A maintenance timer should leave its last result visible
Scheduling is only half the job; operators also need to see when the task last ran and how it ended.
Networks. Systems. Engineering.
XB Field Notes
From a single request to a dependable service.
Field notes on the systems we build and operate.
Selected reading
Start at the boundary
From the notebook
Recent field work
Restart policies need a rate limit
Use an explicit service type, bounded restart behavior, and start-rate limits that leave evidence in the journal.
A release checklist for a static site
Verify the artifact before replacing the live directory, and keep the checks close to the release command.
SSH host keys are part of the deployment record
Record the expected fingerprint, use a deliberate StrictHostKeyChecking policy, and treat changes as an incident until explained.
The advantage of small systems
Small does not mean unfinished; it means each boundary has a clear job and a visible owner.
Security headers should describe the actual page
Start with a narrow policy, then expand it only when a documented feature needs another resource.
robots.txt and sitemaps answer different questions
robots.txt is a crawler-facing preference; a sitemap is a URL inventory; neither is an authorization layer.
Reliable defaults beat clever recovery
Keep the common path explicit, observable, and safe to repeat before adding recovery branches.
The index
Follow your curiosity
Read in sequence
Three complete reading paths
10 notes
HTTP foundations
The request, response, cache, and discovery contracts visible at a static site's edge.
14 notes
Release and recovery
Build, publish, observe, and restore a small service without losing the last known-good state.
8 notes
Web security
Browser policy, certificate identity, host trust, and DNS signals that make a public edge safer to inspect.
On the workbench