmosphere, rule of thirds composition with negative space on the right.
DevOps

AWS Aurora DSQL Looked Perfect Until I Needed the Connection String

I researched unsupported features, checked pricing, deployed the stack—then discovered IAM-only auth means 15-minute tokens. Here's why that killed it for my Cloudflare Workers deployment.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A split-screen composition showing a software developer at their desk in two moments: left side shows frustrated late-night coding with multiple messy code windows and complexity diagrams, right side shows the same developer in contemplative pose with a clean interface showing a simple plan prompt "What approach would you take?", a subtle lightbulb or aha moment glow. Dramatic contrast between chaotic warm amber lighting on the left (representing wasted effort) and clean, focused cool blue lighting on the right (representing clarity), shallow depth of field. Cinematic realism, professional photography quality, 8k detail, rule of thirds composition with the developer positioned at the center dividing line, high contrast color grading emphasizing the before/after transformation.
AI Tools

Plan Mode for Your Problems, Edit Mode for Claude's

I spent 2 hours directing Claude to build my solution before realizing I should have asked for its approach. Here's the simple rule that changed how I use AI coding assistants.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A dramatic visualization of an exponential curve rising sharply upward made of glowing holographic data points and neural network connections, transforming from a flat linear path into a steep acceleration curve. In the foreground, a software developer sits at a modern desk with dual monitors displaying code and AI interfaces, gazing up at the luminous curve with a mix of contemplation and realization, backlit by the glow of the visualization. Cinematic lighting with deep blue and cyan tones from the holographic elements contrasting with warm amber desk lamp light, creating depth and atmosphere. Photorealistic rendering, 8k quality, shallow depth of field focusing on the developer and curve intersection, professional commercial photography aesthetic with high contrast color grading.
AI Tools

The Exponential Shift: Why AI Progress Feels Different Now

AI capabilities are advancing faster than we can internalize. Here's why the next phase of development will look radically different.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A developer's workspace from a cinematic side angle showing two monitors side by side, the left monitor displaying an open manual with "The F***ing Manual" visible at the top, the right monitor showing clean source code being actively written, with a glowing golden light connecting the two screens. A notepad with "Notes" written on it lies between the monitors, bathed in warm light. Faded, scattered papers and a dimmed tablet showing blog posts lie pushed to the far edges in shadow. Dramatic lighting with warm spotlight on the two monitors and notepad, cool blue ambient light in the background. Photo realistic, professional photography quality, 8k detail, shallow depth of field focusing on the connected monitors, cinematic color grading with teal and orange tones.
Development

Read The Source: Learning by Cutting Out The Middleman and RTFM

Stop learning from tutorials. Start with the people who actually want to teach you - the library authors, researchers, and spec writers.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Developer optimizing both code and game builds simultaneously
Dev Tools

The Min-Maxer's Trifecta: Building Tools for the Game You Actually Play

How building tools for Last Epoch lets me combine software development, gaming, and guilt-free relaxation into one satisfying loop.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Tesla's comprehensive vertical integration compared to traditional competitors across auto, software, energy, and other categories
Architecture

Why Vertical Integration Wins: A Software Engineer's Case for Owning Your Stack

Tesla taught me something profound about business strategy: when you can't find the seams between components, you're looking at vertical integration done right. Here's why more industries need to pay attention.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

State machine diagram showing agent orchestration across project phases
Architecture

Beyond API Wrappers: Building State-Driven MCP Servers for Long-Horizon Agent Orchestration

Explore how MCP servers can move beyond simple API wrappers to become sophisticated state machines that orchestrate complex, multi-phase projects with specialized agent teams
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A cinematic split-screen composition showing transformation: on the left, a chaotic abstract Picasso-style painting made of tangled code snippets, terminal windows, and script files in warm oranges and reds; on the right, the same elements organized into clean, geometric modular blocks with cool blues and professional lighting. In the center, a subtle AI assistant presence (represented by a glowing neural network pattern) bridges the two sides. Professional photography quality with dramatic lighting contrast, contemplative mood, showing the journey from creative chaos to structured elegance.
dotfiles

Dotfiles: Masterpiece or Late Stage Picasso?

The story of how someone took all my scripts, called them a masterpiece, and how Claude helped me make them actually worth it
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A cinematic split-screen composition showing the evolution of production AI development: on the left, Python code and ML models representing research and training (darker, academic feel with neural network visualizations), on the right, TypeScript code with streaming APIs and web interfaces representing production deployment (brighter, modern feel with real-time data flows). The transition between sides flows like a bridge made of glowing code elements and data streams, symbolizing the shift from research to production. Professional photography quality with warm lighting on the TypeScript side and cooler tones on the Python side.
AI Tools

Finally: Type-Safe AI in Production (And Why I'm Here For It)

After years of unpredictable LLM outputs and runtime crashes, TypeScript is bringing the engineering discipline we've needed all along. Here's why I'm excited about type checking in production AI.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A cinematic split-screen composition showing the evolution of human-AI collaboration: on the left, a frustrated developer surrounded by scattered sticky notes, multiple monitors with different apps (Notion, Obsidian, Google Drive), representing the chaos of tool-switching; on the right, a serene workspace with a single clean monitor displaying a markdown file with AI suggestions flowing seamlessly into the text, warm lighting suggesting harmony and productivity. The transition between the two sides should flow like a bridge made of markdown syntax elements (# headers, **bold text**, `code blocks`) floating in space, symbolizing markdown as the universal communication protocol between human and AI.
AI Tools

Markdown + AI: The Communication Protocol That Changes Everything

Why Markdown has become the universal language for human-AI collaboration and the foundation of the agentic workflow revolution
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Screenshot of markdown linter generating repetitive formatting errors that waste AI tokens
Claude Code

