Tomasz Gil
@tomaszgil.me
Senior Software Engineer @ OpenSpace. I help product teams build quality software and lead engineering efforts.
tomaszgil.me
tomaszgil.me
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Tomasz Gil
@tomaszgil.me
· Aug 21
Enhancing Software Engineering Workflow with Cursor Background Agents
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with AI—especially Cursor Background Agents—to support my engineering work in a new web application we’re building. Below are some observations and tips that have helped me get better results. Rules On...
blog.tomaszgil.me
I’ve been experimenting with Cursor Background Agents for a new project.
Biggest takeaways: start with clear repo rules, write prompts that force planning & checks, run agents one-at-a-time early.
Background agents give me ~50% of a feature. More in the article.
blog.tomaszgil.me/enhancing-so...
Biggest takeaways: start with clear repo rules, write prompts that force planning & checks, run agents one-at-a-time early.
Background agents give me ~50% of a feature. More in the article.
blog.tomaszgil.me/enhancing-so...
Reposted by Tomasz Gil
📚 I haven’t written much at all about the “front of the front-end” on my blog, but since I’m now working on the design engineering team @sentry.io and also maintained the design-system at adverity for some time, I have opinions there as well 😬:
Tooltip Components Should Not Exist
A look at why tooltip components are often the wrong abstraction in design systems, leading to accessibility issues, misuse, and inconsistent user experiences.
tkdodo.eu
November 17, 2025 at 6:23 PM
📚 I haven’t written much at all about the “front of the front-end” on my blog, but since I’m now working on the design engineering team @sentry.io and also maintained the design-system at adverity for some time, I have opinions there as well 😬:
Some quick observations after trying out Claude Code (CLI) for a couple tasks. 👀
Overall verdict: results were fine — good enough for day-to-day feature work. But nothing noticeably better than what the underlying model already gives you.
Overall verdict: results were fine — good enough for day-to-day feature work. But nothing noticeably better than what the underlying model already gives you.
November 16, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Some quick observations after trying out Claude Code (CLI) for a couple tasks. 👀
Overall verdict: results were fine — good enough for day-to-day feature work. But nothing noticeably better than what the underlying model already gives you.
Overall verdict: results were fine — good enough for day-to-day feature work. But nothing noticeably better than what the underlying model already gives you.
Are we still doing starter packs?
Put this one together because I love seeing things that lovely folks write on the internet, and I'm sure there are more people to meet and add to this list.
go.bsky.app/AnM2t7r
Put this one together because I love seeing things that lovely folks write on the internet, and I'm sure there are more people to meet and add to this list.
go.bsky.app/AnM2t7r
November 15, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Cursor 2.0 is out. 👀
The most interesting bits to me:
- Multi-agent support
- Proprietary model (Composer)
- Built-in browser
- Voice mode
cursor.com/changelog/2-0
The most interesting bits to me:
- Multi-agent support
- Proprietary model (Composer)
- Built-in browser
- Voice mode
cursor.com/changelog/2-0
New Coding Model and Agent Interface · Cursor
Built to make you extraordinarily productive, Cursor is the best way to code with AI.
cursor.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Cursor 2.0 is out. 👀
The most interesting bits to me:
- Multi-agent support
- Proprietary model (Composer)
- Built-in browser
- Voice mode
cursor.com/changelog/2-0
The most interesting bits to me:
- Multi-agent support
- Proprietary model (Composer)
- Built-in browser
- Voice mode
cursor.com/changelog/2-0
I fixed some typos in the code.
I commited it with the following message: "Fix types". 🙃
I commited it with the following message: "Fix types". 🙃
October 8, 2025 at 7:31 AM
I fixed some typos in the code.
