Tooling
Articles tagged Tooling — notes and deep-dives grouped under this topic.
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Helm versus Kustomize in 2026: who renders, and where the chart comes from
Helm vs Kustomize in 2026: under Argo CD half the usual arguments do not apply — there are no Helm releases there, and the real line between the engines runs through who can show the registry a credential.
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The 11 Layers of a Production MCP Server: a Catalog of Hard Problems, Not a Checklist
A reaction to Fareed Khan's Atlas-MCP article: what I take from default-deny, approval gates and audit — and why an MCP server as the mandatory control point doesn't carry over to a personal read-only agent.
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The agent loop under a durable orchestrator: where the line runs
An agent graph and a durable execution engine are both orchestrators. A month on a bench showed where to draw the line between them, and what it costs.
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Atomic static site deploys where there is neither git nor transactions
An atomic static site deploy without git on the server: the receiving end offers only scp and ssh. No transaction can be built from that, but a deploy that survives a drop and repeats without consequence can.
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CSP behind a consent gate: why a green header proves nothing
The evaluator flagged two errors and both turned out to be dead entries. The real defect surfaced only once the check ran against browser behaviour instead of the header.
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Production Dockerfile: distroless, build cache and secrets
A checklist of about ten lines: what ships to production and what stays in the builder stage. Measured base images, BuildKit cache mounts, secrets that never reach a layer and attestations that arrive on their own.
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MCP for DevOps: start with a read-only agent in your cluster
By 2026 there are 10,000+ MCP servers. The first one to give an agent in your cluster is read-only — here is what it buys and how to grant it.
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The 2026 Terminal Stack Through a Linux User's Eyes: What's Portable, What's MacBook Optics
The "ultimate 2026 stack" guide is written for macOS. I review it from a Linux/Wayland chair: Ghostty versus Konsole, a strong backend, and the gaps you must fill.