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/
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?
Fun fact... I edited this music video nearly all by myself.
Nearly a year ago, we opened the Ghost in the Mountain era with this one…
"Sage at the Summit" (video) 🎥
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZLo...
"Sage at the Summit" (video) 🎥
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZLo...
Sage at the Summit - The Mighty Missoula (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by The Mighty Missoula
www.youtube.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Fun fact... I edited this music video nearly all by myself.
Using opencode on a few internal pet projects… and I’m appreciating the TUI a lot.
January 8, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Using opencode on a few internal pet projects… and I’m appreciating the TUI a lot.
Owners… if you’re carrying the people-stuff in your head (and it’s starting to leak into everything else), my wife runs HeyAmyHR and has capacity for fractional HR support. She helps you get policies, expectations, and hard conversations handled… without the drama.
heyamyhr.com
heyamyhr.com
Amy Sorensen | People-Centered HR Consulting
Supportive HR guidance for small teams. Amy Sorensen helps create clear policies, handle tough conversations, and build trust across your workplace.
heyamyhr.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Owners… if you’re carrying the people-stuff in your head (and it’s starting to leak into everything else), my wife runs HeyAmyHR and has capacity for fractional HR support. She helps you get policies, expectations, and hard conversations handled… without the drama.
heyamyhr.com
heyamyhr.com
A few fun buzzsprout playback highlights for On Rails…
We launched the Rails Foundation-produced podcast mid-2025:
• 10 episodes published
• Avg length: 77 minutes (yes, we go long... err deep!)
• Top listener city: Berlin 🇩🇪
Subscribed yet? More coming soon.
onrails.buzzsprout.com
We launched the Rails Foundation-produced podcast mid-2025:
• 10 episodes published
• Avg length: 77 minutes (yes, we go long... err deep!)
• Top listener city: Berlin 🇩🇪
Subscribed yet? More coming soon.
onrails.buzzsprout.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:37 PM
A few fun buzzsprout playback highlights for On Rails…
We launched the Rails Foundation-produced podcast mid-2025:
• 10 episodes published
• Avg length: 77 minutes (yes, we go long... err deep!)
• Top listener city: Berlin 🇩🇪
Subscribed yet? More coming soon.
onrails.buzzsprout.com
We launched the Rails Foundation-produced podcast mid-2025:
• 10 episodes published
• Avg length: 77 minutes (yes, we go long... err deep!)
• Top listener city: Berlin 🇩🇪
Subscribed yet? More coming soon.
onrails.buzzsprout.com
Unsolicited advice: please stop asking for my attention before you’ve given your project enough of your own.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/declar...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/declar...
Declaring 2026 the year I stop promoting things that don’t exist.
Technically… I stopped doing this several years ago. But I was reminded of the old temptation recently after watching someone drop into a few Slack groups to promote something that was basically a wai...
www.linkedin.com
January 6, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Unsolicited advice: please stop asking for my attention before you’ve given your project enough of your own.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/declar...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/declar...
2026 goal: bring back “bozo.”
An older relative used it to describe someone’s behavior and… yeah. That’s staying in the rotation.
An older relative used it to describe someone’s behavior and… yeah. That’s staying in the rotation.
January 6, 2026 at 7:04 PM
2026 goal: bring back “bozo.”
An older relative used it to describe someone’s behavior and… yeah. That’s staying in the rotation.
An older relative used it to describe someone’s behavior and… yeah. That’s staying in the rotation.
CFPs are still open for AgentDevCamp.
A one-day conference for coding agents.
(You’re not invited.)
agentdevcamp.com
A one-day conference for coding agents.
(You’re not invited.)
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 4, 2026 at 12:14 AM
CFPs are still open for AgentDevCamp.
A one-day conference for coding agents.
(You’re not invited.)
agentdevcamp.com
A one-day conference for coding agents.
(You’re not invited.)
agentdevcamp.com
Hit day 2,000 of getting outside to break a sweat… and I wrote about it (with lots of photos).
Big lesson: it’s hard to be the same person in different conditions… weather, travel, mood, injury, life.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/same-p...
Big lesson: it’s hard to be the same person in different conditions… weather, travel, mood, injury, life.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/same-p...
Be the Same Person in Different Weather
Yesterday was Day 2,000 of getting outside every day to break a sweat. Running… biking… hiking… snowshoeing… and sometimes long walks that absolutely counted (like wandering London for 10 miles).
www.linkedin.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Hit day 2,000 of getting outside to break a sweat… and I wrote about it (with lots of photos).
