React
A living world with no server: real-time on the client
A live ops dashboard with no backend. The trick was decoupling the thing that changes fast (animation) from the thing that changes meaningfully (data) — three layers, one smooth result.
The Lumen Review
Writing on craft, systems, and the work behind the screen.
A demo publication powered by a headless CMS — every word here is modelled and edited in Contentful, then rendered statically by Next.js.
three.js
An invisible clash: the three.js transparency trap
Setting material.opacity did nothing. The fix was one line — and a reminder that in retained-mode 3D, some properties are compiled into the shader, not read every frame.
CI/CD
The CI that couldn't upload: when a token isn't enough
A deploy pipeline that kept failing taught me to read the HTTP status, not the stack trace — and that the cheapest fix is often moving the work, not forcing the path.
React
Slate ⇄ Contentful: building a lossless rich-text transform
A custom PlateJS editor is only as good as its serialisation layer. How this one round-trips Contentful Rich Text without losing a node.
CMS
One app, five tools: consolidating Contentful editor apps
Instead of five App Framework apps with five bundles and five CI jobs, this project ships one app that routes on location. Anatomy of the pattern.
CMS
The webhook that writes back — without the infinite loop
Computing reading time on publish means a webhook that edits the entry that triggered it. Here's how it avoids eating its own tail.
Architecture
Designing a content model that survives change
The fields you choose on day one quietly decide how painful year two will be. Principles for modelling content you won't regret.
React
Server Components changed how I structure a frontend
Moving data fetching to the server and keeping client islands small made the pages faster and the codebase calmer. Notes from the shift.
Sponsored
ISR in practice: static speed without the redeploys
Incremental Static Regeneration is the quiet workhorse of content sites. When to reach for it, and where on-demand revalidation fits.