Samuel McDonnell

I’m an AI engineer. I build and ship production AI systems, agentic chatbots, eval harnesses, the observability that keeps them honest. This account is where I write about what actually works in production vs what gets hyped on here. The boring engineering that makes AI reliable, not the demos. Follow along if you build real things with this stuff.

@mak_madd Done

@samueljmcd done followed u fb would be great

Another update! 200 followers!! 😤 Less than 24 hours ago I posted about 100, since then it’s DOUBLED. So happy guys, thanks to everyone for the connections. Anyone else interested in AI let me know so we can connect too 🫶🤝

@guitaripod All in one solution

@samueljmcd everything

What’s the most useful Claude Skill you guys have built?

@bldinsilence_ @grok Bro thanks for putting me on! 🤝

@samueljmcd @grok explain what im talking about and the data behind it

@jeevanpillay @imshogok Absolutely

@imshogok @samueljmcd grill-me truly the goat

@byumut Agreed

@samueljmcd The maintenance bill has a steeper slope than most expect. The hard part: nobody documented WHY — why this model, why these thresholds, why that tool. Debugging a 2027 failure means reverse-engineering 2025 intent from behavior alone. Code rot you can grep. That you can't.

Everyone’s shipping AI-built apps in a weekend. But nobody’s costing who maintains them in 18 months when no one understands what was built. That bill lands around 2027.

@jimmy_9126 Interesting take I don’t see many people talk about that!

This is exactly one reason (other being the learning curve/token economics) why i still build with Gemini or ChatGPT. This way, i have a great control and understanding of what and how things are built. At every step i have the options, pros and cons which i can use to prioritise according to its impact on cost and user experience. The end result seems bit slower but any future updates or fixes become super smooth!

@ChibuzorAntho13 @thezlatkom @X Done

@samueljmcd @thezlatkom @X Fb

I just got about 150 followers OVERNIGHT on @X Yall are amazing, thank you for following, more posts coming soon. I want to #connect with more builders, web developers, designers, founders and people into AI & tech. Drop your #startup in the replies!

@ChibuzorAntho13 Thanks dude

@samueljmcd That's great man

@proxy_vector Agreed

@samueljmcd The hidden cost isn't just maintainability. It's organizational legibility. If nobody can explain the invariants, every future change becomes archaeology plus fear, which kills the speed you thought you bought.

@justinhammon_ 1000% Justin ! Nice to meet you

@samueljmcd Nice, Samuel! This is the beginning of something great! Happy to connect and support each other!

@btrmasaladosa I agree! Let’s do it :)

@samueljmcd Kildare is a beautiful county. let's Connect 👋

@KarlSkifte76431 Glad to meet you Karl 🤝

@samueljmcd One more here

@LeeDG_GF @btrmasaladosa Im in bro! Lets do it

@btrmasaladosa @samueljmcd GM, just followed — let's grow together 🚀

@alexkaybuilds Thank you Alexandra :)

@samueljmcd That’s awesome, congrats!

@thearslaniqbal I think they both pay in different ways. The company pays too!

@samueljmcd Who do you think actually pays that bill? The dev who left or the next person hired?

@AnamolyDS Sounds interesting!

@samueljmcd I've seen some really good, in-depth skills related to resume building

@buildwithmaya You’re great Maya thank you!!!

@samueljmcd X works that way! Things just compound and snowball for the better. Congrats!

@PrincipledAli Nice one Ali!

@samueljmcd Well done Sam!

@josephgannon29 Love this I might steal it

@samueljmcd automatically grade and improve your code base gradeskill.dev

@aybuilds Thanks ayush 🙏

@samueljmcd Kudos Sam!!