Is the web dead, or just evolving? Wes Bos breaks down his JS Nation Amsterdam talk on agentic interfaces, why chat won’t replace everything, how Web MCP lets agents interact with your existing sites, and what “Clicks and Clankers” really means for the future of UI. Show Notes 00:00 Intro 00:33 Welcome to Syntax! 00:46 Wes’s Talk: Agentic Interfaces at JS Nation 01:37 Is the Web Dead? Chat vs. Traditional UI 03:13 No UI, Voice UI, and the Smart Home Vision 04:00 What Is Web MCP and How It Works ...
Jun 24, 2026•18 min
Scott, Wes, and CJ reunite fresh off a trip to Amsterdam to chat conferences, burnout, and whether Anthropic actually uses AI. They also dig into a packed bag of sick picks and tech news, including HTML streaming in Chrome, an image-to-ASCII generator, and a wild Arch Linux supply chain attack. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 02:15 Anthropic Doesn’t Use AI Thariq’s Tweet Tweet Response 06:15 Taste and Vision in Prompting Output 10:50 Wes and Scott’s Slide Decks 18:05 Amsterdam Trip Recap 26:...
Jun 22, 2026•1 hr 32 min
Live at JSNation in Amsterdam, Scott, Wes, and CJ break down Cloudflare’s acquisition of VoidZero, the company behind Vite, Vitest, Rolldown, and Oxc. They dig into why this is genuinely exciting, not scary, covering what it means for the open source tooling you already use, Cloudflare’s growing tip-to-tail stack, and why infrastructure might be the one thing LLMs can never sherlock Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! Live from JS Nation Amsterdam 00:35 The Big News: Cloudflare Acquires VoidZero...
Jun 17, 2026•15 min
Scott and Wes sit down with Jake Archibald from Mozilla to unpack how web standards actually get made at Firefox. From browser features and developer feedback to the drama around the Prompt API. They discuss Interop 2026, the future of web APIs, and what it’s really like shaping the web after a career spanning both Google and Mozilla. Show Notes 00:00 The Importance of Sunscreen 02:29 Welcome to Syntax! 04:35 Transitioning from Google to Mozilla 06:00 Brought to you by Sentry.io 06:43 Mozilla’s ...
Jun 15, 2026•1 hr 9 min
Scott and Wes sit down with Ben Vinegar, former Syntax GM and founder of Modem.dev, to geek out over terminal-maxxing, from SSH-based development and tmux workflows to AI-powered coding agents. Ben also demos two of his open source tools: Hunk, a slick terminal code reviewer with 4k+ GitHub stars, and TermDraw, a terminal-based diagramming tool that posts directly to your agent. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:49 Introduction to Modem and AI Project Management 01:40 Exploring Terminal Usa...
Jun 08, 2026•1 hr 6 min
On this episode, Scott and Wes dig into the messy reality of modern front-end work, from struggling to find skilled devs and navigating team chaos to questioning code quality, testing, and even whether AI is stealing the joy of programming. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax 01:06 The Challenge of Finding Skilled Front-End Developers 05:11 Understanding Design Mode and Its Applications 10:33 Navigating Team Dynamics and Code Quality 12:37 The Importance of Testing Strategies 13:39 Learning and G...
Jun 03, 2026•56 min
Scott and Wes react to the freshly released State of AI 2026 survey, covering everything from skyrocketing AI adoption and the rise of coding agents to the pain points, job security fears, and big philosophical questions developers are wrestling with right now. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:06 Introduction to the State of AI in Web Development 02:47 Survey Insights: AI Coding Adoption and Sentiment 06:55 Models and Providers: Usage and Sentiment Analysis 09:14 Paid Agent Usage: Who’s Pa...
Jun 01, 2026•55 min
Scott and Wes sit down with Alex Sexton and Amadeus De Marzi from Pierre Computer to dig into the gnarly performance challenges behind building blazing-fast code review tools, covering virtualization, progressive rendering, and why GitHub’s UI feels so sluggish. They also chat about how major AI coding tools like Claude, Codex, and Cursor are adopting Pierre’s diffs library, plus the role of web components, benchmarking, and what it takes to build “VS Code 2.0.” Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Synta...
May 27, 2026•1 hr
Wes and Scott talk about the foundational decisions that make AI-assisted coding actually work—database schemas, validation, routing, CSS structure, and more. They explore why consistency matters more than specific tools, and how a little upfront planning can keep agents from turning your codebase into chaos. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 03:19 Planning your database schema before AI touches it 06:08 Picking a validation strategy that won’t drift 07:18 Mapping your routing structure and au...
May 25, 2026•17 min
Wes and Scott talk about whether AI can actually create good design, or if it just remixes the same patterns over and over. They dig into AI-generated UX, design systems, YouTube thumbnails, Google’s design.md spec, programmatic design, and the tools designers are actually using today. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 03:20 Can AI actually make you creative? 08:52 Why AI-generated YouTube thumbnails all look the same 10:34 Can good design be extrapolated from patterns? 13:46 Google’s design.m...
May 20, 2026•35 min
Scott and Wes are joined by Jonny Burger, creator of Remotion, to talk about the explosion of programmatic video, going from 125k to 800k installs per day, and how AI and a new HTML-in-Canvas Chrome spec are changing the game. They dig into monetization, the wild world of video slop, motion graphics workflows, and the new Media Bunny tool. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! Remotion has skills! 02:20 Monetization Strategies and Sustainability Remotion Pro 04:40 The Impact of AI on Video Creatio...
May 18, 2026•44 min
Scott and Wes break down the “Mini Shai-Hulud” supply chain attack that compromised TanStack and other popular npm packages through a clever GitHub Actions cache poisoning exploit; a self-propagating worm that stole credentials and persisted through Claude Code hooks and VS Code tasks. They also cover how developers can protect themselves using pnpm’s security defaults, dev containers, and other practical defenses. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:25 Understanding the Shai-Hulud Worm Post ...
May 13, 2026•23 min
Scott and Wes chat all things agent skills for web developers, sharing their favorites for everything from CSS animations and HTML generation to logo extraction, marketing copy, and video creation. Whether you’re just getting started with AI-powered development or looking to level up your workflow, this episode is packed with practical skills you can put to use today. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:33 Hot Tip Skill 05:55 CSS Motion Systems 08:17 Agent Browser Skill 09:30 HTML Skill 12:01...
May 11, 2026•26 min
In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about LLM usage-based pricing, security risks from malicious code in interviews, staying current in a fast-moving dev landscape, a new CSS linter, managing Node environments and tooling without losing your mind, and more! Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:17 Copilot’s new usage-based pricing and the end of cheap AI Model multipliers for annual Copilot Pro and Copilot Pro+ subscribers 08:53 Why Syntax dropped clever ad tr...
May 06, 2026•53 min
Scott and Wes tackle the all-too-real stress of crunch time as a web developer—how to handle looming deadlines, avoid sloppy shortcuts, and stay methodical when everything feels like it’s falling apart. They share practical tips on planning, communicating, cutting scope, asking for help, and preventing the chaos from happening again next time. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 02:53 The Importance of Planning and Organization. 05:16 Slow Down, Take a Step Back. 06:05 Identifying and Managing T...
May 04, 2026•33 min
Wes and Scott celebrate 1000 episodes of Syntax, reflecting on how the podcast started, the team behind it, memorable moments, listener stats, inside jokes, and how the show has evolved over time—from early recordings and sponsors to supercuts, spooky episodes, and what’s next. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 02:01 Intro to Kaitlin 03:08 Intro to Randy 06:16 Intro to CJ 09:01 Intro to Niki 10:08 Who “yaps” more, Wes or Scott? 10:28 Brought to you by Sentry.io 18:37 Wes’ supercuts app 24:04 H...
Apr 29, 2026•1 hr 13 min
Scott and Wes break down what makes CSS truly manageable—from preventing style leaks and embracing fluid layouts to choosing the right methodology, whether that’s utility CSS, component-scoped styles, or CSS modules. They also dive into practical tips like leveraging CSS variables, layers, scoping, and tooling to keep your stylesheets clean and scalable. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:31 Understanding CSS Manageability 01:44 This CSS doesn’t leak to other parts of website. 03:41 This CSS...
Apr 27, 2026•50 min
Wes and Scott talk about making AI coding more reliable using deterministic tools like fallow, knip, ESLint, StyleLint, and Sentry. They cover code quality analysis, linting strategies, headless browsers, task workflows, and how to enforce better patterns so AI stops guessing and starts producing maintainable, predictable code. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! Losing two clients in one week 04:49 Code quality tools jscpd.dev knip.dev fallow.tools wallace 14:11 Finding and using components Sto...
Apr 22, 2026•45 min
Scott and Wes dig into a huge batch of community-submitted projects, from JSON tools and CSS editors to AI agents, view transitions, and everything in between. It’s a rapid-fire showcase of what developers have been building, including picks like Arrow JS, Sugar High, Drift, and a whole lot more. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! Wes’ Bluesky Post Wes’ X Post 01:20 JSON-Alexander . 02:43 FFF - Fastest File Search . 04:44 View Transitions Toolkit . 08:06 Agentation and Svelte Agentation . 11:21...
Apr 20, 2026•54 min
Wes and Scott talk about the latest CSS and browser features, including the Grid Lines API for masonry layouts, HTML in Canvas, name-only container queries, CSS random, search-text styling, and more. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:57 Grid Lines API for masonry-style layouts Introducing CSS Grid Lanes CSS Grid Lanes browser support 03:25 HTML in canvas and next-gen UI effects @jaffathecake @mattrothenberg 11:30 Name-only container queries for scoped styles Name-Only Containers: The Scopin...