Check That Your Tools and Linters Do Not Burn Tokens

How a simple markdown linter consumed hundreds of tokens explaining obvious formatting issues, and what this teaches us about AI tool efficiency in development workflows.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Context engineering workflow showing seamless information flow between development tools
AI Tools

My Context Engineering Journey: From Dev Scripts to AI Collaboration

How I evolved from simple dev tools to understanding context as the foundation of AI-assisted development
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Enterprise context engineering architecture showing integrated workflows
Enterprise AI

Context Engineering at Scale: Enterprise Lessons and the Future of Development

How enterprise teams can overcome context switching disasters and build intelligent development workflows
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A contemplative cinematic split-screen scene: on the left, an AI generating flawless-looking code on a glowing screen with beautiful syntax highlighting and perfect formatting, representing the seductive appeal of AI-generated solutions; on the right, a focused developer hunched over their desk at 2 AM with warm desk lamp lighting, magnifying glass in hand, carefully examining each line of code with red annotations and bug markers scattered around, showing the reality of debugging AI mistakes. The transition between the two sides should be a subtle visual metaphor of code that appears perfect but contains hidden flaws, with warm/cool lighting contrast emphasizing the contemplative mood of hard-learned wisdom.
Claude Code

Review That AI Code: Why I Read Every Line Generated Code

After spending three days debugging a 'perfect' AI-generated function, I learned the hard way that AI tools are brilliant assistants, not replacements for understanding. Here's my battle-tested approach to working with Claude, Copilot, and other AI coding tools without losing your expertise—or your sanity.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Claude Code

Tips for Claude Code

Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Modern developer workspace with clean desk, laptop, and organized tools representing productive AI workflow
AI Tools

Voice to System

How watching Anthropic's Claude Code lead work made me realize I wasn't using AI enough, and the journey to OS-level voice dictation for better terminal workflows.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

ComfyUI installation process using uv tool manager
ComfyUI

Setting Up ComfyUI - A Better Alternative to Fooocus

Installing and configuring ComfyUI for local AI image generation after Fooocus development stalled
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A cinematic professional photograph showing a developer at a modern workstation, speaking into a high-quality microphone while code appears on multiple monitors in real-time as sound waves transform into visible text. The scene features warm golden light illuminating the speaker contrasted with cool blue screen glow, creating a contemplative mood about the evolution from traditional typing to voice-driven development workflows."
AI Tools

Voice to Text

Exploring voice-to-text development workflows with VS Code Speech extension
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

software engineering best practices and ITIL for a better work-life balance
AI Tools

Software Development Best Practices & ITIL

Your Path to Better Work-Life Balance
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Screenshot of senior developer at desk and computer and writing a document of best practices
AI Tools

My Best Practices

Writing down where on at with my best practices in software development and AI development
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Screenshot of VS Code configured for prompt engineering at a desk
AI Tools

Creating my own CLI Tool - Towles Tool

Info about creating my own CLI tool and best practices
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A developer's dual monitor setup at night showing VS Code on the main screen with a well-organized `.vscode/prompts` folder structure open in the sidebar, glowing code snippets and markdown prompt files visible, a second monitor displaying an AI chat interface with contextual responses. Dramatic desk lamp illumination from the left creates warm pools of light on the mechanical keyboard and coffee mug, while cool blue monitor glow illuminates the developer's face in contemplation, shallow depth of field with focus on the organized prompt files. Cinematic realism with high contrast between warm practical lighting and cool screen glow, professional workspace photography, 8k quality, teal and orange color grading, rule of thirds composition with negative space on the right for text overlay.
AI Tools

Adding Prompts to VS Code - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI Context

Stop fumbling around with AI prompts and start engineering them like the professional you pretend to be
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

the man is seated at his desk at his computer with his back to the camera head in his hands crying
Cloudflare AI

Two Weeks with Cloudflare AI and Tools

My Odyssey (and Why I Switched to AWS Bedrock)
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A Developer looking at a monitor trying to debug code
Node.js

Debugging Local Packages Made Easy with pnpm

Debug your local Node.js packages like a pro (and with less pain) using pnpm link.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A llama looking at a screen with code on it
AI

Using Ollama and Continue as a GitHub Copilot Alternative

A guide on how Ollama and Continue can serve as an alternative to GitHub Copilot.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

Kids holding fire tablet
android

Fire tablet and YouTube Kids

Getting YouTube and YouTube Kids to work on Amazon Fire for kids
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

desk with 3 monitors and lots of code open
productivity

Oh My Zsh on your server

Why i'm installing it on servers I ssh into a lot.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A laptop with a data analytics
airflow

Apache Airflow Part 1 - Why and Goals for a near Serverless ELT

Reasons I want to use Airflow for a Proof of Concept near Serverless ELT
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A Toolbox with hand reaching in
productivity

Why you should make a toolbox repository

the perfect place to put everything that doesn't belong anywhere else
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A laptop with a dark matter theme
Productivity

Why using Conventional commits is useful

Helping everyone to understand the commit history and its purpose
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

A laptop with a dark matter theme
Blog

I am a Dark Matter Developer

Reflecting on my career and the type of developer I am.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

css on screen

Migrate Vue 2 with Vuetify and Jest to Vite and Vitest

So my main project at work is a Vue 2 and Vuetify 2 site, but privately I have been playing with Vue 3 and loved the Composition API to avoid mixins. Due to some new features, we are planning to build soon. I wanted to write it in Vue 3, to prevent needing to migrate it later.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles

picture of tests passing in vitest

You do not have time to not have tests

So first a full disclosure: I was late to get on the testing bandwagon.
Chris Towles

Chris Towles