iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 27/02/2026

mruby 🤝 Ruby In my ongoing exploration of non-deterministic agents running along side deterministic code, I figured I'd see if I could use RubyLLM to run arbitrary ruby code inside of an mruby sandbox within the same process. It works! beautifulruby.com/code/enclave

beautifulruby.com

Enclave

An MRuby sandbox for running arbitrary Ruby code from LLMs

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 23/02/2026

Running AI agents as Unix executables that self-improve has been one of my wilder ideas lately. You can pipe agents: `think weather | think song` The agent eventually writes a determinative script after enough runs for simple programs. It’s as secure as a browser too. thinkingscript.com

thinkingscript.com

Self-improving AI Executables

Write programs in your own words. Run them in a secure sandbox. Install them like any other tool.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 09/02/2026

Incorrectly sized Open Graph images commonly crop heads & logos in weird places. In this video I debug YC's redesigned site with og.plus/tools to show how to identify & fix incorrectly sized images. Of course sites that use og.plus don't have this problem because images are optimized per network.

youtu.be

YCombinator.com Open Graph analysis: solutions to common problems with image sizes

YouTube video by OpenGraph+

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 08/02/2026

I got tired of seeing people complain “RSpec and factories takes 14 min to run, minitest and takes 5s” so I’m starting to chip away at it. First order of business: created FixtureBot after figuring out I use FactoryBot not because of factories, but because I like the syntax. Might try sus next.

beautifulruby.com

Don't throw the specs out with the factories

FixtureBot gives you the speed of fixtures with the syntax of factories

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 05/02/2026

Second edition of creating Plan objects in Superfeature to display plan tables in a SaaS I’m working on, og.plus. The objects can upgrade to other plans, control downgrade flow, set prices in stripe, require payment, and more. Next one I’ll cover Feature & Limit classes.

beautifulruby.com

Superfeature Plan

A Ruby DSL for defining SaaS pricing plans and features

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 04/02/2026

First YouTube video for OpenGraph+ about a macOS app I'm building to design and debug Open Graph images. Still waiting on Apple to approve the thing in Test Flight.

youtu.be

OpenGraph+ macOS app demo: debug your tags live

YouTube video by OpenGraph+

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 30/01/2026

While working on OpenGraphPlus.com I got tired of how annoying it is working with full prices and discounts, particularly in views, so I created a gem with a Price object that makes it super easy to create discounts and have them display properly on your site. Next Black Friday will be easy! 😅

beautifulruby.com

Superfeature Price

A Ruby object for working with prices and discounts

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 23/01/2026

My first end-to-end demo of og.plus! You can finally get a sense for how it will integrate into websites to generate an Open Graph image per page, and you can control it all with CSS, meta tags, and HTML cache headers. As always, Rails is my first integration: opengraphplus.com/docs/rails 💅

youtu.be

How the OpenGraph+ Rails app uses OpenGraph+ to render Open Graph tags for itself

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 22/01/2026

I've been heads down for the past month cranking on og.plus, and for the first time ever I found LLMs were actually useful for creating production-grade apps, but not how you think ... and a far cry from "vibe coding". I share thoughts in the video & discuss the workflow I used to ship quality.

youtu.be

How I used Claude Code to build OpenGraph+, a Rails Open Graph generator

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 20/01/2026

I've started using ChatGPT's Atlas browser to critique first-draft landing pages to find obvious errors and issues on og.plus. Overall I've found its useful to map out "completeness", but it will try to make you run in circles, is kinda slow, and requires copy & paste to work with other agents.

youtu.be

Critique landing pages with ChatGPT Atlas

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 19/01/2026

Girl Scout cookies and Phlex on Rails!? I'm sending people 4 boxes to any address in the US (can't ship i18n 🫠) for people who buy the course at beautifulruby.com/phlex After you purchase, I'll reach out to get your address & cookie preferences (real cookies 🍪, not browser cookies)

youtube.com

Girl Scouts on Rails: Walk & Talk

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 11/12/2025

Phree Phlex videos are back! This one shows how to cram lots of Phlex components into one file with nested classes and endless method. I also kept the Black Friday deal going for a couple more days.

beautifulruby.com

Inheritance

This video course teaches you how to use Phlex to build high quality Rails frontends that you can use with existing Erb apps or go all-in and build from the ground up with components. Phlex brings san...

