m4x

Frontend engineering by Maxi Cespedes

Frontend notes on product, performance, and craft.

Essays and practical notes on React, frontend architecture, performance, testing, and the shape of modern product work.

The Model Wants to Finish. You Want It to Be Right.
AI, engineering judgment, and software craft

The Model Wants to Finish. You Want It to Be Right.

AI is optimistic about its own progress. Once you understand that, the question stops being "should I use AI" and becomes "where is its optimism going to hurt me."

· 9 min read

Featured

UI Patterns for Agent-Driven Products: Less Clutter, More Clarity
Agent-driven product design

UI Patterns for Agent-Driven Products: Less Clutter, More Clarity

Some thoughts about designing mass-market agent-driven interfaces that reduce clutter, adapt to context, and stay legible-especially when the product should assist without overruling user judgment.

· 10 min read
Vibe Coding Is Here to Stay, But It Needs Guardrails
AI-assisted software development

Vibe Coding Is Here to Stay, But It Needs Guardrails

A short, opinionated essay on why vibe coding is already part of modern software work, why broad prompts create risk, and which guardrails make AI-assisted development more durable in practice.

· 6 min read
Staying Sane When AI Agents Keep Changing Your Workflow
AI workflow

Staying Sane When AI Agents Keep Changing Your Workflow

A personal essay on how AI agents fragment attention, why that makes focus harder, and the small boundaries that keep the tool useful instead of overwhelming.

· 7 min read
Frontend Interviews Should Measure Judgment, Not Memory, in the AI Era
frontend hiring

Frontend Interviews Should Measure Judgment, Not Memory, in the AI Era

A case for updating frontend interviews to measure judgment, conflict skill, adaptability, and AI-aware workflows instead of memorized coding fluency.

· 7 min read

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