922: Pre-commit Hooks, requestAnimationFrame, Code Reviews, and More
In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about code reviews, migrating legacy apps, CSS attr() use cases, pre-commit hooks, the future of creative web development, whether front-end devs need to be full-stack, and more!
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:43 When is the appropriate time to use requestAnimationFrame?
05:10 How do you handle code reviews on larger teams?
13:08 When to use the CSS attr() function
19:01 The future of browsing websites and the impact of AI
28:45 Brought to you by Sentry.io
29:10 Navigating browser preview in VS Code
31:31 Pre-populating email content with mailto
34:29 Is there increasing pressure for front-end developers to become full-stack?
43:14 What pre-commit checks should you run and how?
46:16 How do you deal with a poorly-built codebase when you already have thousands of active users?
50:05 What GitHub Copilot features should you disable while you’re learning something new?
52:22 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs
Sick Picks
Scott: WOLFBOX MF100 Electric Air Duster
Wes: Competition Kettlebells
Shameless Plugs
Syntax YouTube Channel
Hit us up on Socials!
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Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads
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58:47
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58:47
921: AI Coding Roadmap for Newbies (And Skeptics)
Scott and Wes break down how to code with and for AI; perfect for skeptics, beginners, and curious devs. They cover everything from Ghost Text and CLI agents to building your own AI-powered apps with embeddings, function calling, and multi-model workflows.
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
03:56 How to interface with AI.
04:07 IDE Ghost Text.
05:45 IDE Chat, Agents.
08:00 CLI Agents.
Claude Code.
Open Code.
Gemini.
11:13 MCP Servers.
Context7
14:47 GUI apps.
v0.
Bolt.new.
Lovable.
Windsurf.
19:07 Existing Chat app like ChatGPT.
22:37 Building things WITH AI.
23:32 Prompting.
26:53 Streaming VS not streaming.
28:14 Embeddings and Rag.
31:09 MCP Server.
CJ’s MCP Deep Dive.
32:36 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
33:25 Multi-model, multi-provider.
36:27 npm libs to use to code with AI.
OpenAI SDK.
AI SDK.
Cloudflare Agents.
Langchain.
Local AI
Tensorflow.
Transformers.js.
Huggingface.
44:12 Processes and exploring.
Hit us up on Socials!
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Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
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48:58
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48:58
920: How to Build MCP Servers
Wes and Scott talk about how developers can expose powerful tools to AI using the Model Context Protocol. They discuss tool calling, remote MCP specs, authentication, and real-world use cases that make AI more capable through smarter integrations.
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
01:36 What is MCP?
07:23 MCP tools
11:33 MCP resources
13:43 Saving reusable prompts
16:18 Creating and validating MCP tools
18:31 Brought to you by Sentry.io
18:31 Tool calling vs MCP servers
21:28 Remote vs local MCP servers
mcp-remote
26:24 Useful MCP servers
mcp-server-cloudflare
use-mcp
awesome-mcp-servers
32:48 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs
Sick Picks
Scott: Mario Kart World
Wes: anyloop Kid’s Watch
Shameless Plugs
Syntax YouTube Channel
Hit us up on Socials!
Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads
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37:49
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37:49
919: Better Auth with Better Auth
Scott and Wes recap the current state of web authentication and explore how Better Auth simplifies the whole process. With built-in plugins, modern features, and no need to hand-roll your own solution, Better Auth makes secure login a breeze for developers.
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:59 Scott’s history with authentication.
02:05 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
03:15 My opinion has changed on auth.
04:40 Current authentication options.
06:32 Arctic.
06:56 OpenAUTH.
07:36 Auth.js.
08:02 Better Auth.
10:45 Better Auth CLI.
11:37 Email integration.
12:09 Hooks and Tokens.
13:43 CAPTCHA Integration.
14:36 Database Integration.
15:04 Integrations.
15:19 Plugin Ecosystem.
17:40 Admin features.
19:41 The Docs.
Hit us up on Socials!
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Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads
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26:58
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26:58
918: Extreme Native Perf on the Web with Superhuman
Wes and Scott talk with Loïc Houssier about how Superhuman builds lightning-fast, delightfully-designed email software. They dig into engineering philosophy, offline-first architecture, local databases, AI-powered productivity, and what it takes to create tools that people love.
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
03:05 Inside Superhuman and Loïc’s role
06:49 Is Superhuman native? What’s the tech stack?
08:16 How Superhuman approaches product design and speed
12:17 Local-first architecture – Sync, storage, and performance
Realm
13:46 Vector search, AI, and privacy considerations
18:12 How the team ships fast and stays focused
21:27 Rethinking email for the future
26:54 Brought to you by Sentry.io
27:19 How calendar integration and smart features work
29:54 Where new ideas come from
31:54 Will there ever be a true dark mode?
33:02 Are people actually using keyboard shortcuts?
36:42 How shortcuts work and the role of the command palette
41:28 Engineering for speed – Costs and trade-offs
43:32 How Superhuman’s sync engine works
46:09 What code runs locally and what runs on the server?
46:51 How Superhuman handled the Google and Cloudflare outage
Hit us up on Socials!
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Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads
Full Stack Developers Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski dive deep into web development topics, explaining how they work and talking about their own experiences. They cover from JavaScript frameworks like React, to the latest advancements in CSS to simplifying web tooling.
Australia