Merge Conflict

Merge Conflict 45: Build 2017 - No More MSBuild

May 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 1 min

.net core, .net standard, ai, android, build 2017, conference, cosmos db, embeddinator, fluent, fluent design, ios, machine learning, macos, visual studio, xamarin, xamarin live player, xaml standard

The past few days at Microsoft Build 2017 have been filled with wonderful news for .NET and Xamarin developers. We have a full recap of the event, announcements, and a few predictions.

517: Plan First, Think Less: Save Tokens, Improve Code

June 1st, 2026  |  34 mins 49 secs

Episode 517 starts with a light chat about AI avatars and new text‑to‑speech deepfakes before diving into LLM “thinking” modes—what baked‑in planning actually does, why it multiplies token costs, and when it helps or hurts. James and Frank give concrete dev advice: try low‑thinking settings, use big models for creative planning then smaller ones to execute, leverage harnesses/system prompts, and beware quantized local models often do better without thinking.

514: Running Local LLMs in VS Code

May 11th, 2026  |  55 mins 46 secs

In this episode James and Frank dive into running AI coding models locally versus in the cloud—BYOK/Open Router, VS Code’s chat/agent harness, model runners (Olama, vLLM), and the practicality of 27B models on a 3090 using 4‑bit quantization. They share hands-on takeaways—how recent engineering (MT/MTPLX) boosts inference to usable token rates, when auto model selection makes sense, cost and hardware trade‑offs, and why local models can liberate your workflow while still needing smarter, unified tooling.

513: Agents Over Chat: The Future of Developer Workflows

May 4th, 2026  |  57 mins 39 secs

James and Frank explore the future of developer workflows powered by AI agents, revealing how developers are shifting from coders to testers and product strategists. They dive into new research-planning-implementation cycles, GitHub's usage-based pricing changes, and why developers must think strategically about model choices and token costs. Plus, reflections on Apple's leadership transition and the need for bold hardware innovation.

508: Agentic Workflows - Markdown Automation for GitHub Actions

March 30th, 2026  |  40 mins 16 secs

At MVP Summit we dig into Agentic Workflows — write Markdown prompts that drive AI agents to run CI, open PRs, and automate cross‑repo tasks — and MAUI DevFlow, which lets agents interact with native UIs to click, screenshot and validate designs. Listen for practical takeaways on ditching brittle YAML/scripts and automating tedious maintenance and testing, plus the real caveats: security front‑matter, a compile/lock step and token costs.

506: We have no skills

March 16th, 2026  |  52 mins 59 secs

James and Frank unpack the exploding world of AI coding agents—covering instructions, MCP tools, custom agents, hooks, plugins and why “skills” matter. They walk through the new .NET Skills repo (P/Invoke, MSBuild, diagnostics, binlogs), show how skills act like practical, on‑demand tutorials for niche tasks, and sketch how tooling will soon auto-load the right skills so agents can just do the thing for you.

505: 8GB of RAM Isn't Good Enough #MacBookNeo

March 9th, 2026  |  1 hr 3 mins

On this episode we wade through Apple’s drip‑fed “event week,” from the budget iPhone 17E to the new MacBook Neo/Air M5 and the pricey Studio Display, and argue who each device is really for. The big takeaway: 8GB of RAM is borderline unusable for modern web and dev workflows—buy up if you can—while the Air M5 looks like the sweet spot; plus a fun detour on using Copilot/Fleet to scaffold apps in minutes.

504: 15 Years of iCircuit

March 2nd, 2026  |  49 mins 26 secs

Frank Kruger celebrates iCircuit’s 15‑year journey—from an iPad‑era $20 launch and surprising overnight success to the present—unpacking the tradeoffs between maintaining a flagship app and chasing new side projects. He offers candid lessons on pricing, backporting legacy fixes, modernizing pipelines, and explains how AI agents have reshaped his workflow and will power the next wave of iCircuit features.

503: Welcome to Tiny Tool Town

February 23rd, 2026  |  47 mins 49 secs

On this episode we dive into Tiny Tool Town — a GeoCities‑style app hub for tiny developer utilities — and James walks us through building Tiny Clips, a Mac toolbar screen‑capture app he prototyped and shipped using Copilot, agentic workflows, and a plan‑implement‑review cycle. Expect practical takeaways on multi‑model AI pipelines (planning with 5.2, coding with Codex/Opus), CI/publishing tips, sandboxing/TestFlight pitfalls, and why tiny apps are booming.

501: Autopilot, Fleets, and Parallel Agents Explained

February 9th, 2026  |  35 mins 57 secs

In this episode James and Frank walk through the latest Copilot CLI power-ups—Autopilot loops, experimental Fleet/parallel agents, and Opus model/context updates—while demoing how they used plan mode to spin up a full MAUI pet‑insulin app end-to-end. Learn what Autopilot and Fleet actually do, how parallel agents orchestrate work, plus practical tips (watch your context window, use plan mode) for turning AI agents into fast prototypes.