technical-blog-writing

Technical Blog Writing

Write developer-focused technical blog posts via inference.sh CLI.

Quick Start

curl -fsSL https://cli.inference.sh | sh && infsh login

# Research topic depth
infsh app run exa/search --input '{
  "query": "building REST API Node.js best practices 2024 tutorial"
}'

# Generate header image
infsh app run infsh/html-to-image --input '{
  "html": "<div style=\"width:1200px;height:630px;background:linear-gradient(135deg,#0f172a,#1e293b);display:flex;align-items:center;padding:60px;font-family:ui-monospace,monospace;color:white\"><div><p style=\"font-size:18px;color:#38bdf8;margin:0\">// engineering blog</p><h1 style=\"font-size:48px;margin:16px 0;font-weight:800;font-family:system-ui;line-height:1.2\">How We Reduced API Latency by 90% with Edge Caching</h1><p style=\"font-size:20px;opacity:0.6;font-family:system-ui\">A deep dive into our CDN architecture</p></div></div>"
}'

Install note: The install script only detects your OS/architecture, downloads the matching binary from dist.inference.sh, and verifies its SHA-256 checksum. No elevated permissions or background processes. Manual install & verification available.

Post Types

1. Tutorial / How-To

Step-by-step instruction. The reader should be able to follow along and build something.

Structure:
1. What we're building (with screenshot/demo)
2. Prerequisites
3. Step 1: Setup
4. Step 2: Core implementation
5. Step 3: ...
6. Complete code (GitHub link)
7. Next steps / extensions

| Rule | Why | |------|-----| | Show the end result first | Reader knows if it's worth continuing | | List prerequisites explicitly | Don't waste time of wrong audience | | Every code block should be runnable | Copy-paste-run is the test | | Explain the "why" not just the "how" | Tutorials that explain reasoning get shared | | Include error handling | Real code has errors | | Link to complete code repo | Reference after tutorial |

2. Deep Dive / Explainer

Explains a concept, technology, or architecture decision in depth.

Structure:
1. What is [concept] and why should you care?
2. How it works (simplified mental model)
3. How it works (detailed mechanics)
4. Real-world example
5. Trade-offs and when NOT to use it
6. Further reading

3. Postmortem / Incident Report

Describes what went wrong, why, and what was fixed.

Structure:
1. Summary (what happened, impact, duration)
2. Timeline of events
3. Root cause analysis
4. Fix implemented
5. What we're doing to prevent recurrence
6. Lessons learned

4. Benchmark / Comparison

Data-driven comparison of tools, approaches, or architectures.

Structure:
1. What we compared and why
2. Methodology (so results are reproducible)
3. Results with charts/tables
4. Analysis (what the numbers mean)
5. Recommendation (with caveats)
6. Raw data / reproducibility instructions

5. Architecture / System Design

Explains how a system is built and why decisions were made.

Structure:
1. Problem we needed to solve
2. Constraints and requirements
3. Options considered
4. Architecture chosen (with diagram)
5. Trade-offs we accepted
6. Results and lessons

Writing Rules for Developers

Voice and Tone

| Do | Don't | |----|-------| | Be direct: "Use connection pooling" | "You might want to consider using..." | | Admit trade-offs: "This adds complexity" | Pretend your solution is perfect | | Use "we" for team decisions | "I single-handedly architected..." | | Specific numbers: "reduced p99 from 800ms to 90ms" | "significantly improved performance" | | Cite sources and benchmarks | Make unsourced claims | | Acknowledge alternatives | Pretend yours is the only way |

What Developers Hate

❌ "In today's fast-paced world of technology..." (filler)
❌ "As we all know..." (if we all know, why are you writing it?)
❌ "Simply do X" (nothing is simple if you're reading a tutorial)
❌ "It's easy to..." (dismissive of reader's experience)
❌ "Obviously..." (if it's obvious, don't write it)
❌ Marketing language in technical content
❌ Burying the lede under 3 paragraphs of context

Code Examples

| Rule | Why | |------|-----| | Every code block must be runnable | Broken examples destroy trust | | Show complete, working examples | Snippets without context are useless | | Include language identifier in fenced blocks | Syntax highlighting | | Show output/result after code | Reader verifies understanding | | Use realistic variable names | calculateTotalRevenue not foo | | Include error handling in examples | Real code handles errors | | Pin dependency versions | "Works with React 18.2" not "React" |

Good code block format:

What this code does (one line)

def calculate_retry_delay(attempt: int, base_delay: float = 1.0) -> float: """Exponential backoff with jitter.""" delay = base_delay * (2 ** attempt) jitter = random.uniform(0, delay * 0.1) return delay + jitter

Usage

delay = calculate_retry_delay(attempt=3) # ~8.0-8.8 seconds

Explanation Depth

| Audience Signal | Depth | |----------------|-------| | "Getting started with X" | Explain everything, assume no prior knowledge | | "Advanced X patterns" | Skip basics, go deep on nuances | | "X vs Y" | Assume familiarity with both, focus on differences | | "How we built X" | Technical audience, can skip fundamentals |

State your assumed audience level explicitly at the start:

"This post assumes familiarity with Docker and basic Kubernetes concepts.
If you're new to containers, start with [our intro post]."

Blog Post Structure

The Ideal Structure

# Title (contains primary keyword, states outcome)

[Hero image or diagram]

**TL;DR:** [2-3 sentence summary with key takeaway]

## The Problem / Why This Matters
[Set up why the reader should care — specific, not generic]

## The Solution / How We Did It
[Core content — code, architecture, explanation]

### Step 1: [First thing]
[Explanation + code + output]

### Step 2: [Second thing]
[Explanation + code + output]

## Results
[Numbers, benchmarks, outcomes — be specific]

## Trade-offs and Limitations
[Honest about downsides — builds trust]

## Conclusion
[Key takeaway + what to do next]

## Further Reading
[3-5 relevant links]

Word Count by Type

| Type | Word Count | Why | |------|-----------|-----| | Quick tip | 500-800 | One concept, one example | | Tutorial | 1,500-3,000 | Step-by-step needs detail | | Deep dive | 2,000-4,000 | Thorough exploration | | Architecture post | 2,000-3,500 | Diagrams carry some load | | Benchmark | 1,500-2,500 | Data and charts do heavy lifting |

Diagrams and Visuals

When to Use Diagrams

| Scenario | Diagram Type | |----------|-------------| | Request flow | Sequence diagram | | System architecture | Box-and-arrow diagram | | Decision logic | Flowchart | | Data model | ER diagram | | Performance comparison | Bar/line chart | | Before/after | Side-by-side |

# Generate architecture diagram
infsh app run infsh/html-to-image --input '{
  "html": "<div style=\"width:1200px;height:600px;background:#0f172a;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;padding:40px;font-family:system-ui;color:white\"><div style=\"display:flex;gap:40px;align-items:center\"><div style=\"background:#1e293b;border:2px solid #334155;border-radius:8px;padding:24px;text-align:center;width:160px\"><p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#94a3b8;margin:0\">Client</p><p style=\"font-size:18px;font-weight:bold;margin:8px 0 0\">React App</p></div><div style=\"color:#64748b;font-size:32px\">→</div><div style=\"background:#1e293b;border:2px solid #3b82f6;border-radius:8px;padding:24px;text-align:center;width:160px\"><p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#94a3b8;margin:0\">Edge</p><p style=\"font-size:18px;font-weight:bold;margin:8px 0 0\">CDN Cache</p></div><div style=\"color:#64748b;font-size:32px