# logicalbytes.dev > Engineering notes on distributed systems and performance ## About logicalbytes.dev is a technical blog focused on backend engineering, distributed systems, DevOps, and startup-focused software architecture. The content emphasizes practical, battle-tested approaches over theoretical perfection. ## Philosophy "A void in complexity is the signature of intelligence" - The blog advocates for simplicity and avoiding over-engineering. ## Author Dan Flanagan - I'm a security and infrastructure engineer writing about Go, platform engineering and securing AI agents. More: https://logicalbytes.dev/about ## Products - [Pilum](https://pilum.dev) - A recipe-driven deployment orchestrator - [Torch](https://usetorch.dev) - Developer tooling - [Vigil](https://github.com/sid-technologies/vigil) - Continuous network reliability monitor with a desktop UI ## Blog Posts ### Symbiosisware: Building Software for an Audience of One - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/symbiosis-ware/ - Date: 2026-09-18 - Topics: developer-tools, ai, git, open-source, opinions - Summary: Simon Tatham named the software you build only for yourself. AI makes it cheap enough that everyone is about to start building it. ### Capsa: Stop Renting Your Documentation - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/introducing-capsa/ - Date: 2026-07-13 - Topics: typescript, react, open-source, developer-tools, capsa - Summary: I built an open-source documentation platform because the good managed option wanted ~$5k a year to host what is fundamentally a Markdown renderer. If someone else hosts your docs, you're renting your documentation. ### The MCP Token Problem (and Three Ways to Solve It) - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/mcp-token-problem/ - Date: 2026-06-26 - Topics: ai, mcp, architecture, statio, token-efficiency - Summary: Most MCP servers burn 50-80K tokens before the user even asks a question. Here's why, and three generation modes that fix it. ### Building a Business at 2am - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/2am-release/ - Date: 2026-05-026 - Topics: startups, career, opinions, engineering - Summary: It's 2am. My fiance is asleep, my cat is snoring, and I'm waiting for a release pipeline. Notes on building a business, not a startup, while the house gets framed wall by wall. ### Vigil: Producing the Receipts When Your ISP Won't - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/introducing-vigil/ - Date: 2026-05-07 - Topics: go, tauri, networking, open-source, vigil - Summary: I built an open-source network reliability monitor because my building gates the ISP, my Slack huddles drop on certain afternoons, and the property manager keeps blaming my modem. I needed evidence. ### Pilum: From Launch to Production-Ready in 3 Months - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/pilum-road-to-production/ - Date: 2026-04-16 - Topics: go, devops, open-source, pilum, post-mortem - Summary: I open-sourced a deployment CLI in December. Then I tried to actually use it to ship 4 products. Here's everything that broke. ### Software Engineers Need Reckless Abandonment - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/reckless-abandonment/ - Date: 2026-03-31 - Topics: engineering, career, opinions, leadership - Summary: After 15 years, I still don't know most things. That's the point. Be bold enough to dive into what you don't know, ask questions at every level, and push for what you believe in. ### The Difference Between Good Code and Bad Code Is 5 Minutes - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/good-code-bad-code/ - Date: 2026-03-14 - Topics: engineering, architecture, startups, opinions - Summary: KISS applies to fixing systems too. Spend the extra 5 minutes to make it maintainable, and learn to spot when those 5 minutes are secretly 5 months. ### From Demo to Product: Telling the Story of Your Work - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/iterate-dont-rewrite/ - Date: 2026-02-24 - Topics: startups, architecture, strategy, consulting - Summary: Pressing a button speaks a thousand words. Rewrites, migrations, bug fixes: none of it matters if non-technical people can't see why. ### How I Start With Any Inherited Codebase - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/inherited-code-bases/ - Date: 2026-02-10 - Topics: startups, architecture, developer-tools, process - Summary: Dropped into an unfamiliar codebase? The process I use to get the lay of the land on any project: Makefiles, architecture docs, and AI tooling. ### The Real Economic Threat Isn't AI — It's Automation at Scale - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/ai-world-view-pt-2/ - Date: 2026-01-16 - Topics: ai, economics, automation, labor, opinion - Summary: The existential threat to labor isn't large language models. It's physical-world automation, and it has very little to do with chatbots. ### We're Not in an AI Bubble — We're Watching Big Tech Finally Spend Its Cash - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/ai-world-view-pt-1/ - Date: 2026-01-03 - Topics: ai, economics, big-tech, opinion, infrastructure - Summary: AI isn't a bubble. It's big tech finally deploying tens of billions in capital that sat idle for years. ### RAG vs NLP vs Raw LLM Calls: A Startup's Guide to Choosing the Right AI Architecture - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/rag-nlp-llm-startups/ - Date: 2025-12-15 - Topics: ai, llm, rag, nlp, startups, python, architecture - Summary: Startups should probably start with prompts. The honest tradeoffs between RAG, classical NLP, and raw GPT calls, and when each one actually earns its complexity. ### Introducing Pilum: A Recipe-Driven Deployment Orchestrator - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/introducing-pilum/ - Date: 2025-12-03 - Topics: go, devops, architecture, open-source, pilum - Summary: I built an open-source deployment orchestrator because I had a monorepo with Cloud Run containers, Cloud Functions, Lambda, and a frontend. I didn't want 5 different infra tools. ### Building Scalable APIs with Go: A Startup's Guide to Not Overengineering - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/building-scalable-apis/ - Date: 2025-11-01 - Topics: go, backend, architecture, startups, cloud-run, devops - Summary: Unless you're building the next TikTok, scale isn't your problem. The math most startups ignore, when containers beat serverless, and how to avoid architecture astronaut syndrome. ### Managing Monorepos at Scale: Lessons from Meta, AWS, and a 15-Repo Migration - URL: https://logicalbytes.dev/posts/monorepo-management/ - Date: 2025-10-15 - Topics: devops, architecture, git, startups, microservices - Summary: What I learned about monorepos from Meta's massive codebase, AWS's polyrepo architecture, and migrating SID from 15 repositories to one. ## Contact - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertdanielflanagan/ - X: https://x.com/DanFlanCodes - GitHub: https://github.com/DanFlannel ## Technical Stack Static site built with Astro.