Apr 15, 2026•31 min
In this episode, Scott and Wes sit down with Tim Neutkens and Jimmi Lai from the Next.js team to dig into the new Adapters API, what it takes to run Next.js across platforms like Cloudflare and Netlify, and how caching and infrastructure choices affect performance. They also go deep on TurboPack’s internals, why Next.js doesn’t run on Vite, and the evolution of bundling in the framework. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:14 Introduction to Next.js and the Adapter Platform Next.js Across Pla...
Apr 13, 2026•1 hr 4 min
In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about AI struggles with CSS and design workflows, learning vs relying on AI, debugging web performance, beginner soldering setups, navigating AI-era job interviews, Figma dev mode, modern API choices, and more. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:55 Why AI struggles with CSS and design workflows 10:50 How much AI should you use when learning to code? 18:41 Debugging performance: tools and team workflows Ep 585: Fundamental...
Apr 08, 2026•1 hr
Scott and Wes break down a chaotic week in dev news — the Claude Code source leak, a nasty Axios npm supply chain hack, and Railway’s private cache exposure — plus how to keep these nightmare scenarios from hitting your own projects. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:55 Claude Code Leaked! Wes’ X Post Apple Source Code Video 05:42 Burning through Claude Code token limits. Reddit Thread 08:57 Axios hacked! Step Security pnpm Supply Chain Security pnpm minimumReleaseAge 16:13 Pretext blew up!...
Apr 06, 2026•38 min
Wes and Scott talk about migrating large codebases with AI — how to plan framework and language moves, establish patterns, handle templating changes, test thoroughly, safely deploy, and more. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:46 Why migrate to a new language or framework? 05:09 How to approach a large code migration 08:47 Establishing patterns before using AI 10:35 Moving from pug to JSX 12:06 Building a detailed migration plan 15:18 Testing every part of the application 15:51 Brought to yo...
Apr 01, 2026•29 min
Vite just launched Void, a fullstack JavaScript framework and cloud platform that bundles together routing, SSR, auth, an ORM, and nearly everything you’d expect from a modern meta-framework — all built on top of Cloudflare’s infrastructure. Scott, Wes, and CJ dig into whether Void is the Rails moment JavaScript has been waiting for, or just shiny Cloudflare lock-in with a bow on it. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! The Announcement 00:27 Laravel or Rails for JavaScript? 01:38 What is this bi...
Mar 30, 2026•39 min
Wes, Scott, and CJ talk about Vite+, a unified JavaScript toolchain that combines linting, formatting, task running, monorepos, and more. They break down its evolution, open-source shift, performance gains, Node version management, and whether it can realistically replace today’s fragmented dev tooling. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 00:54 What Vite+ is and what’s changed since launch 03:43 Why the ecosystem needs Vite+ 06:41 What Vite+ actually does for your workflow 10:18 Built-in Node ve...
Mar 25, 2026•34 min
Scott and Wes dig into the latest State of JS survey results, breaking down which JavaScript libraries, frameworks, and tools are rising, falling, or holding steady in the ever-shifting JS ecosystem. From front-end frameworks and meta-framework pain points to JavaScript runtimes, hosting services, and the growing role of AI tools in developer workflows, this one’s packed with takes, tier lists, and plenty of opinions. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:06 JavaScript Features , not overly int...
Mar 23, 2026•1 hr 4 min
Wes and Scott talk with Steve Faulkner about vinext, a Vite-powered Next.js fork. They dive into AI coding workflows, agent browsers, code quality, and what modern dev tooling looks like in an AI-first world. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 02:01 Knowing how to use AI 02:31 The idea behind “slop fork” vinext How we rebuilt Next.js with AI in one week 06:27 How to approach a project like this Super Whisper 07:53 Using markdown as a planning and thinking tool 12:35 Steve’s OpenCode setup 14:31...
Mar 18, 2026•47 min
Scott and Wes break down the world of remote coding agents — what they are, why you’d want one, and all the different ways you can run them, from Cursor Cloud and Claude Code to an old laptop sitting on your floor. They cover real-world use cases, environment setup, API key management, and the wild variety of interfaces that let agents work while you sleep. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 03:14 Introduction to Remote Coding Agents 05:32 Practical Examples of Remote Agents 05:34 Website data ...
Mar 16, 2026•47 min
In this potluck episode, Wes and Scott answer your questions about popover navigation patterns, the Vibrate API on iOS, whether code quality still matters in the AI era, Wes’s evolving Obsidian second-brain setup, where to start with modern full-stack JavaScript, and more! Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:02 Using display none with popover and hamburger navigation 03:37 Vercel on iOS and experimenting with the Vibrate API 05:47 Does code quality still matter in the AI age? 11:08 Wes’ secon...
Mar 11, 2026•59 min
