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Sasha 🐏💨 Koss

@koss.nocorp.me

490 followers 310 following 190 posts

I make rad things. Many are open-sourced, like date-fns. Some, like https://mindcontrol.studio are not.

mindcontrol.studio

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Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 1d

I added two more functions, `todo` and `ensure` (that assert non-nullish, unlike `always` that asserts truthiness).

Also, I covered it with tests and detailed JSDocs.

Who would've thought that one could push such a simple code that far!

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 2d

On the other hand, I'm having so much fun designing solid architecture and also writing a lot of code!

I'm actually happy that LLMs are bad at making changes keeping big picture in mind. They leave all the joy to us!

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 2d

I ended up wasting so much time rewriting stuff that seemingly worked but was actually subtly buggy on many levels.

This is why I dislike using "spec" to describe agent instructions. It leads to an illusion of control, while you are, in fact, slowly rolling to a cliff edge.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 9d

If left unchecked, agents eventually end up hook-locking themselves and unable to progress.

I got this effects spaghetti after just a few (spec-driven!) sessions. It is simply deciding whether to show a key form, form with an error, or a masked key view.

Source code: https://gist.github.com/kossnocorp/40061810bb1149ea44cb7a06bf1d411b

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 5d

Oh yeah, there's no such thing as too many GitHub stars: github.com/kossnocorp/a...

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 5d

Here's an example of when it's handy.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 5d

I just published the stupidest npm package, `alwaysly`. There's nothing to it but two one-liner functions.

I use them often and am too lazy to drag them around.

Btw, if you don't use this pattern in your TypeScript code, you're missing out!

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 5d

Over the years only three organizations realized their promise to support open source, despite endless stream of startups and coins contacting me.

They are Open Collective, @github.com, and thanks.dev (they are so awesome, I don't understand why not so many people talk about them) ❤️

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 5d

The only podcast I'm listening to nowadays is @syntax.fm. So fun and educational too! Always learn something new.

And that's not because they, along with @sentry.io, sponsor date-fns via thanks.dev, but for that, they are absolute legends!

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 5d

It is a massive achievement for such a big company to put money where their mouths are.

I wish more companies were that dedicated, not for my wallet's sake, as I spend more money on Sentry than they gave back 💸, but for the health of the community!

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 5d

The only podcast I'm listening to nowadays is @syntax.fm. So fun and educational too! Always learn something new.

And that's not because they, along with @sentry.io, sponsor date-fns via thanks.dev, but for that, they are absolute legends!

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 9d

I love using Next.js for web apps, but man, having to use Vite with React Router for a VS Code extension webview is liberating!

A simple SPA with no care for latency is closest one can get to React-promised joy.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 9d

I got boiled like the frog.

It's @OpenAI's gpt-5-codex with (mostly) high reasoning. Pro plan, if it matters.

The source code: gist.github.com/kossnocorp/4...

This is what I got after just a few sessions of unchecked agent work (gpt-5-codex with mostly high reasoning)

This is what I got after just a few sessions of unchecked agent work (gpt-5-codex with mostly high reasoning) - agents-hooks-spaghetti.ts

gist.github.com

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 9d

My takeaway is that you can't vibecode something like that. It needs an engineer in the loop, constantly improving the system.

This is despite detailed specs.

In hindsight I should've designed it myself, but it's hard to notice the problem without writing the code.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 9d

Nothing to refactor at this point, just a full rewrite.

The complication comes from the fact that VS Code extension backend communicates with a webview via messages, and without architecture established by a human engineer, it is doomed to fail.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 9d

If left unchecked, agents eventually end up hook-locking themselves and unable to progress.

I got this effects spaghetti after just a few (spec-driven!) sessions. It is simply deciding whether to show a key form, form with an error, or a masked key view.

Source code: https://gist.github.com/kossnocorp/40061810bb1149ea44cb7a06bf1d411b

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · 26d

`cargo publish --workspace` is awesome!

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Sep 2

As MCP maintainers, I think it is important to show the will to choose the right decisions over the ones that benefit the business.

It is a small issue, but therefore, it is very telling. If they ignore it, then we will know that the same will happen with MCP eventually.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Sep 2

I think @anthropic.com is now at a crossroads with this seemingly insignificant decision of whether they should adopt AGENTS.md: github.com/anthropics/c...

Do they bend to their competition or keep the advantage? This might hint to us if MCP is in good hands.

Feature Request: Support AGENTS.md. · Issue #6235 · anthropics/claude-code

Codex, Amp, Cursor, and others are starting to standardize around AGENTS.md (https://agents.md/) — a unified Markdown file that coding agents can use to understand a codebase. By contrast, CLAUDE.m...

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Sep 2

I think @anthropic.com is now at a crossroads with this seemingly insignificant decision of whether they should adopt AGENTS.md: github.com/anthropics/c...

Do they bend to their competition or keep the advantage? This might hint to us if MCP is in good hands.

Feature Request: Support AGENTS.md. · Issue #6235 · anthropics/claude-code

Codex, Amp, Cursor, and others are starting to standardize around AGENTS.md (https://agents.md/) — a unified Markdown file that coding agents can use to understand a codebase. By contrast, CLAUDE.m...

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 20

I tried different code agents, including GitHub's Copilot (all the models), Cursor, and Windsurf. I found them all too slow. Code quality is not up to my standards. Fine for simple tasks, though.

Now, after working with Claude Code, I'm finally having a good time.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 18

In other news, a heavy Singapore rain drenched my monitor (and PC a bit), so I had to disassemble it to dry it 😭

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 18

I want to learn Go to tinker with the Go TypeScript implementation. How do I start?

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 18

Now I have a smol family of libraries focused on build size and performance:

🔷 tinyfloat · github.com/kossnocorp/t...
🔷 smolxxh · github.com/kossnocorp/s...
🔷 smolcanon · github.com/kossnocorp/s...
🔷 smolcsv · github.com/kossnocorp/s... (🚧 WIP)

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 18

Links (⭐️ them):

🔷 github.com/kossnocorp/s...
🔷 github.com/kossnocorp/s...

GitHub - kossnocorp/smolxxh: Tiny xxHash JS implementation

Tiny xxHash JS implementation. Contribute to kossnocorp/smolxxh development by creating an account on GitHub.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 18

📊 Benchmark results:

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 18

I just published [email protected] that serializes JS values into a stable string representation.

Happy to say it's 30% faster than alternatives, and it's just 185B!

I built it to use with my other library, smolxxh (just 381B), to get JS value hashes.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 17

I finished 20th of 44 with a 4/7 score in a local rapid chess tournament. Much better than I expected.

Also, even losing was fun. I didn't expect that either.

Sasha 🐏💨 Koss @koss.nocorp.me · Aug 12

I got a Singaporean FIDE ID! Can't wait to get brutally beaten by elementary schoolers in chess 🫠