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Brad Gessler

@bradgessler.com

2.4K followers 189 following 1K posts

I build stuff people want with Ruby—like BeautifulRuby.com, Terminalwire.com, TinyZap.com, Thingybase.com, LegibleNews.com, Sitepress.cc, and more. 🧑🏻‍💻 bradgessler.com 🏗️ rocketship.io 🌉 SF Bay Area

Posts Replies Media

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 01/09/2026

Upgrading a fleet of OpenClaw servers

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 01/09/2026

Sup?

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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

An MRuby sandbox for running arbitrary Ruby code from LLMs

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

Should take a week, give or take 3 months.

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 24/02/2026

Try it. See what happens.

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Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 24/02/2026

How is that a negative? They’re text files.

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

Video demo at youtu.be/IxsmI8ajL50?... if you’re not into installing stuff without seeing it working. The script runs inside a JS sandbox that can only access things you approve.

YouTube video by Terminalwire․com

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.

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 16/02/2026

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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.

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

YouTube video by OpenGraph+

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

I saw it, but the README was sprawling and I wasn't confident that it would do as little as possible during runtime. Now that a few people have asked, I put a section in the README about it under "Prior art". github.com/rubymonolith...

GitHub - rubymonolith/fixturebot: The speed of fixtures with the syntactic sugar of factories.

The speed of fixtures with the syntactic sugar of factories. - rubymonolith/fixturebot

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

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

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.

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

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 💅

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

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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.

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

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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.

Critique landing pages with ChatGPT Atlas

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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

Ironically the Girl Scout website has a cookie banner on their cookie website 🤣 Flavors at www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/c... You’ll buy the course, I’ll email you, you pick what flavors you want for your 4 boxes, give me your address, and then you’ll have some cookies and Phlex 💪

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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)

Girl Scouts on Rails: Walk & Talk

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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

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...

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.

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

Hotwire counts. Adding to list!

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

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

100% discount? What’s the normal price?

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.

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

Time to open a bakery. Is the brown stuff cinnamon sugar? Looks delicious.

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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

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 25/11/2025

I was surprised at how few talks I got to sit down and watch. Also looking forward to watching the videos.

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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.

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 18/11/2025

Did customs accept the Ruby passports?

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 18/11/2025

I’m there Tuesday through Friday.

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

Build amazing user interfaces in Rails with Phlex 💪

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 16/11/2025

I write a lot about Ruby @beautifulruby.com and on here.

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 15/11/2025

Sure. Two weeks from now? I’ve got SFRuby conf next week.

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 15/11/2025

It’s not like they can just upload files to that repo, they’re disabled!

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

Build amazing user interfaces in Rails with Phlex 💪

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

Know how to get on their radars?

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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

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...

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?

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.

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

YouTube video by BeautifulRuby․com

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

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...

Brad Gessler @bradgessler.com · 08/11/2025

Fonts are the most annoying part of setting up server-side OG rendering.

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

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...

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

It's two things: "transparency theater" and "flooding the zone" Stuff that's actually transparent is articulated plainly and concisely in a manner that doesn't overwhelm the reader.

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?

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...

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

I don't know why people are surprised or angry about this. While I find the "it's a gift" answer kinda dubious, there's nothing stopping people from forking Hotwire into a more reliable and supported frontend. The gift is being able to work the MIT licensed work that fixes all the issues.

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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

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...

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

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...

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