The primer
Eight chapters on what we actually believe about building for the long run — each one standalone, none of them longer than a coffee.
Eight chapters on building, shipping, and sleeping through the night.
By the Engineering Desk
Ship Press · First Edition · 2026
Contents
Eight chapters
On choosing a runtime, a database, and the handful of defaults you will not regret.
Why the pull request smaller than a screenful is the unit of a healthy team.
Traces, logs, and metrics as a form of literacy, not a form of insurance.
A script for running a postmortem where nobody leaves the room feeling smaller.
Rolling out changes with the calm of someone who knows where the off switch is.
Why the fastest request is the one your users never noticed left their continent.
A field guide to the kinds of cleanup that pay for themselves by the end of the quarter.
Standups, retros, and the weekly walk that matters more than any of them.