Peter van Hardenberg - Ink and Switch, Automerge

Peter van Hardenberg - Ink and Switch, Automerge

Author: Andrew Lisowski, Justin Bennett January 12, 2026 Duration: 50:32


This week we're joined by Peter van Hardenberg (PVH), director of the Ink and Switch research lab and co-author of the seminal Local First Software paper.Peter shares the origin story of local-first software, from his realization on a San Francisco train to his work at Heroku and beyond.We dive deep into Automerge, Ink and Switch's local-first sync engine built on CRDTs (Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types), exploring how it enables real-time collaboration while keeping data on your computer.We discuss the technical challenges of building distributed systems, the philosophy behind local-first software, and how projects like Key Hive are pushing the boundaries of decentralized data access.Peter also shares his vision for the future of computing, where software ownership and interoperability become fundamental principles rather than afterthoughts.


Hosted by Andrew Lisowski and Justin Bennett, devtools.fm is a conversation with the builders shaping the daily experience of software development. This isn't just a technical rundown of features; it's a deep dive into the philosophy, challenges, and stories behind the tools that power modern code. Each episode connects you directly with the creators and core contributors driving innovation in open source and beyond. You'll hear candid discussions about the creation of front-end frameworks like React, Svelte, or Vue, the evolution of JavaScript and TypeScript runtimes such as Node.js, Deno, and Bun, and the design choices behind emerging languages like Rust and Zig. The dialogue extends into foundational web technologies-WASM, WebGPU, WebGL-and the infrastructure, including databases and deployment tools, that turns ideas into reliable applications. The focus is always on the human element: the problem-solving, the collaboration, and the vision that turns a concept into a crucial piece of a developer's toolkit. Tune into this podcast for an authentic look at the craft of toolmaking, offering both insight for your own projects and a greater appreciation for the ecosystems we build within.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

devtools.fm: Developer Tools, Open Source, Software Development
Podcast Episodes
Guillermo Rauch - Vercel, The Front End Cloud [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:01
This week we have Guillermo Rauch, the founder and CEO of Vercel, and the creator of Next.js. We talk about the road to Vercel, how web development is changing, and how Vercel is helping developers build better products.…
DHH - Ruby on Rails, 37signals, and the future of web development [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:56
This week we're joined by DHH, the co founder of 37signals, and the creator of Ruby on Rails. We talk about the future of web development, the history of Rails, and the evolution of the web. David also talks about his vi…
Dani Grant - Jam.dev, One click bug reports developers love [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:33
This week we're joined by Dani Grant, founder of Jam.dev, a tool to report bugs in a ways that developers can immediately act on them. We talk about Dani's journey to building Jam.dev and the challenges that they faced a…
Herrington Darkholme - AST Grep, Searching Code with Code [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:33
This week we're joined by Herrington Darkholme, the creator of AST Grep. AST Grep is a code search tool that uses the abstract syntax tree (AST) of your code to find patterns. We talk about the genesis of AST Grep, the e…
Zeno Rocha - React.Email, Resend, Dracula Theme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:57
This week we have Zeno Rocha on the show. He is "developer famous" for creating the Dracula Theme, a popular theme for developers. He is also the co-founder of Resend, a modern email platform for developers. We talk abou…
Evan Bacon - Expo [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:42
Today's episode features Evan Bacon, the head of devtools at Expo. Expo is a framework for building React Native apps it takes care of a lot of the details so all you have to worry about is writing code. Evan is also the…
Christopher "vjeux" Chedeau - Prettier, React Native [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:10
This week we talk to a legend in the dev tools space, Christopher Chedeau. Christopher is a software engineer at Meta (formerly Facebook) and has worked on some of the most popular open source projects in the world. He i…
Daniel Thompson-Yvetot, Lucas Nogueira - Tauri [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:09
This week we're joined by Daniel Thompson-Yvetot and Lucas Nogueira to talk about Tauri, a framework for building smaller, faster, and more secure desktop applications. We talk about the advantages of Tauri over Electron…