Big lesson: it’s hard to be the same person in different conditions… weather, travel, mood, injury, life.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/same-p...
Big lesson: it’s hard to be the same person in different conditions… weather, travel, mood, injury, life.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/same-p...
What’s your windows-down, 20-year-old sing-along song?
Mine: Built to Spill, “Carry the Zero.”
What’s yours?
Mine: Built to Spill, “Carry the Zero.”
What’s yours?
Carry the Zero
YouTube video by Built To Spill - Topic
youtu.be
December 29, 2025 at 6:02 PM
What’s your windows-down, 20-year-old sing-along song?
Mine: Built to Spill, “Carry the Zero.”
What’s yours?
Mine: Built to Spill, “Carry the Zero.”
What’s yours?
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
December 29, 2025 at 1:16 PM
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...
Reposted by Robby Russell
Finally, www.ruby-lang.org/en/ has a new design.
December 20, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Finally, www.ruby-lang.org/en/ has a new design.
Note to self… leave it in a good state. That’s the win this week.
December 19, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Note to self… leave it in a good state. That’s the win this week.
13% discount with code ROBBY25 until NYE
December 19, 2025 at 12:05 AM
13% discount with code ROBBY25 until NYE
Most software engineering content is “how we did it.” The useful stuff is “why we stopped doing it.”
What’s one thing you stopped doing in 2025… and what got better because of it?
What’s one thing you stopped doing in 2025… and what got better because of it?
December 17, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Most software engineering content is “how we did it.” The useful stuff is “why we stopped doing it.”
What’s one thing you stopped doing in 2025… and what got better because of it?
What’s one thing you stopped doing in 2025… and what got better because of it?
Wait. Who let me talk with the one and only Kent Beck?!
@KentBeck.com shares why teams burn optionality faster than they realize and why making the hard change easy is the real work.
He explains the balance between features and future options & how small structure care shapes progress.
Listen with host @Robbyonrails.com: maintainable.fm/episodes/ken...
He explains the balance between features and future options & how small structure care shapes progress.
Listen with host @Robbyonrails.com: maintainable.fm/episodes/ken...
December 10, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Wait. Who let me talk with the one and only Kent Beck?!
At the end of 2024 I ditched Evernote and went all-in on Obsidian.
A year later… the verdict is painful. It wasn’t “free.” It’s clunky and demands way more discipline than I’m willing to pretend I have.
I’m not going back to Evernote, but Obsidian hasn’t clicked either.
A year later… the verdict is painful. It wasn’t “free.” It’s clunky and demands way more discipline than I’m willing to pretend I have.
I’m not going back to Evernote, but Obsidian hasn’t clicked either.
December 10, 2025 at 2:00 AM
At the end of 2024 I ditched Evernote and went all-in on Obsidian.
A year later… the verdict is painful. It wasn’t “free.” It’s clunky and demands way more discipline than I’m willing to pretend I have.
I’m not going back to Evernote, but Obsidian hasn’t clicked either.
A year later… the verdict is painful. It wasn’t “free.” It’s clunky and demands way more discipline than I’m willing to pretend I have.
I’m not going back to Evernote, but Obsidian hasn’t clicked either.
Reposted by Robby Russell
This was such a great conversation with Robby and I can’t believe we managed to cover so much (he was even kind enough to let me get up on my soapbox for a bit and complain about DRY tests and why you should always write adapter classes 😄)
Really hope I get to do it again at some point!
Really hope I get to do it again at some point!
Had a chance to dig in with @rainforestqa.bsky.social's @jaytennier.bsky.social about what it really takes to keep a long-lived Rails monolith alive with a small team. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujBS...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujBS...
Jay Tennier: How Testing Platform Rainforest QA Tests Itself
YouTube video by Ruby on Rails
www.youtube.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:51 PM
This was such a great conversation with Robby and I can’t believe we managed to cover so much (he was even kind enough to let me get up on my soapbox for a bit and complain about DRY tests and why you should always write adapter classes 😄)
Really hope I get to do it again at some point!
Really hope I get to do it again at some point!
Had a chance to dig in with @rainforestqa.bsky.social's @jaytennier.bsky.social about what it really takes to keep a long-lived Rails monolith alive with a small team. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujBS...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujBS...
Jay Tennier: How Testing Platform Rainforest QA Tests Itself
YouTube video by Ruby on Rails
www.youtube.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Had a chance to dig in with @rainforestqa.bsky.social's @jaytennier.bsky.social about what it really takes to keep a long-lived Rails monolith alive with a small team. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujBS...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujBS...