# Philip Ilic Thomas > Philip Ilic Thomas is an engineer living in New York City, working at the intersection of math, software, and business. ## Author Philip Ilic Thomas ## Newsletters - Contraption: Projects and essays. - Workshop: Journal about work in progress. - Postcard: What I'm up to. - Tsundoku: Pop-up photography newsletter. ## Posts - [Adding SMS support](https://www.philipithomas.com/adding-sms-support.md) (workshop, 2026-07-14) - [Farewell](https://www.philipithomas.com/farewell.md) (tsundoku, 2026-07-05) - [More Geisha](https://www.philipithomas.com/more-geisha.md) (tsundoku, 2026-07-05) - [Leaves Coffee](https://www.philipithomas.com/leaves-coffee.md) (tsundoku, 2026-07-05) - [Bamboo](https://www.philipithomas.com/bamboo.md) (tsundoku, 2026-07-04) - [Bamboo Forest](https://www.philipithomas.com/bamboo-forest.md) (tsundoku, 2026-07-04) - [Torii](https://www.philipithomas.com/torii.md) (tsundoku, 2026-07-03) - [What I'm up to - July 2026](https://www.philipithomas.com/2026-07.md) (postcard, 2026-07-01) - [Koffee](https://www.philipithomas.com/koffee.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-30) - [Pourover](https://www.philipithomas.com/pourover.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-30) - [Avant-garde coffee](https://www.philipithomas.com/avant-garde-coffee.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-30) - [Vinyl](https://www.philipithomas.com/record-bar-analog.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-29) - [Library](https://www.philipithomas.com/library.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-29) - [Morning coffee](https://www.philipithomas.com/morning-coffee.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-29) - [Vinyl](https://www.philipithomas.com/vinyl.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-28) - [Espresso](https://www.philipithomas.com/espresso.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-28) - [Bench](https://www.philipithomas.com/dt-suzuki-bench.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-27) - [Reflecting pool](https://www.philipithomas.com/dt-suzuki-reflecting-pool.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-27) - [Hallway](https://www.philipithomas.com/dt-suzuki-hallway.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-27) - [Toast](https://www.philipithomas.com/toast.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-27) - [Introducing Tsundoku](https://www.philipithomas.com/introducing-tsundoku.md) (contraption, 2026-06-27) - [Hi-fi](https://www.philipithomas.com/hi-fi.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-26) - [Listening](https://www.philipithomas.com/listening.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-26) - [House](https://www.philipithomas.com/house.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-26) - [Stationery store](https://www.philipithomas.com/stationery-store.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-26) - [Downpour](https://www.philipithomas.com/downpour.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-25) - [Wild boar shrine](https://www.philipithomas.com/wild-boar-shrine.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-25) - [Weekenders Coffee](https://www.philipithomas.com/weekenders-coffee.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-25) - [Spring cleaning](https://www.philipithomas.com/spring-cleaning.md) (workshop, 2026-06-25) - [Whiskey tasting](https://www.philipithomas.com/whiskey-tasting.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-24) - [Shinkansen](https://www.philipithomas.com/shinkansen.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-24) - [Carrera](https://www.philipithomas.com/carrera.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-24) - [Roastery](https://www.philipithomas.com/roastery.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-24) - [Geisha](https://www.philipithomas.com/geisha.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-24) - [Nakameguro](https://www.philipithomas.com/nakameguro.