Newsletter · Workshops · Projects
The craft of working with machines that write code.
Research, writing, and mentorship on agentic coding for engineers who ship.
I'm Sam Keen. I work hands-on with coding agents, then write and teach what actually holds up via weekly newsletter, live workshops, and the classroom. Author of Clean Architecture with Python, and formerly a generative AI architect at AWS.
Newsletter
Signal over hype, weekly
Every week, I dig into what's actually working in the new AI abstraction layer so you can make informed decisions without drowning in hype. A consistent weekly AI review for developers, plus long-form deep dives that go beyond the headlines.
What makes it different
Projects
Built in the open
A few things I've built alongside the writing. The newsletter shows how I think; these show what I ship.
Tilth
Active-DevelopmentA harness for long-running agents that work autonomously, then let you replay the whole run.
A minimal harness for autonomous coding agents against any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. It carries the machinery a watched pair-programming agent can skip: an evaluator that judges whether a change is a proper solution, between-task budget caps, and offline-first observability you can replay end to end.
LSP4Agents
Active-DevelopmentA language-server client built for coding agents, not IDEs.
An experiment in giving coding agents the structured tools developers rely on: go to definition, find references, real type errors. Existing LSP integrations assume an IDE on the other end, so this explores what a client designed for an agent's workflow looks like.
knobs.cc
A desktop inspector for every knob Claude Code gives you: where it lives, what it's set to, and which layer wins.
Claude Code's configuration spans settings files at several layers, environment variables, and permissions. knobs.cc is a local desktop app that surfaces every setting, its value, and which layer takes precedence.
Community
Workshops & speaking
Teaching and showing up in the developer community: live, hands-on workshops, plus the talks, panels, and demos I give along the way.
Workshops
Live, hands-on sessions on Maven. You won't just hear about AI tools. You'll use them in real time, building artifacts you take back to work.
Always available
Build the CLAUDE.md Your Project Needs
A 30-minute lightning lesson. Learn the framework for structuring the project context file that makes Claude Code actually understand your codebase.
Watch free on MavenContext Engineering for Claude Code
Next cohort: TBA · waitlist open
A live cohort workshop, run on a recurring basis. Build the context layer that turns Claude Code from a suggestion engine into a development partner: CLAUDE.md, skills, hooks, and the maturity ladder, all hands-on.
Join the waitlist on MavenPrevious
Effective Software Engineering with Claude Code
Packt · Deep Engineering · June 20, 2026
From prompts to systems. CLAUDE.md context layers, reusable skills, guardrails, and team-level practices for senior engineers and tech leads.
View event
Building RAG Applications
In-person workshop
Hands-on workshop teaching retrieval-augmented generation patterns with real-world datasets.
Speaking
Talks, panels, and demos on AI-assisted software development.
- AUG 6, 2026PORTLAND, OR
Oregon AIR Challenge · Core Defender AI
Judge: Oregon AIR Challenge Pitch Day
Judged the pitch event for the inaugural Oregon AIR Challenge cohort, Core Defender AI’s statewide AI and robotics competition for students. A strong field of pitches made picking a winner genuinely difficult — looking forward to future cohorts.
- MAY 20, 2026PORTLAND, OR
Maseeh College of Engineering · Portland State University
Panelist: AI Futures
Joined the AI Futures industry panel at the Maseeh Exchange: Events With Impact, alongside PSU faculty exploring how AI is being applied to real-world challenges.
- MAY 14, 2026PORTLAND, OR
Portland WIP AI Demos Lunch · UpStart Collective
Presented knobs.cc
Demoed the in-progress build at Portland’s informal show-and-tell for AI builders: a desktop inspector for every knob Claude Code gives you, where it lives, what it’s set to, and which layer wins.
Recordings
“Clean Architecture with Python”
Interview on the GOTO Conferences channel about the book and building maintainable software systems.
“Observability in AI”
Screencast presentation on observability patterns for AI systems in production.
Watch on YouTubeAbout
Sam Keen
I've spent 25+ years shipping production software at companies like Nike, Lululemon, AWS, and a handful of startups. I led the GenAI Innovation Lab at AWS, where I helped teams separate signal from noise in AI adoption.
Now my work is AI-assisted development: building in the open, writing, and teaching. Building with AI, not building AI. My newsletter reaches developers every week, and my workshops on Maven give teams hands-on systems for working with tools like Claude Code.
I also co-founded Portland AI Engineers, a community of 1,500+ practitioners exploring practical AI together.
I occasionally take on select consulting engagements for engineering teams navigating AI adoption. Let's talk if that's of interest.