The column · weekly · free
One written piece a week
What broke, what it cost, and what rule changed because of it. Newest first. The same text goes out by email the morning it is published.
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- · № 19
Claude Code Skills vs Cron Jobs: Keep the Script, Put Only the Judgment in the Skill
Turn the job into a script, put only the judgment in the Claude Code skill, and let a timer call it. A six-step checklist, from my own daily jobs.
10 min read - · № 18
Do You Need an MCP Server? Not Yet. Here's My Door
Don't build an MCP server first; use SQL or an x-api-key header. MCP is best reserved for calls where the model must choose a tool from a menu.
11 min read - · № 17
Best AI Model for Content Creation? Pick a Model Per Job, Not a Winner
There is no best AI model for content creation, only one per job: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning for research at 3/3 and Haiku 5.5 for steering at 5/5.
11 min read - · № 16
Deno Deploy Shutdown: What Moves, What Stays, and What I Measure First
Which project moves when Deno Deploy shuts down: one site goes to Workers, the CMS stays on Railway, and celld stays on watch until a trigger fires.
9 min read - · № 15
Zapier Alternative: What Replaced Make and n8n in My Business
One writer dropped Make and n8n for code on a single owned database with Trigger.dev tasks, plus a three-part test for when a platform still earns its fee.
11 min read - · № 14
Reduce SaaS Costs: My Whole Business Stack Is $192.82 a Month
A real bill for reducing SaaS costs: one operator's whole stack at $192.82 a month, seven paid lines and eight at $0, with the measure-before-you-cut rule.
8 min read - · № 13
Grow From Structure Before You Buy Clients
Lead generation for contractors starts before buying leads: one booking form, a 10-day quote schedule with reminders, and one database you own.
11 min read - · № 12
Own Your Content Means Control, Not Copyright: Run This Test
Own your content means control, not copyright: name the database, run the export, count what comes out. Squarespace exports only one blog page.
13 min read - · № 11
Connect AI to Business Data Without Handing Over Your Passwords
Learn to connect AI to business data without passwords: one database you own, one API key tied to the data owner's account, checked on every request.
12 min read - · № 10
Google Search Console API: The Dashboard Said 82, the API Said 25
Using the Google Search Console API to read per-URL index status: why the dashboard counted 82 not-indexed pages while the URL Inspection API found 25.
11 min read - · № 9
How Long Does Google Take to Index a Page? I Have the Dates
Real dates from the URL Inspection API: one site went from 1 to 24 indexed pages in six hours, another from 19 to 80 in eight days. What decides the wait.
12 min read - · № 8
Google Search Console Not Indexed: Read the API, Not the Wall of Rows
When Search Console shows pages not indexed, the dashboard and API can disagree: 82 rows versus 25 unindexed. Learn to sort rows into fix, ignore or wait.
12 min read - · № 7
Second Brain for Business: Why I Put Everything in One Database
A one-operator guide to a second brain for business: 547 tables across four schemas in one Postgres database, holding clients, quotes, invoices and bookings.
12 min read - · № 6
Claude Code Workflow: Why Your Green Gate Might Be Lying to You
A green gate is a claim, not a receipt: my Claude Code workflow ran a migration in production twice and passed a run missing 3 of 10 tasks. Here's the fix.
18 min read - · № 5
Claude Code Subagents Headless: Why a Hook That Can't Ask Must Refuse
Headless Claude Code subagents can't show questions, so a hook guard must refuse. Measured: hooks run in claude -p, deny rules hold, slash commands don't.
16 min read - · № 4
Claude Code Limits: Why Your Context Hits the Wall First
Claude Code limits are context, not quota, per a 30-session audit: 26 compactions, peaks of 782k tokens, and a 60-minute cache timer. Get the real numbers.
17 min read - · № 3
Claude Code Hooks: Count Your Refusals Before You Write One
Before writing Claude Code hooks, count your refusals: 48 refusals in 11 runs fell to about 1 per run with six allow rules.
16 min read - · № 2
Claude Code Hooks: The Measured Ladder Before You Build
A 30-session audit found 48 refusals and zero hooks. Six allow rules cut refusals from 5 per run to 1, and the one catcher mod built has caught nothing yet.
12 min read - · № 1
Private repo, public lesson
Most of what I build is in private repositories, and this site promises to build in public. Why those do not disagree, and the one switch every fix now carries.
2 min read
See what broke for me, and the repair
Every production failure on my own apps, written up while it is still open: what happened, what it cost, how I fixed it.
The columns, fixes and workshops continue in the community: SEO, AI, and making money with code.
Join on WhopLuke Sidney writes and builds everything here, alone, in the open. lukesidney.me