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 02/12/2025

I ditched the 10 minute time-box for the videos so I wouldn’t have to be as rushed.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 01/12/2025

Last Ruby deals push, this time for Cyber Monday! I picked up a few more deals and listed them at the bottom of Friday’s list. There’s some great deals on software & lots of discounted courses if you have some training budget left in the tank this year. beautifulruby.com/articles/rub...

beautifulruby.com

2025 Ruby Cyber Monday & Black Friday Deals

Save money on Ruby books, courses, licenses, & software

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 29/11/2025

Gearing up for one last push on Cyber Monday! I picked up a few more deals that I put on the page. If there's any more please LMK today so I can include in my final Ruby deal push.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 27/11/2025

I collected all Ruby Black Friday deals I could find & posted them in one spot. Highlights include: $130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course $81 off @gorails.com annual subscription +20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content Lots of @pragprog.com deals Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰

beautifulruby.com

2025 Ruby Black Friday Deals

Save money on Ruby books, courses, and software

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 21/11/2025

I've got a few more in the queue from the SF Ruby Conf. I'm definitely going to be shooting more of these in different locations with other Rubyists and people who are building cool stuff.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 17/11/2025

Where are Ruby devs looking for Black Friday deals this season? I’ve got an $80 off BFD for the @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course and want to get it in front of more Ruby developers. beautifulruby.com/phlex

beautifulruby.com

Phlex on Rails

Build amazing user interfaces in Rails with Phlex 💪

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 12/11/2025

Kicking off a BFD (Black Friday Deal) for @beautifulruby.com! Between now and Sunday, December 7, 2025 you can save over 20% off the course with an $80 coupon. To claim the deal, use the normal Stripe checkout flow at beautifulruby.com/phlex#invest

beautifulruby.com

Phlex on Rails

Build amazing user interfaces in Rails with Phlex 💪

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 12/11/2025

Today's phree @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails video reviews the most fundamental concept of @phlex.fun, creating HTML tags & attributes. One of the most powerful things about Phlex is how certain attributes, like class, style, and data, handle hashes & arrays, making Phlex great for components.

beautifulruby.com

Tags, attributes, & text

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 10/11/2025

What are some good Ruby podcasts that would want their audience to hear me talk about Phlex, Superform, Supermail, etc?

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 10/11/2025

If you're wondering how I packaged up Ruby code into binaries people can run on Linux and macOS, Tebako is it. In this RTSFC I walk through the internals of Tebako, which is a lot of scripts that compile ruby, download gems into a package, and set entry points for your code.

youtu.be

Portable macOS, Linux, and Windows binaries with Tebako: Read the Friendly Source Code

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 10/11/2025

Today's free Phlex on Rails video is all about rendering, which is very polymorphic in Phlex. Partials, strings, values, components, component classes, and collections all Just Work™ when passed into the `render` method.

beautifulruby.com

Rendering

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 07/11/2025

Today's free Phlex on Rails video kicks off Unit 2, starting with the basics of a Phlex component!💪 If you're a Rails developer that's never heard of Phlex, you'll want to follow along this week as I premiere Unit 2.

beautifulruby.com

Phlex is Ruby

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 06/11/2025

Today's free Phlex on Rails video is the last in the introduction unit, "Why Components?" If you've got some training budget remaining this year, here's a $50 off checkout link beautifulruby.com/courses/phle...

beautifulruby.com

Why components?

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 05/11/2025

Today’s free @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails video covers how the trio of Rails, Phlex, & Hotwire makes a productive framework for quickly building and shipping web apps. 💪🚞🔌 It’s geared more for people who are less familiar with the Rails stack. beautifulruby.com/phlex/overvi...

beautifulruby.com

Why Rails?

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 04/11/2025

There's 50 days until Christmas and I have 45 Phlex videos. How about a Phlex on Rails video advent calendar? I'll do my best to post some videos from the Phlex course starting with "Why Phlex?" since the intro video is free. This one compares to ViewComponent if you're curious. Follow along!

beautifulruby.com

Why Phlex?