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-24) - [First photo](https://www.philipithomas.com/first-photo.md) (tsundoku, 2026-06-24) - [What I'm up to - June 2026](https://www.philipithomas.com/2026-06.md) (postcard, 2026-06-01) - [What I'm up to - May 2026](https://www.philipithomas.com/2026-05.md) (postcard, 2026-05-01) - [Stripe Projects launches](https://www.philipithomas.com/stripe-projects-launch.md) (workshop, 2026-04-29) - [What I'm up to - April 2026](https://www.philipithomas.com/2026-04.md) (postcard, 2026-04-01) - [Agent experience](https://www.philipithomas.com/agent-experience.md) (workshop, 2026-03-26) - [Software in the AI era](https://www.philipithomas.com/software-in-the-ai-era.md) (contraption, 2026-03-20) - [Sync, phone numbers, and webhooks](https://www.philipithomas.com/sync-phone-numbers-and-webhooks.md) (workshop, 2026-03-05) - [What I'm up to - March 2026](https://www.philipithomas.com/2026-03.md) (postcard, 2026-03-01) - [A fresh coat of paint](https://www.philipithomas.com/fresh-coat-of-paint.md) (workshop, 2026-02-19) - [Three-ring binder](https://www.philipithomas.com/three-ring-binder.md) (workshop, 2026-02-13) - [OpenClaw is my new coworker](https://www.philipithomas.com/openclaw-is-my-new-coworker.md) (contraption, 2026-02-02) - [What I'm up to - February 2026](https://www.philipithomas.com/2026-02.md) (postcard, 2026-02-01) - [Code as content, digital proprioception, and what's next](https://www.philipithomas.com/code-as-content-and-digital-proprioception.md) (workshop, 2026-01-25) - [Chroma for Ruby](https://www.philipithomas.com/chroma-for-ruby.md) (workshop, 2026-01-14) - [Trivet adds Google sign-in to Ghost](https://www.philipithomas.com/trivet-adds-google-sign-in-to-ghost.md) (contraption, 2026-01-03) - [What I'm up to - January 2026](https://www.philipithomas.com/2026-01.md) (postcard, 2026-01-01) - [Outage, tacit knowledge, and a new project](https://www.philipithomas.com/tacit-knowledge-in-software.md) (workshop, 2025-12-24) - [Digital gardening](https://www.philipithomas.com/digital-gardening.md) (workshop, 2025-12-16) - [Introducing the print edition](https://www.philipithomas.com/introducing-the-print-edition.md) (contraption, 2025-12-10) - [Building less, tinkering more, and walking away sooner](https://www.philipithomas.com/build-and-tinker.md) (workshop, 2025-12-05) - [What I'm up to - December 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-12.md) (postcard, 2025-12-01) - [Disaster recovery](https://www.philipithomas.com/disaster-recovery.md) (workshop, 2025-11-19) - [Snail mail](https://www.philipithomas.com/snail-mail.md) (workshop, 2025-11-11) - [What I'm up to - November 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-11.md) (postcard, 2025-11-01) - [Introducing Workshop](https://www.philipithomas.com/introducing-workshop.md) (contraption, 2025-11-01) - [Maintenance](https://www.philipithomas.com/maintenance.md) (workshop, 2025-10-30) - [Backup plans](https://www.philipithomas.com/backup-plans.md) (workshop, 2025-10-28) - [GitHub syncing](https://www.philipithomas.com/git.md) (workshop, 2025-10-23) - [MCP and the future of AI](https://www.philipithomas.com/mcp-and-the-future-of-ai.md) (contraption, 2025-10-13) - [What I'm up to - October 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-10.md) (postcard, 2025-10-01) - [Hacking YC (again)](https://www.philipithomas.com/hacking-yc-again.md) (workshop, 2025-10-01) - [What I'm up to - September 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-09.md) (postcard, 2025-09-01) - [Taste-skill gaps](https://www.philipithomas.com/taste-skill-gaps.md) (workshop, 2025-08-29) - [The joys of self-hosting](https://www.philipithomas.com/joys-of-self-hosting.md) (workshop, 2025-08-27) - [Claude, Launching, and Tools](https://www.philipithomas.com/claude-launching-and-tools.md) (workshop, 2025-08-20) - [Adding a brain to my toolbox](https://www.philipithomas.com/adding-a-brain-to-my-toolbox.md) (workshop, 2025-08-15) - [It's time to rethink chat](https://www.philipithomas.com/rethink-chat.md) (workshop, 2025-08-14) - [Software is bread, not burgers](https://www.philipithomas.com/software-is-bread-not-burgers.md) (workshop, 2025-08-09) - [My favorite tool for making email less stressful](https://www.philipithomas.com/my-favorite-tool-for-making-email-less-stressful.md) (workshop, 2025-08-05) - [Welcome to Workshop](https://www.philipithomas.com/workshop-welcome.md) (workshop, 2025-08-02) - [What I'm up to - August 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-08.md) (postcard, 2025-08-01) - [Postcard is now open source](https://www.philipithomas.com/postcard-open-source.md) (contraption, 2025-07-03) - [What I'm up to - July 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-07.md) (postcard, 2025-07-01) - [What I'm up to - June 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-06.md) (postcard, 2025-06-01) - [An app of one's own](https://www.philipithomas.com/app-of-ones-own.md) (contraption, 2025-05-16) - [How I built a chatbot with my dog](https://www.philipithomas.com/chat-with-my-dog.md) (contraption, 2025-05-09) - [What I'm up to - May 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-05.md) (postcard, 2025-05-01) - [How to host web apps on a Mac Mini](https://www.philipithomas.com/how-to-host-web-apps-on-a-mac-mini.md) (contraption, 2025-04-11) - [What I'm up to - April 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-04.md) (postcard, 2025-04-01) - [What worked for finding a software engineering job](https://www.philipithomas.com/finding-a-software-job.md) (contraption, 2025-03-07) - [What I'm up to - March 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-03.md) (postcard, 2025-03-01) - [Why Ruby on Rails still matters](https://www.philipithomas.com/rails-versus-nextjs.md) (contraption, 2025-02-21) - [A mini data center](https://www.philipithomas.com/a-mini-data-center.md) (contraption, 2025-02-07) - [What I'm up to - February 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-02.md) (postcard, 2025-02-01) - [Joining Chroma](https://www.philipithomas.com/chroma.md) (contraption, 2025-01-31) - [Craft in the digital era](https://www.philipithomas.com/craft-in-the-digital-era.md) (contraption, 2025-01-24) - [Lost and found](https://www.philipithomas.com/lost-and-found.md) (contraption, 2025-01-10) - [What I'm up to - January 2025](https://www.philipithomas.com/2025-01.md) (postcard, 2025-01-01) - [Archetypes of LLM apps](https://www.philipithomas.com/archetypes-of-llm-apps.md) (contraption, 2024-11-22) - [Behind the scenes of the Find AI API](https://www.philipithomas.com/bts-find-api.md) (contraption, 2024-11-14) - [What I'm up to - November 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-11.md) (postcard, 2024-11-01) - [Having a TJ](https://www.philipithomas.com/having-a-tj.md) (contraption, 2024-10-18) - [Innovation versus distribution](https://www.philipithomas.com/distribution-vs-innovation.md) (contraption, 2024-10-11) - [Internal tools of Find AI](https://www.philipithomas.com/internal-tools-of-find-ai.md) (contraption, 2024-10-04) - [What I'm up to - October 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-10.md) (postcard, 2024-10-01) - [Wine craft](https://www.philipithomas.com/wine-craft.md) (contraption, 2024-09-27) - [How I use data to optimize AI apps](https://www.philipithomas.com/using-data-to-optimize-ai-apps.md) (contraption, 2024-09-24) - [Is fractional work the future?](https://www.philipithomas.com/is-fractional-work-the-future.md) (contraption, 2024-09-20) - [How to self-publish a programming book](https://www.philipithomas.com/how-and-to-publish-an-indie-programming-book.md) (contraption, 2024-09-13) - [The next iteration of Contraption Company](https://www.philipithomas.com/the-next-iteration-of-contraption-company.md) (contraption, 2024-09-06) - [What I'm up to - September 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-09.md) (postcard, 2024-09-01) - [What I'm up to - August 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-08.md) (postcard, 2024-08-01) - [The opportunity of tech talent agents](https://www.philipithomas.com/tech-talent-agents.md) (contraption, 2024-07-12) - [Before and after Almost Perfect](https://www.philipithomas.com/almost-perfect.md) (contraption, 2024-07-08) - [What I'm up to - June 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-06.md) (postcard, 2024-06-01) - [Coding a Booklet AI feature](https://www.philipithomas.com/code-a-booklet-ai-feature.md) (contraption, 2024-05-30) - [Talking shop with Ben Weiss](https://www.philipithomas.com/creator-vs-software-businesses.md) (contraption, 2024-05-07) - [What I'm up to - May 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-05.md) (postcard, 2024-05-01) - [What I'm up to - April 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-04.md) (postcard, 2024-04-01) - [How I build multiple products](https://www.philipithomas.com/how-i-build-multiple-products.md) (contraption, 2024-03-21) - [Talking shop with Aaron Cohn from realnice](https://www.philipithomas.com/talking-shop-aaron-cohn-realnice.md) (contraption, 2024-03-04) - [What I'm up to - March 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-03.md) (postcard, 2024-03-01) - [Rethinking work beyond the factory](https://www.philipithomas.com/rethinking-work-beyond-the-factory.md) (contraption, 2024-02-27) - [What I'm up to - February 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-02.md) (postcard, 2024-02-01) - [Digital product studios](https://www.philipithomas.com/digital-product-studios.md) (contraption, 2024-01-28) - [What I'm up to - January 2024](https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-01.md) (postcard, 2024-01-01) - [Digital quiet](https://www.philipithomas.com/digital-quiet.md) (contraption, 