The Morning Compile #1

OpenAI dropped a model nobody asked for but everyone’s using, Google quietly shipped something that actually works, and somehow we’re all still debugging CORS errors. March is off to a normal start.

3 AI Tools Worth Your Attention

Cursor Composer v2.1 — The multi-file editing finally doesn’t feel like fighting with autocomplete. They added a “context window preview” so you can actually see what the AI is looking at before it rewrites your entire codebase. Still burns through tokens like a junior dev burns through coffee, but it’s worth the API costs if you’re refactoring anything larger than a todo app.

Anthropic’s Artifact API — Claude can now generate and host interactive components that live beyond the chat. Think code playgrounds, data viz, mini tools—all shareable via link. The free tier is generous enough for side projects. Early, but this is the kind of thing that makes prototyping feel less like PowerPoint and more like shipping.

Val Town AI Workflows — Scheduled functions meet LLM calls in a surprisingly non-janky way. You can chain API calls, add human-in-the-loop approvals, and deploy without touching YAML. If you’ve been putting off automating something because “it’s not worth spinning up infrastructure,” this is your excuse gone.

One Build Tip

Stop writing TODO comments. Seriously. They rot faster than your cold brew. Instead, create GitHub issues from your IDE (VS Code: Cmd+Shift+P → “Create Issue from TODO”, Cursor has this built in now). Link them in a comment like // See issue #284. Now your todos are searchable, trackable, and someone might actually close them. Your future self will thank you.

Coffee Break Read

“The Maginot Line of AI Safety” by Simon Willison. He breaks down why all the model guardrails feel like security theater—not because they’re useless, but because we’re defending against last year’s attack vectors. It’s a 6-minute read that’ll change how you think about prompt injection and why your chatbot needs a threat model, not just a system prompt. Worth reading before you ship that customer-facing AI feature.

Gear Pick of the Week

Timemore Sculptor 078S grinder — Yeah, it’s $650. But if you’re spending $40/month on beans and still getting inconsistent pours, this is the fix. Stepless adjustment, actually-quiet motor, and it doesn’t spray grinds all over your desk like a caffeinated snow globe. The espresso mode alone paid for itself in saved shots. Consider it an investment in not rage-quitting your morning routine before standup.

Brew. Build. Ship.