Clay Roach articles - 24 total
Building Self-Correcting LLM Systems: The Evaluator-Optimizer Pattern
How to coach LLMs to fix their own SQL errors using structured feedback and iteration
Removing 11,005 Lines: Why We Replaced Our Custom LLM Manager with Portkey
A case study in pragmatic engineering - how replacing custom infrastructure with a proven gateway solution removed 11,005 lines of code while improving functionality
Days 29-30: Mission Accomplished - Building an Enterprise Platform in 80 Hours
Completing the 30-Day AI-Native Observability Platform challenge with 100% feature delivery, 85% test coverage, and proof that work-life balance works
Day 28: The 10x Performance Breakthrough
Finding and fixing a major performance bottleneck in the LLM query generation
Days 24-27: Family Time and the Real Value of the 4-Hour Workday
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is step away from the code and spend time with family.
Day 23: LLM Manager Service Layer Refactor - Consolidating Multi-Model AI Integration
Major architectural refactor consolidating redundant LLM implementations into unified Effect-TS service layer with significant performance improvements and comprehensive testing strategy
Days 21-22: Service Topology Visualization & Dynamic UI Generation Complete
Building critical request path topology with Sankey flow visualization and implementing multi-model LLM orchestration for dynamic SQL query generation
Day 20: Service Topology Implementation with Critical Request Paths
Building interactive service topology visualization with critical paths analysis, Sankey flow diagrams, and AI-powered health insights in 4 focused development hours.
Days 18-19: Weekend Reflection - Our Responsibility to Recent CS Graduates
Reflecting on our collective responsibility to create opportunities for recent CS graduates as AI transforms the development landscape, and how we can help them become superhuman developers rather than compete with AI.
Day 17: Building Topology Visualization with AI-Assisted Health Monitoring
Building an intelligent topology visualization with service-specific health monitoring and AI-powered explanations
Day 16: Halfway Point Victory - Production-Ready CI/CD with Strategic Browser Testing
Reaching the halfway milestone ahead of schedule with optimized CI/CD, multi-model AI validation, and production-ready infrastructure for the final sprint
Day 15: From 'Works on My Machine' to Bulletproof CI/CD - Building Development Insurance
How implementing comprehensive GitHub Actions workflows exposed critical issues and led to systematic storage architecture consolidation with production-ready infrastructure.
Day 14: The Systematic QA Breakthrough - Achieving 100% Test Coverage
How systematic root cause analysis, production-ready architecture, and automated documentation transformed our AI observability platform
Day 13: AI-Driven Quality Assurance - The Systematic Breakthrough
Discovering how specialized AI agents can systematically eliminate development bottlenecks through automated quality assurance and comprehensive validation patterns.
Day 12: Cedar Plank Salmon and Life Reflections - Finding Balance in Intense Development
Taking another fishing day to pursue coho and chinook salmon while reflecting on sustainable development, family priorities, and the joy of parenthood
Day 11: AI Analyzer Foundation Complete - Model Selection and Evidence Formatting
Protobuf fixes merged and AI analyzer capabilities enhanced with evidence formatting, model selection, and critical path analysis integration
Day 10: Infrastructure Crisis & Strategic Foundation - When Everything Comes Together
Fixing critical protobuf parsing issues while establishing strategic architectural foundations for AI-native observability platforms
Day 9: Multi-Model LLM Foundation & AI Analyzer Integration
Massive breakthrough implementing comprehensive LLM Manager (5000+ lines) supporting GPT, Claude, and Llama, plus AI analyzer real-time topology discovery
Day 8: Modular Design for AI Development - When Architecture Enables Velocity
Establishing interface-first development patterns and UI enhancements that enable AI-assisted code generation at scale
Day 7: When Protobuf Breaks Everything - Real Engineering in the Trenches
The day I planned for real-time features but instead fought protobuf parsing, gzip decompression, and learned why fallback strategies matter in production systems
Days 4-6: Pink Salmon Season - When Life Calls and Code Can Wait
Sometimes the best development decision is knowing when to stop. Pink salmon season in Seattle called, and I answered - with my family, my fishing gear, and zero guilt about taking a strategic break.
Day 3: Dual-Ingestion Architecture - When Two Data Paths Are Better Than One
Day 3 of building an AI-native observability platform in 30 days with Claude Code. Major breakthrough: complete dual-ingestion architecture with professional UI, achieving 2x expected development velocity.
Day 2: Enterprise Testing Infrastructure with TestContainers - 30-Day AI Observability Challenge
Day 2 of building an AI-native observability platform in 30 days with Claude Code. Today: implementing comprehensive TestContainers integration for real database testing.
Day 1: How I'm Building an Enterprise Observability Platform in 30 Days Using Claude Code and Documentation-Driven Development
What if I told you I'm building an enterprise-grade, AI-native observability platform from scratch in 30 days? A project that would traditionally require a team of 10+ developers working for 12+ months. Here's how documentation-driven development with Claude Code makes the impossible possible.