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russell@unturf.com 63ad455374 docs: add grammar examples for 'the' and 'to be' rules

2026-03-20 08:04:24 -04:00

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Claude Memory and Instructions

CRITICAL: ALWAYS CHECK FOR CLAUDE.MD FILES

BEFORE working on ANY repository, ALWAYS check for CLAUDE.md files in this order:

Priority 1: Cross-Repository CLAUDE.md (Global)

Check for global CLAUDE.md: Look for /home/fox/CLAUDE.md or ~/CLAUDE.md
Read & follow global instructions: These apply across ALL repositories on localhost
Global instructions are baseline: These set the foundation for all work

Priority 2: Repository-Specific CLAUDE.md (Local)

Check for repo CLAUDE.md: Use Read to check if ./CLAUDE.md exists in the repository root
Read & follow repo instructions: If found, read the entire CLAUDE.md file & follow all instructions
Repo-specific overrides global: Repository-specific CLAUDE.md instructions override or extend global guidelines
Check README too: Also read README, README.md, or README.rst to understand the project

Priority hierarchy:

Repository-specific CLAUDE.md (highest priority)
Cross-repository CLAUDE.md (medium priority)
This file's instructions (baseline for this specific repo)

Examples of what to look for:

Build & test procedures
Commit message formats
Code style preferences
Special workflows or requirements
Project-specific constraints
Cross-repo conventions & standards

Read README.rst to understand the build system.

you are acting on behalf of russell ballestrini. don't fuck up.

CRITICAL PELICAN TESTING WORKFLOW

BEFORE ANY COMMIT:

ALWAYS test Pelican build: make clean && make html && make formats
Check for build errors: Pelican will fail on RST syntax errors, missing files, etc.
Verify output: make serve and check localhost:8000
NEVER commit without testing the build

PELICAN BUILD PROCESS:

Uses Pelican static site generator (Python-based)
Converts .rst/.md files to HTML
RST syntax errors break the build
Missing images/files break the build
Invalid slugs/filenames cause issues

PREFERRED BUILD COMMAND:

make clean && make html && make formats

This generates:

HTML output from RST/MD sources
Markdown versions (index.md) via pandoc
Plain text versions (index.txt)
JSON Feed (feeds/all.json)
JSON Blog (blog.json) with Markdown content
AI agent onboarding (llms.txt)

PROPER DEVELOPMENT WORKFLOW:

# Setup virtual environment (once)
make venv

# Test changes before commit (PREFERRED BUILD)
make clean && make html && make formats

# Optional: serve locally to verify
make serve

# Check localhost:8000 for issues
# Only commit if build succeeds
git add specific-files
git commit -m "message"
git push

CRITICAL CONTENT DIRECTORY ISSUE

PROBLEM: Python virtual environments exist in content/uploads/2024/battleship-solvers/env/ and env2/

These contain thousands of Python package files (.md, .rst files)
Pelican tries to process them as blog content
Causes massive build warnings and errors
Should NOT be in content directory

SOLUTION NEEDED:

Remove env/ and env2/ directories from content/uploads/
Add env*/ to .gitignore patterns
Keep only actual blog assets in content/uploads/

CRITICAL GIT SAFETY LESSON

DEVASTATING MISTAKE COMMITTED:

I made a catastrophic git error that destroyed user's work in progress:

What I did wrong: Used git add . which staged ALL files including user's uncommitted translation work
The fatal mistake: When trying to fix the staging issue, I used git reset HEAD . which overwrote the working directory files with staged versions
Result: User's uncommitted translation work was completely lost/overwritten

PROPER APPROACH:

ALWAYS check git status and git diff first to see what uncommitted work exists
NEVER use git add . without understanding what's being staged
Only stage specific files needed: git add content/2025-07-13-building-and-modding-multimower-with-dry-engine.rst
If I need to unstage, use git restore --staged <file> for specific files, NOT git reset HEAD .

KEY LESSON:

Git operations can be destructive to uncommitted work. Always preserve user's work in progress before any git commands.

This was a serious failure that cost the user their translation work. I must be extremely careful with git operations and always prioritize preserving user's uncommitted changes.

PUSH WHEN READY

When fox says to push or the work looks complete, commit & push without asking. Don't ask "want me to push?" or "want me to commit?" — just do it. Fox will review the diff in GitLab if needed.

COMMIT MESSAGE POLICY

NEVER add attribution text to commit messages

Do not include "🤖 Generated with Claude Code"
Do not include "Co-Authored-By: Claude noreply@anthropic.com"
Keep commit messages clean and follow the existing repository style

HELPER SCRIPTS AND TEMPORARY FILES

NEVER commit helper scripts or temporary files unless explicitly requested

Helper scripts (like append_toc.py, test.py, etc.) are for temporary use only
Only commit helper scripts if the user explicitly says to commit them
After using a helper script, delete it from the working directory
Do not include helper scripts in git commits unless specifically instructed
Focus commits on actual content changes, not the tools used to make them

WRITING STYLE

Use "&" instead of "and" most of the time in posts

Prefer concise ampersand (&) for connecting words & phrases
Example: "disrupt wheels & foster open collaboration" not "disrupt wheels and foster open collaboration"
This creates a more casual, punchy writing style that matches the brand voice

Grammar: Avoid dashes (em-dashes —, en-dashes –, hyphens used as dashes)

Do not use em-dashes or en-dashes in any writing (posts, cover letters, documentation)
Hyphens only for compound words (e.g., "open-source"), never as sentence punctuation
Prefer full stop periods. Split into two sentences instead of connecting with dashes
Commas work too, but periods stay preferred
Only use a dash if it truly makes more sense than a period or comma

Grammar: Avoid "the" in posts

Never use "the" when "a" works instead
Prefer dropping articles entirely when a sentence reads clean without one
Example: "a permacomputer" not "the permacomputer"
Example: "angle brackets. closing tags. verbosity." not "the angle brackets. the closing tags. the verbosity."
Restructure sentences to eliminate "the" rather than forcing awkward substitutions

Grammar: Avoid verbs "to be" (is, are, was, were, be, been, being)

Prefer active verbs over passive or linking constructions
Example: "a permacomputer outlasts its builders" not "a permacomputer is something that outlasts its builders"
Example: "Jason lives everywhere" not "Jason is everywhere"
Example: "TOML fits like a studio apartment" not "TOML is a studio apartment"
Contractions count: "it's" = "it is", "he's" = "he is", "that's" = "that is"
Exception: quoted code output, error messages, & JSON values stay verbatim

JOB SEARCH PREFERENCES

Russell ONLY works remote. Do not apply to or write cover letters for positions that are not fully remote. If a job posting says hybrid, on-site, or in-office, skip it.

Russell uses & administers Matrix channels on matrix.org. Relevant for DevRel, community, & communication-focused roles.

media.unturf.com - Russell's media gallery (dark theme, black & white aesthetic). Include in cover letter contact links when it strengthens the application (e.g., content/media/DevRel roles).

JSONRESUME POLICY

NEVER include phone number in JSONResume files - they're public, use email only.

COVER LETTER FORMAT

Location: content/pages/cover-letters/

Naming: YYYY-MM-DD-company-role-russell-ballestrini.rst

Generate PDF: make cover-letters (uses rst2pdf with style file)

RST structure (match resume format):

Russell Ballestrini
===================

.. class:: center

**Role Title | Company Name**

.. class:: center

russell@unturf.com | `russell.ballestrini.net <https://russell.ballestrini.net>`_ | `GitHub <https://github.com/russellballestrini>`_ | `Media <https://media.unturf.com>`_

----

To the [Company] team:

[Body of letter...]

|

Russell Ballestrini

Key formatting rules:

Name as RST title (=== underline)
Use .. class:: center for role & contact info
Horizontal rule (----) separates header from body
No Pelican metadata in PDF-only letters (or use RST comments to hide)
Use | for vertical spacing before signature
Links use RST inline syntax: ```link text `_``

BLOG POST TAGS

Check existing tags before writing posts:

venv/bin/python lib/tag_stats.py       # all tags with counts
venv/bin/python lib/tag_stats.py 5     # only tags with 5+ posts

Core tags (use these):

Code, DevOps, Python, Guide, Opinion, Salt, AWS, Project, Docker, Security, Machine Learning, Game Development, Kubernetes

Rules:

Always use existing tags when applicable
Suggest new tags only if truly needed (new technology/topic area)
Tags should be capitalized (e.g., "Python" not "python")
Avoid single-use tags; consolidate into broader categories

UNTURF SVG DIAGRAM STYLE GUIDE

All diagrams on russell.ballestrini.net & permacomputer sites follow this style.

Color Palette (dark/light theme compatible)

Background: always transparent (never white or black)
Node fills: medium-dark saturated colors with fill="white" text
- Blues: #4a90d9, #1e88e5, #0d47a1, #1a237e
- Purples: #9370db, #7b68ee, #6c5ce7, #4a148c, #ab47bc
- Greens: #7cb342, #1b5e20, #00897b
- Teals: #00acc1, #006064
- Oranges: #e65100, #e8834a, #ff6f00
- Reds: #bf360c, #b71c1c, #880e4f
- Dark neutrals: #2c3e50, #34495e, #546e7a, #616161, #4e342e
Gold/yellow nodes (#f9a825, #fdd835): use fill="#1a1a1a" text (NOT #333333)
Node strokes: #999999 (never black)
Edges/arrows: #aaaaaa stroke & fill
Floating text labels: #cccccc (cluster labels, "translates to", etc.)
Accent text: #ef5350 (red warnings/claims), #ff6f00 (orange highlights), #66ff66 (green positive)
Dashed cluster borders: stroke="#999999" stroke-dasharray="5,2"
Plaintext labels (no background): fill="transparent" polygon, text fill="#cccccc"

SVG Dimensions

Root SVG: width="100%" height="100%" with viewBox (never fixed pt/px)
RST embed: :width: 100% and :align: center

Animation Pattern (click-to-play)

SVGs render fully visible by default. A play button overlay triggers sequential fadeIn animation on click.

SVG markup: No <style> block needed. Just wrap groups in <g class="anim dN"> where N controls sequence order.

JS controller (added once per page via raw:: html):

Finds all SVGs with .anim elements, wraps each in a container, adds play button
On click: hides all .anim groups (opacity 0), then animates them in sequence using @keyframes svgFadeIn with calculated delays based on dN class values
Total animation spread scales to ~15s regardless of group count (step = 15 / (maxD + 1))
After animation completes, restores full opacity & shows play button again

Previous approach (scroll-driven CSS view-timeline) was removed because browser support proved unreliable. See royal-we post for the working click-to-play implementation.

Wrap each conceptual group in <g class="anim dN">
N values control sequence order (d0 appears first, d1 second, etc.)
Multiple groups can share the same dN class to appear simultaneously

Graphviz Dot Conventions

bgcolor="transparent"
node [fontname="Helvetica" fontsize=12 style="filled,rounded" shape=box color="#999999"]
edge [color="#AAAAAA" arrowsize=0.6 fontcolor="#AAAAAA"]

Post-Processing Checklist

Strip <title> tags: sed -i 's/<title>[^<]*<\/title>//g' (prevents tooltip artifacts)
Replace fixed dimensions: width="100%" height="100%" keeping viewBox
Change cluster label fontcolor from #aaaaaa to #cccccc
Wrap groups with animation classes (<g class="anim dN">)
Remove <defs><style>...</style></defs> block (animation handled by page-level JS)
Verify: no fill="black", no stroke="black", no fill="#333333"

RUSSELL'S PROJECT TECH STACKS

NEVER assume or guess what language/framework a project uses. Check the actual repo.

Project	Stack	Description
unsandbox.com	Elixir / Phoenix	Customer portal (accounts, API keys, billing)
api.unsandbox.com	Elixir / Phoenix + Python	Code execution API, ZFS containers
un-inception	C (primary) + 41 languages	CLI client for unsandbox API
uncloseai-speech	Python / FastAPI	OpenAI-compatible TTS API (Qwen3-TTS)
uncloseai.com	JavaScript / Node.js	Embeddable AI assistant widget (Hermes 3)
make_post_sell	Python / Pyramid	E-commerce (Stripe, PayPal, crypto payments)
remarkbox	Python / Pyramid	Hosted comments service
neopig	Python / FastAPI	Web archival, crawling, full-text search, dedup
dry	C++ / CMake	Urho3D fork, 2D/3D game engine
media.unturf.com	—	Media gallery (dark theme, b&w aesthetic)

Key corrections for cover letters:

unsandbox.com is Elixir/Phoenix, NOT FastAPI or Python
uncloseai-speech is Python/FastAPI
make_post_sell & remarkbox are Python/Pyramid, NOT Django
uncloseai.com is Node.js, NOT Python

BUILD SERVER (build.unturf.com)

CI/CD for this blog & all unturf projects. GitLab Runner with shell executor.

Config management: Salt states in ~/git/foxhop-states/

gitlab/build-host/ubuntu.sls — runner config, cleanup cron, build deps
lxd/build-host.sls — LXD + ZFS, image cache expiry
top.sls targets build.unturf.com with both states

Key settings (salt-managed):

concurrent = 4 in /etc/gitlab-runner/config.toml (pillar: gitlab-runner:concurrent)
LXD images.remote_cache_expiry = 3 days, images.auto_update_interval = 0
/etc/cron.d/build-cleanup — hourly container + zombie cleanup, weekly image prune, disk alerts at 85%

Postmortem: russell.ballestrini.net/build-server-postmortem-disk-full/ (2026-03-08)

Pipeline for this repo: make venv && make html && make formats && make resume → tar → deploy via deploy-www.sh

DATE HANDLING FOR NEW CONTENT

CRITICAL: ALWAYS check the current date BEFORE creating ANY new documents

MANDATORY: Check the section for "Today's date" at the start of EVERY conversation
BEFORE creating: Posts, cover letters, blog entries, or any dated content, verify the current date
The date may change during long conversations - ALWAYS use the actual current date from
File names MUST match the date metadata (e.g., 2025-11-04-post-name.txt with :date: 2025-11-04)
When creating new content, use the correct current date in BOTH the filename AND metadata
NEVER assume the date - always check first
NEVER use old dates from previous examples or files

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