I commited it with the following message: "Fix types". 🙃
I commited it with the following message: "Fix types". 🙃
Reposted by Tomasz Gil
📚 As promised, a quick writeup on how syncing state - even if it’s between server and client state - can be avoided if we’d just derive state instead:
Deriving Client State from Server State
How to use derived state in React to keep client state and server data aligned without manual sync or effects.
tkdodo.eu
September 1, 2025 at 1:17 PM
📚 As promised, a quick writeup on how syncing state - even if it’s between server and client state - can be avoided if we’d just derive state instead:
Reposted by Tomasz Gil
I want as many developers as possible to experience the joy of refactoring their code when they have a good test suite by their side.
It's infectious. You'd want that feeling all the time.
It's infectious. You'd want that feeling all the time.
September 1, 2025 at 6:07 PM
I want as many developers as possible to experience the joy of refactoring their code when they have a good test suite by their side.
It's infectious. You'd want that feeling all the time.
It's infectious. You'd want that feeling all the time.
💡 TIL: Zustand has an in-built middleware to persist the store (by default in local storage).
See me remove all useLocalStorage hooks tomorrow. 👀
See me remove all useLocalStorage hooks tomorrow. 👀
September 1, 2025 at 7:22 PM
💡 TIL: Zustand has an in-built middleware to persist the store (by default in local storage).
See me remove all useLocalStorage hooks tomorrow. 👀
See me remove all useLocalStorage hooks tomorrow. 👀
Today, I one-shot prompted a small web application, front-end and back-end included.
The interface has to be reworked entirely and the backend reviewed, but it's functional. You can call me a full-stack engineer, I suppose. 🤷
The interface has to be reworked entirely and the backend reviewed, but it's functional. You can call me a full-stack engineer, I suppose. 🤷
August 30, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Today, I one-shot prompted a small web application, front-end and back-end included.
The interface has to be reworked entirely and the backend reviewed, but it's functional. You can call me a full-stack engineer, I suppose. 🤷
The interface has to be reworked entirely and the backend reviewed, but it's functional. You can call me a full-stack engineer, I suppose. 🤷
I’ve been experimenting with Cursor Background Agents for a new project.
Biggest takeaways: start with clear repo rules, write prompts that force planning & checks, run agents one-at-a-time early.
Background agents give me ~50% of a feature. More in the article.
blog.tomaszgil.me/enhancing-so...
Biggest takeaways: start with clear repo rules, write prompts that force planning & checks, run agents one-at-a-time early.
Background agents give me ~50% of a feature. More in the article.
blog.tomaszgil.me/enhancing-so...
Enhancing Software Engineering Workflow with Cursor Background Agents
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with AI—especially Cursor Background Agents—to support my engineering work in a new web application we’re building. Below are some observations and tips that have helped me get better results. Rules On...
blog.tomaszgil.me
August 21, 2025 at 6:49 AM
I’ve been experimenting with Cursor Background Agents for a new project.
Biggest takeaways: start with clear repo rules, write prompts that force planning & checks, run agents one-at-a-time early.
Background agents give me ~50% of a feature. More in the article.
blog.tomaszgil.me/enhancing-so...
Biggest takeaways: start with clear repo rules, write prompts that force planning & checks, run agents one-at-a-time early.
Background agents give me ~50% of a feature. More in the article.
blog.tomaszgil.me/enhancing-so...
New article in the works. ✍️
August 17, 2025 at 10:23 AM
New article in the works. ✍️
Major changes at GitHub. 👀
github.blog/news-insight...
github.blog/news-insight...
Auf Wiedersehen, GitHub ♥️
I am stepping down as GitHub CEO to build my next adventure. GitHub is thriving and has a bright future ahead.
github.blog
August 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Major changes at GitHub. 👀
github.blog/news-insight...
github.blog/news-insight...
GPT-5 is out. 👀
www.youtube.com/live/0Uu_VJe...
www.youtube.com/live/0Uu_VJe...
Introducing GPT-5
YouTube video by OpenAI
www.youtube.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:01 PM
GPT-5 is out. 👀
www.youtube.com/live/0Uu_VJe...
www.youtube.com/live/0Uu_VJe...