2023-12-20) - [Engineering over enforcement](https://www.philipithomas.com/engineering-over-enforcement.md) (contraption, 2023-12-14) - [Community-powered media companies](https://www.philipithomas.com/community-media-companies.md) (contraption, 2023-12-07) - [Booklet's architecture](https://www.philipithomas.com/booklet-architecture.md) (contraption, 2023-12-04) - [What I'm up to - December 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-12.md) (postcard, 2023-12-01) - [The transition from indiehacking to micro companies](https://www.philipithomas.com/indie-to-micro.md) (contraption, 2023-11-17) - [One year of dependable software](https://www.philipithomas.com/one-year-of-dependable-software.md) (contraption, 2023-11-10) - [What I'm up to - November 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-11.md) (postcard, 2023-11-01) - [What I'm up to - October 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-10.md) (postcard, 2023-10-01) - [Launching Booklet](https://www.philipithomas.com/launching-booklet.md) (contraption, 2023-09-20) - [Introducing FRCTNL](https://www.philipithomas.com/introducing-frctnl.md) (contraption, 2023-09-07) - [What I'm up to - September 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-09.md) (postcard, 2023-09-01) - [What I'm up to - August 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-08.md) (postcard, 2023-08-01) - [What I'm up to - July 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-07.md) (postcard, 2023-07-01) - [What I'm up to - June 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-06.md) (postcard, 2023-06-01) - [What I'm up to - May 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-05.md) (postcard, 2023-05-01) - [What I'm up to - April 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-04.md) (postcard, 2023-04-01) - [Slow Travel in Paris: Discovering Substance Cafe](https://www.philipithomas.com/slow-travel.md) (contraption, 2023-03-25) - [What I'm up to - March 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-03.md) (postcard, 2023-03-01) - [What I'm up to - February 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-02.md) (postcard, 2023-02-01) - [What I'm up to - January 2023](https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-01.md) (postcard, 2023-01-01) - [How to replace social media with a personal newsletter](https://www.philipithomas.com/how-to-replace-social-media-with-a-personal-newsletter.md) (contraption, 2022-12-29) - [Why I built Postcard: A calmer alternative to social networks](https://www.philipithomas.com/why-i-built-postcard-a-calmer-alternative-to-social-networks.md) (contraption, 2022-12-21) - [What I'm up to - December 2022](https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-12.md) (postcard, 2022-12-01) - [Launching Postcard](https://www.philipithomas.com/launching-postcard.md) (contraption, 2022-11-10) - [Introducing The Contraption Company](https://www.philipithomas.com/introducing-contraption-co.md) (contraption, 2022-11-04) - [What I'm up to - November 2022](https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-11.md) (postcard, 2022-11-01) - [What I'm up to - October 2022](https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-10.md) (postcard, 2022-10-01) - [When are low-code prototypes useful? Evaluating startup market and implementation risks](https://www.philipithomas.com/when-are-low-code-prototypes-useful-evaluating-startup-market-and-implementation-risks.md) (contraption, 2022-09-14) - [What I'm up to - September 2022](https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-09.md) (postcard, 2022-09-01) - [What I'm up to - August 2022](https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-08.md) (postcard, 2022-08-01) - [What I'm up to - July 2022](https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-07.md) (postcard, 2022-07-01) - [What I'm up to - June 2022](https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-06.md) (postcard, 2022-06-01) - [Sharing a project I built - Postcard](https://www.philipithomas.com/sharing-a-project-i-built-postcard.md) (contraption, 2022-05-19) - [Advice for marketplace startups](https://www.philipithomas.com/advice-for-marketplace-startups.md) (contraption, 2021-05-11) - [Moonlight's pitch deck](https://www.philipithomas.com/moonlight-s-pitch-deck.md) (contraption, 2020-10-15) - [Buyers define marketplaces](https://www.philipithomas.com/buyers-define-marketplaces.md) (contraption, 2020-06-07) ## Links - Website: https://www.philipithomas.com - RSS: https://www.philipithomas.com/feed/rss.xml - JSON Feed: https://www.philipithomas.com/feed/feed.json