Writing about AI, building things, and figuring stuff out — by Sam Selvanathan.https://samselvanathan.com/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/i-stopped-running-my-ai-agents-browser-in-docker/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/i-stopped-running-my-ai-agents-browser-in-docker/A practical note on moving authenticated agent browsing from a flaky container sidecar to a dedicated Chrome Beta profile on a real Mac.Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-agentsopen-clawSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/ai-evals-are-a-product-boundary-not-just-a-quality-check/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/ai-evals-are-a-product-boundary-not-just-a-quality-check/A practical look at the MyPaperPop eval suite, what it measures, and why the first goal was not better AI but safer product behavior.Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiai-agentsevalsSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/ai-agent-sensitive-tool-wrapper/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/ai-agent-sensitive-tool-wrapper/A practical wrapper pattern for giving personal AI agents useful access to sensitive services without handing them broad shell access.Sun, 10 May 2026 05:39:00 GMTai-agentsopen-clawSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/how-i-structure-specialized-agents-in-openclaw/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/how-i-structure-specialized-agents-in-openclaw/A reusable pattern for specialized OpenClaw agents with one mission, one workspace, scoped tools, and explicit handoff rules.Fri, 08 May 2026 04:20:00 GMTai-agentsopen-clawSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/how-i-back-up-an-openclaw-assistant-without-leaking-private-state/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/how-i-back-up-an-openclaw-assistant-without-leaking-private-state/A practical OpenClaw backup pattern that separates encrypted disaster recovery from curated Git history.Fri, 08 May 2026 04:15:00 GMTai-agentsopen-clawSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/giving-an-openclaw-agent-github-access-without-giving-it-the-keys/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/giving-an-openclaw-agent-github-access-without-giving-it-the-keys/A practical pattern for giving an OpenClaw agent scoped GitHub access to one repo, plus build and preview capability, without exposing raw tokens or a general shell.Thu, 07 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-agentsopen-clawSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/securely-self-host-openclaw-vps/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/securely-self-host-openclaw-vps/A complete walkthrough for setting up OpenClaw on a Hostinger VPS that's invisible to the public internet, reachable only through your own private mesh network, with auto-renewing TLS certificates and a defensible security model.Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-agentsopen-clawself-hostingSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/openclaw-on-chatgpt-subscription/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/openclaw-on-chatgpt-subscription/A practical setup guide for self-hosting OpenClaw on a Hostinger VPS using your ChatGPT subscription via Codex OAuth, plus what I wish I'd known an hour sooner.Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-agentsopen-clawself-hostingSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/flightwrapped-on-device-ai-flight-visualizer/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/flightwrapped-on-device-ai-flight-visualizer/How I built FlightWrapped, a privacy-first flight visualizer that runs an LLM in your browser to extract flights from Gmail exports and render them on a 3D globe.Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiprojectsSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/gpt-car/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/gpt-car/A weekend project that turned ChatGPT into the driver of a toy car.Mon, 27 Oct 2025 08:00:00 GMTai-agentsprojectsSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/vibe-coding-with-llama-api/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/vibe-coding-with-llama-api/Building SkinSync: How I Vibe Coded a Makeup Recommendation App in One WeekendTue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTaiprojectsSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/have-you-wondered-how-a-typical-llm-is-built/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/have-you-wondered-how-a-typical-llm-is-built/I'm going to take just 5 minutes of your time to explain how Llama 3 was builtFri, 10 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMTaiSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/would-mcp-be-the-catalyst-for-ai-agent-revolution/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/would-mcp-be-the-catalyst-for-ai-agent-revolution/Can the Model Context Protocol (MCP) facilitate broader interoperable context layers for LLMs, thereby paving the way for a revolution in AI agentic workflows?Sat, 04 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMTai-agentsSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/generative-ui/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/generative-ui/User Interfaces (UI) in mobile apps and web apps are going through a `huge rethink` with the advent of LLM applications both in consumer and enterprise apps.Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTaiproduct-managementSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/building-agents/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/building-agents/Build a pair of AI agents with Microsoft AutoGen — one scrapes YC companies, the other analyzes their products. A practical walkthrough with code.Sun, 29 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMTai-agentsSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/text-streaming-in-ai-interfaces-understanding-real-time-content-generation/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/text-streaming-in-ai-interfaces-understanding-real-time-content-generation/Streaming in AI Interfaces is important and it creates an illusion of natural communicationSun, 15 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiweb-developmentSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/llm-prompt-routing/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/llm-prompt-routing/Prompt routing dynamically directs AI prompts to the right model based on cost, complexity, and task type. Learn key routing strategies for scaling AI apps efficiently.Tue, 10 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/ai-safety/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/ai-safety/How to enforce LLM safety using LLM Guard to sanitize and filter prompts — essential for apps targeting children or sensitive audiences.Wed, 04 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMTaiSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/how-to-run-a-llm-in-your-laptop/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/how-to-run-a-llm-in-your-laptop/LLMs can be quantized and be fit in your laptop's GPU. Really!Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/building-an-offline-ai-tool-in-your-browser/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/building-an-offline-ai-tool-in-your-browser/Build a lightweight ChatGPT-like chatbot that runs entirely offline in Chrome using Gemini Nano — no servers, no API keys, just the browser.Thu, 04 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiweb-developmentSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/on-device-ai/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/on-device-ai/On-device AI presents a compelling opportunity for businesses to achieve cost savings alongside the well-established benefits of AI.Thu, 04 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/the-oxymoron-effect-of-ai/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/the-oxymoron-effect-of-ai/In the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), two key factors dominate the discourse: efficiency and cost.Thu, 04 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/app-less-phones-are-the-future/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/app-less-phones-are-the-future/Could conversational AI replace siloed mobile apps? Exploring how a unified chatbot-style interface might streamline everything from banking to daily tasks.Fri, 22 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiproduct-managementSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/product-manager-lives-in-the-past-present--future--simultaneously/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/product-manager-lives-in-the-past-present--future--simultaneously/A fundamental trait for Product Managers is their adeptness in navigating three distinct timeframes on a daily basis — “the past, the present, and the future”.Sat, 30 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMTproduct-managementSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/a-constant-inner-tension-within-product-managers/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/a-constant-inner-tension-within-product-managers/Who am I building the product for? Is it for the customer or is it for the business?Thu, 30 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMTproduct-managementSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/negotiation-strategies/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/negotiation-strategies/Negotiation techniques that I have found useful in my career.Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMTcareerSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/google-amp-versus-facebook-instant-articles/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/google-amp-versus-facebook-instant-articles/A comparison of Google AMP and Facebook Instant Articles — how they impact publishers, advertisers, and the mobile web experience.Thu, 15 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMTproduct-managementSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/whats-nextdoor/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/whats-nextdoor/An analysis of Nextdoor's hyperlocal social networking model — its growth, monetization strategy, competitive landscape, and potential as a neighborhood commerce platform.Wed, 30 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMTproduct-managementSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/the-first-90-day/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/the-first-90-day/The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter.Thu, 26 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMTcareerSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/accuracy-precision-recall/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/accuracy-precision-recall/Understanding accuracy, precision, and recall through a practical spam filter example — and why the tradeoff between them matters in ML.Sun, 14 Jul 2019 08:00:00 GMTaiSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/isomorphic-react-apps-with-react-engine/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/isomorphic-react-apps-with-react-engine/react-engine is a Javascript library for express based NodeJS web appsMon, 27 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMTweb-developmentSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/bower-for-a-npm-veteran/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/bower-for-a-npm-veteran/A Node.js developer's guide to Bower — why it exists alongside npm, how it manages front-end dependencies, and when you should use it.Mon, 08 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMTweb-developmentSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/powerful-backbonejs-principles/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/powerful-backbonejs-principles/Key Backbone.js principles and best practices for building structured, maintainable single-page applications — from keeping modules simple to managing views.Wed, 26 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMTweb-developmentSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/the-paypal-logo-challenge/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/the-paypal-logo-challenge/A step-by-step walkthrough of recreating the PayPal logo using HTML5 Canvas and JavaScript 2D rendering APIs, taking up the PayPal Engineering challenge.Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMTweb-developmentSam Selvanathanhttps://samselvanathan.com/posts/undefined-in-javascript/https://samselvanathan.com/posts/undefined-in-javascript/This post explains the traps of 'undefined' in JavaScript and ways to overcome them.Thu, 11 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMTweb-developmentSam Selvanathan