Reposted by Tomasz Gil
📚 Whenever I see useCallback, I wonder: why do we need it here? And a lot of the times, when I look deeper, I see that it actually doesn’t do anything. I think a lot of code-bases would be better of just not memoizing at all - and then let the compiler do it for you:
The Useless useCallback
Why most memoization is downright useless...
tkdodo.eu
July 28, 2025 at 4:22 PM
📚 Whenever I see useCallback, I wonder: why do we need it here? And a lot of the times, when I look deeper, I see that it actually doesn’t do anything. I think a lot of code-bases would be better of just not memoizing at all - and then let the compiler do it for you:
Setting up a brand new app is both so exciting and taxing. 🥵
My brain no longer shuts off after work recently. I'm still building, just in my head.
My brain no longer shuts off after work recently. I'm still building, just in my head.
July 31, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Setting up a brand new app is both so exciting and taxing. 🥵
My brain no longer shuts off after work recently. I'm still building, just in my head.
My brain no longer shuts off after work recently. I'm still building, just in my head.
You know what AI can't do? Auth.
July 28, 2025 at 7:26 PM
You know what AI can't do? Auth.
Hey Friends 👋
Looking for advice, small project, React SPA, we want to focus on integration test with some unit tests:
Jest or Vitest?
Hit me up with your best takes. 🙇
Looking for advice, small project, React SPA, we want to focus on integration test with some unit tests:
Jest or Vitest?
Hit me up with your best takes. 🙇
July 23, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Hey Friends 👋
Looking for advice, small project, React SPA, we want to focus on integration test with some unit tests:
Jest or Vitest?
Hit me up with your best takes. 🙇
Looking for advice, small project, React SPA, we want to focus on integration test with some unit tests:
Jest or Vitest?
Hit me up with your best takes. 🙇
Today, added to Munch:
✅ Added @motion.dev to the stack
✅ Implemented animated list item for meals list
Live version: munch-for-kids.netlify.app
✅ Added @motion.dev to the stack
✅ Implemented animated list item for meals list
Live version: munch-for-kids.netlify.app
July 19, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Today, added to Munch:
✅ Added @motion.dev to the stack
✅ Implemented animated list item for meals list
Live version: munch-for-kids.netlify.app
✅ Added @motion.dev to the stack
✅ Implemented animated list item for meals list
Live version: munch-for-kids.netlify.app
Today, I've joined OpenSpace as a Senior Front-End Software Engineer to build a platform with a complete visual record of construction projects, powered by AI.
Excited about what's ahead! 🎉
Excited about what's ahead! 🎉
July 14, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Today, I've joined OpenSpace as a Senior Front-End Software Engineer to build a platform with a complete visual record of construction projects, powered by AI.
Excited about what's ahead! 🎉
Excited about what's ahead! 🎉
Yes, I worked on an AI sidebar, thanks for asking.
July 12, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Yes, I worked on an AI sidebar, thanks for asking.
New contract signed. Bio update on Monday. 👀
July 10, 2025 at 10:59 AM
New contract signed. Bio update on Monday. 👀
All the ways AI integrates into software engineering workflow from @addyosmani.bsky.social 👀
addyo.substack.com/p/the-ai-nat...
addyo.substack.com/p/the-ai-nat...
The AI-Native Software Engineer
A practical playbook for integrating AI into your daily engineering workflow
addyo.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
All the ways AI integrates into software engineering workflow from @addyosmani.bsky.social 👀
addyo.substack.com/p/the-ai-nat...
addyo.substack.com/p/the-ai-nat...
Reposted by Tomasz Gil
Quitting programming as a career right now because of LLMs would be like quitting carpentry as a career thanks to the invention of the table saw.
July 3, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Quitting programming as a career right now because of LLMs would be like quitting carpentry as a career thanks to the invention of the table saw.