Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

Wes and Scott talk about the state of AI coding in 2026—from editors and models to agents, skills, slash commands, MCPs, and more. They unpack what these things actually do, how they overlap, and how to use them effectively without overcomplicating your setup.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

01:39 The tools: editors, terminals, GUIs

05:27 Wes’ and Scott’s current AI setups

13:17 Picking the right model

18:58 How exactly do agents work?

22:32 Subagents and parallel workflows

24:29 Brought to you by Sentry.io

24:54 What goes in agents.md (and what doesn’t)

26:47 Skills vs agents

Skills

Superpowers

34:03 Slash commands as reusable prompts

36:02 Hooks and keeping your code from going off the rails

38:00 Plugins and bundling your setup

39:24 What MCP is and why it’s powerful

40:54 Cloud agents and running jobs remotely

43:47 Choosing the right AI tool

47:41 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott: ULTRALOQ Bolt Fingerprint WiFi Smart Lock

Wes: St. Denis Medical

Shameless Plugs

Syntax YouTube Channel

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Scott and Wes unpack WebMCP, a new standard that lets AI interact with websites through structured tools instead of slow, bot-style clicking. They demo it, debate imperative vs declarative APIs, and share their hottest take: this might be the web’s real AI moment.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

00:16 Introduction to WebMCP

01:07 Understanding WebMCP Functionality.

03:06 Interacting with AI through WebMCP.

06:49 WebMCP browser integration.

08:25 Brought to you by Sentry.io.

08:49 Benefits of WebMCP.

11:51 Token efficiency.

13:02 My biggest questions.

14:13 My take on this tech.

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Wes and Scott answer your questions about AI agents, learning to code with AI, pagination patterns, skilling up from outdated tech stacks, balancing side projects with family life, real-world hacking attempts, and more!

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

01:39 Are devs really running multiple AI agents at once?

Scott’s Tweet

09:41 Brought to you by Sentry.io

12:45 What is pagination and why do websites use it?

18:17 Should beginners use AI while learning to code?

30:24 The real-world skills CS degrees don’t teach you

35:59 Someone tried to hack Syntax

38:12 How Wes and Scott became co-hosts

42:00 Moving from junior to mid-level when your skills are outdated

45:42 How do you balance time for side projects, life, and family

52:45 Building a ChatGPT-style RAG search for your resume

56:15 Why Chad Whitacre videos were on the Syntax YouTube channel

Chad’s YouTube Channel

58:44 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott: Trmnl

Wes: RYOBI Soldering Iron

Shameless Plugs

Syntax YouTube Channel

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Scott and Wes break down how they built SynHax, the real-time CSS Battle app powering the upcoming Mad CSS tournament. From SvelteKit and Zero to diffing algorithms, sync conflicts, and a last-minute hackweek glow-up, this one’s a deep dive into shipping ambitious web apps fast.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

00:50 March Mad CSS Tournament.

03:19 Brought to you by Sentry.io.

03:59 What the heck is a CSS Battle?

05:34 The tech stack.

06:30 Svelte Kit.

06:44 Zero Sync.

Zero Docs

Zero Svelte.

07:32 Drizzle.

07:58 Supabase.

08:23 Graffiti.

10:45 Sync Server.

12:10 Cloudflare Workers.

12:23 Local File System.

13:26 How Zero Works.

13:48 Zero Sync Client.

15:39 API server.

19:34 Dealing with states and conflicts.

24:25 The Hackweek Project.

25:29 The Diffing Algorithm.

35:22 The bugs.

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Wes and Scott talk with Armin Ronacher and Mario Zechner about PI, a minimalist agent harness powering tools like OpenClaw. They unpack why Bash is “all you need,” the risks of agents, workflow adaptability, and where AI coding agents are actually headed.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

03:28 What is Pi, and why does it matter?

OpenClaw

05:54 What do we actually mean by “agents”?

11:04 Prompt injection: how LLMs get tricked

14:19 Is Claude Cowork actually secure?

22:01 How Armin and Mario use agents day to day

26:37 Brought to you by Sentry.io

27:25 Memory and search: teaching agents to remember

33:04 Do coding agents even need memory?

34:36 “Bash is all you need”

37:21 Adding power: how agents learn new tricks

47:02 Tools and models Armin and Mario are using right now

54:15 Sick picks + shameless plugs

Sick Picks

Mario: Cards for Ukraine

Armin: Pro-Ject Audio Turntable

Shameless Plugs

Armin:

Thorsten Ball Newsletter

Simon Willison

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