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 03/11/2025

I wrote about how pre-sold $13,000 worth of Phlex on Rails video course, some surprises I had along the way, open questions I have around the entire concept, and where I'd like to take @beautifulruby.com now that the first video course has been fully launched. 🚀

beautifulruby.com

Beautiful Ruby: First Update

Pre-sold $13,000 of Phlex on Rails video course

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 27/10/2025

Has anybody used this? I'd personally be reluctant to use it in a project, which sounds crazy given how I'm a big fan of Phlex. For me the difference is @phlex.fun is barely an abstraction and stays "close the the HTML". Opal had a lot going on, but I couldn't tell that's because of JS or Opal.

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Reposted by Brad Gessler

Joel Drapper 🇬🇧❤️🇺🇦 @joel.drapper.me · 21/10/2025

I wrote about the designing the perfect type signature syntax in Ruby.

joel.drapper.me

The journey to the perfect type signature in Ruby

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 21/10/2025

Official launch article for the Phlex on Rails video course. Huge thanks to @joel.drapper.me for creating @phlex.fun. It was fun making the course for it. I hope this inspires more people to use Phlex so we can all benefit from building UIs with components without React JS bloat. 💪🚀

beautifulruby.com

Introducing Phlex on Rails

Officially launching a video course for building component-based UIs in Rails

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 17/10/2025

Also testing out a new video format.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 16/10/2025

I think @joel.drapper.me gets enjoyment out of the names he chooses for his gems 😂

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 15/10/2025

This is about half way down the 🕳️🐇 for async Ruby. These repos are incredibly understandable if you know the HTTP specs and are prepared to clone a bunch of repos and open them in the same editor workspace. It's really good stuff.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 14/10/2025

In retrospect, it was kind of ridiculous that I shoot my first paid video course outside, but it was so much fun. 🤣 I highly recommend coding outside if you can swing it. You'll feel way better at the end of the day and the glare isn't really that bad. Go outside and touch grass! 🌱

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 13/10/2025

I’ve been looking forward to showing off this source code because it’s so well written. Last week Shopify announced they deployed Falcon to production, which gave me an excuse to dive into it and RTFSC. 🤿

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 10/10/2025

Finished the last videos and I have a registration system in place. The old paywall was a 🔓 in the URL, like this `https://beautifulruby.com/🔓/phlex` 🤣 Now the browser has to be activated via email, and I'm using SQLite on the server to store course & registration data.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 09/10/2025

Check it out, SF Ruby Conf got Wes Anderson to shoot their intro video. 😏

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 05/10/2025

Also: leave because of the confusing SF weather, but come first.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 03/10/2025

Every time I have to do this, I think about @indirect.io's `rv` presentations at the @sfruby.bsky.social meetups.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 01/10/2025

Remember when I launched Supermail last week as an easier way to work with emails in Rails? Turns out the simplified abstraction made it easy for me to generate mailto: links. I also forgot to mention it works alongside ActionMailer for those with existing Rails apps. Video & code 👇

beautifulruby.com

Supermail mailto links

Start more conversations with your users over email

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 29/09/2025

Could somebody explain why its a bad idea or mis-aligns incentives if a mature OSS infrastructure org uses a funding model where the top 20% of for-profit users pay a service fee that supports operations? Assume if there's "profits", prices are cut, and if there's not, they're raised.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 26/09/2025

Sharing my toolkit for how I debug my computer in the morning before I get to work on @beautifulruby.com. youtu.be/tv3BTKgz2uY

youtu.be

How I debug my computer

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 26/09/2025

I got 🤬 at ActionMailer in Rails and cranked out a way to do email in Rails with better ergonomics calls Supermail. There's not much to it other than its a much more intuitive way of creating, managing, and sending emails in Rails. beautifulruby.com/code/superma...

beautifulruby.com

Introducing Supermail

An easier way to work with emails in Rails.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 25/09/2025

I was surprised to see structure.sql instead of schema.rb in this project. Anybody know if that decisions was made because of SQLite? Or is it because it might run on different databases?

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 22/09/2025

My daughter’s Friday folder in tonight’s earthquake. earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 22/09/2025

Every time I deploy I think about the insane number of humans who touched my project through Ruby Gems, Linux, the physical cables called the Internet, & the grid that powers it all. I don’t know who they are, but they all do the right thing and my software boots. It’s really a miracle.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 22/09/2025

It’s fun discovering rack, then building a toy web framework on top of it.

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Reposted by Brad Gessler

puppy @duckinator.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Today has been... intense. Thank you everyone who's discussed this with me and offered kind words or support. I don't know the intent behind what happened. The people involved aren't villains, and they aren't evil.

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