The Phoenix Architecture

Generative AI coding demands what we've always known: modularity, clear boundaries, disposable components. Principles that scaled human teams are now table stakes. Here, we make the implicit explicit

Compile to Architecture

For a long time we’ve treated frameworks as the target of software development. But if systems are meant to be regenerated and replaced safely, the real compilation target has to be the architecture itself.

March 06, 2026

The Regenerative Grain

In 2014 I gave a talk called Tiny (keep things small enough to understand) In 2026, small means something different. Small means safe to delete. New in the Phoenix Architecture series: The Regenerative GrainI

February 19, 2026

The Industrialization of Regenerative Software

The “AI software factory” metaphor is seductive.

February 11, 2026

The Deletion Test

Here’s a simple test you can apply to any software system you work on:

January 23, 2026

UI Is a Conservation Layer

Why the user interface is the last to become regenerative

January 21, 2026

Provenance Is the New Version Control

When code can be thrown away and recreated, the unit of change is no longer lines of code. It’s reasons. Version control has to follow.

January 12, 2026

n=1 Is a Design Constrain (Not a Staffing Model)

Single-developer capability isn’t a productivity story. It’s the test that tells you whether your architecture is worth keeping.

January 07, 2026

Relocating Rigor

The Discipline That Looks Like Recklessness

January 06, 2026

The System Is the Asset

Why Regeneration Does Not Mean Starting Over

January 05, 2026

Conceptual Mass and the Compaction Discipline

As I mentioned in a previous post, at Wunderlist, we had a rule: any new service had to be "this big", a constraint I'd demonstrate by holding my fingers a few inches apart. The metric wasn't about lines of code. It was about replaceability.

January 02, 2026

Immutable Infrastructure, Immutable Code

Why "Never Upgrade in Place" Now Applies to Software

December 30, 2025

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